Relaxing in Dahab

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After the whole Mount Sinai excursion, it was on to Dahab to relax for a couple days. Dahab is a small town on the Red Sea, just getting to be more popular with tourists, but more of a backpackers town. We were all pretty exhausted from Mt Sinai, so I think pretty much everyone spent the afternoon just relaxing - showering, lounging by the pool, hitting the ATM and internet cafe and stocking up on beer and wine since most restaurants don't serve alcohol - you have to bring your own.

Our hotel - the Dyarna Hotel - was nice, although seemingly still under construction. We had a nice big balcony that overlooked the pool. A group of us reconvened just after sunset to have a few drinks by the pool before going to dinner. Shady said he was taking us somewhere nice and it did end up being pretty nice. It was seafood place - one of those where you actually go up and pick out your own fish. While most everyone got these big elaborate decorative seafood platters, Lauren, Sophie and I went for pizza (Lauren) and steak (me and Sophie) since we don't eat seafood.

After dinner, Lauren, Megan, Sophie, Chantelle and I stopped at a shop to buy Egypt soccer jerseys to wear during the Egypt-Ivory Coast soccer match later that night. Shady is a BIG soccer fan (BIG is an understatement) and so the night's plan was to gather at a bar to watch the game which started at 10. We managed to bargain down and each get a jersey for about 35 pounds I think.
We went to a bar called the Tree Bar (I think). It felt like we were indoors, but the floor was dirt and I think it was really more outdoors with a bunch of carpets hanging around to keep out the wind. Pretty typical. They had a big screen set up to project the game (no 50 inch plasma TVs here unfortunately!). I can't even describe the scene when Egypt scored the first goal. Seriously, it was unlike anything I've ever seen. Shady jumped about ten feet in the air and did a little jig and managed to completely knock over a beer and send his cigarette flying across the room.

Fast forward to the end of the game, with Egypt winning 4-1. Everyone in the bar went crazy. By that point, we were full-on Egypt fans too, so we were going crazy. The music started going and everyone was dancing and we didn't stop dancing all night. It was "old school party" night at the bar, so they were playing all sorts of American tunes going all the way back to the 60s. I finally left about 3 a.m. - only because I had to be ready to go by 8 a.m. for my excursion to the Coloured Canyon the next day. Sophie, Lauren, Megan, Anthea, Jana and Shady apparently stumbled back to the hotel around 4 when Sophie proceeded to jump in the pool. Sorry I missed that!

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Photos

Hotel pool in Dahab
Right on the Red Sea - you can sort of see Saudi Arabia in the distance