Egypt - Dahab and Mt Sinai

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After a full day crossing the border from Jordan we finally made it into Egypt. Our first stop was 4 days in the ocean side resort town of Dahab. Dahab is on the Sinai penninsula which a very interesting area. the entire penninsula was annexed from Egypt by Israel in 1967 and handed back in 1982. The 1982 agreement was brokered by the Americans and as a result the entire Sinai region is under very tight security, this is also a result of a bombing that occured in 2005. The area is virtually off limits to Egyptians and they are not allowed to enter unless they have direct business or they live in the area.

The main attraction for tourists into the area is the reef which creates ample amounts of snorkeling and diving opportunities. The craziest aspect of Dahab is that across the red sea clearly visable is Saudi Arabia. So you can be swimming around in a bikini in Dahab without even getting a second look whle considering the consequenses of such an action only 13 kilometres away on the other side of the sea.

We had 4 days in Dahab and spent the majority of the time snorkeling. One of the best dive spots in the world, the blue hole only 15 minutes away so one day was spent exploring this area. Another day was spent on a combined camel/ snorkeling safari. As ridiculous as this sounds you hop on camel and it takes you to a small village which is right next to the reef. The camel ride was fun but the saddles leave a bit to be desired. The camel saddle has no stirips so you just sit on the camel and after a while it starts to hurt certain anatomical regions (especially on the males). The snorkeling spot was great and the camels were good guides. They are actually quite placid despite thier reputation and as our guides told us they enjoy nothing more than some old fruit skins. The placid nature of the camels got a bit tested when they had to carry us back and having to get up was combined with alot of noise making however once they got going they were fine and just plodded along.

Our 4 days relaxing in Dahab came to an abrupt end when we had to leave at 7pm to go and climb Mt Sinai. Mt Sinai is the place where Moses recieved the 10 commandments and this makes it a major tourist attraction. The main reason why we went up was to see the sunrise. The hike up took us just under 2 hours and we where the first people at the top, which meant we got the best spots. People got to the top all throughout the night and by the sunrise there were hundreds of people at the top. We woke up and our spot proved to be perfect with a great view of the sunrise just infront of us.

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Photos

Camels
Slightly unnerving and very noisy