Advertisement
Published: February 11th 2008
Edit Blog Post
So going back a step - Dahab is known as a greta place for snorkeling and diving. Now those who know me, know that I am not the biggest fan of water activities. Especially those that involved actually going underneath the water in large bodies of water that are not pools. So when I signed up for this tour, I wasn't quite sure what I would do in Dahab. I just really wanted to do this one because of the Mt Sinai climb. After some research, I decided I wanted to do an excursion to the Coloured Canyon (don't think I really need to describe what that is). Well, when we got into Dahab on Thursday, Shady went through the options for activities and of course that was not one of them. So I asked him if it was possible for me to do it anyway. He looked into it and managed to set me up with another group that was going, so it was only 150 pounds (about $30). I ahd to be ready to go at 8 a.m. Friday morning. Suprisingly, I woke up find and felt no ill effects from the previous nights activities!
The group doing
this excursion was a mix of people who just booked through the same company. There was another American girl who is currently working in Istanbul. She was with her boyfriend from Singapore. Also in my truck were 3 Colombian girls who currently study in London and a German couple who really spoke no English whatsoever. We took 2 trucks out there - 8 of us in each. It was about an hour and a half or so drive to teh Coloured Canyon and we stopped at a couple passport checks along the way. They are very tight with security in Sinai as a whole so everywhere you go there seem to be passport checks. Well, apparently the other truck had a couple guys from Palestine, which understandably held up the process a bit!
When we got to the canyon, we had a few minutes to use the toilets and grab snacks. They charged 5 pounds to use the toilet - a total rip-off considering most ask you for 1 pound baksheesh and then give you toilet paper. No toilet paper here and they didn't even have actual toilets - just squat toilets! Anyway...
We hiked through the canyon
for about an hour. This surprisingly went quite well for me considering I had climbed Mt Sinai the day before and had been out dancing and drinking til 3 a.m. the night before. Guess I'm in better shape than I thought 😊
The canyon hike was a bit of an obstacle course - lots of narrow corridors and a few tough rocks to climb up or boulders to squeeze under. The pictures will tell the story much better than words.
After the canyon hike, we piled into our 4WD trucks for a ride through the desert to an oasis where we would have lunch. This literally was like being on a rollercoaster for about an hour and a half straight. We were cruising straight through the desert sand, swerving constantly to avoid rocks and other obstacles, flying up and down over sand dunes. The American girl and one of the Colombian girls looked like they were gonna get sick (so glad that didn't happen!) Finally, we arrived at this oasis in the middle of the desert, which was literally a few mud-brick buildings, some huts and some livestock roaming around. We got to hang out in a big
hut with lots of cushions with a beverage (again, a very overpriced Diet Coke for 12 pounds). There was a girl selling jewelry who asked if I had a digital camera and wanted to get a picture taken together and then look through the pictures on my camera. I also felt compelled to buy a necklace from her too. Lunch was fresh, wood-fire burned bread (LOVE the bread here!), with tuna or a tomato/cucumber mix to top it with, as well as oranges and chips.
From the oasis, we started our hike into the White Canyon. Again, this name should be self-explanatory - shortly after we were into the canyon, all fo the sand and the rocks were just pure white. Again, this was a bit of an obstacle course which ended after about 45 minutes with us climbing up out of the canyon via a metal ladder and a rope. Not exactly what I expected but a great experience! Then, an hour drive back to Dahab.
While I was doing this excursion, the rest of the group did some snorkeling/diving and then rode quadbikes into the desert and on the beach in the afternoon. I personally am
so glad I got to do the canyons because the scenery was gorgeous and they were both really nice hikes - challenging and interesting, but not too challenging. And again, as much as everyone in the group got along well, it was kind of nice to get away at times too. Especially being the only American, it was kind of nice to have the other American girl on the canyon excursion.
Friday night was my last full night in Egypt and with the group since I would be leaving for the airport about 1 a.m. Saturday night/Sunday morning. So I was determined to make it a fun night. Dinner was at the Funny Mummy restaurant, where we all sat on cushions on the floor with fire pits burning nearby to keep us warm. (as warm as it gets during the day, it is CHILLY at night!). After dinner, we were on to another bar (don't know the name) - me, Shady, Chantelle, Lauren, Megan, Michelle, Anthea and Jana. Michelle hadn't come out with us much the rest of the trip, so it was nice that she joined us this time, although she didn't stay out the whole time.
Similar to the night before, we ended up closing the bar down with our own little dance party to a variety of American tunes. Then back to the hotel, where we lounged around the pool drinking and chatting some more until about 5 a.m. A very good last night on the tour for me!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.099s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0713s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb