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"Good american, welcome to egypt!" was my greeting as I passed through the last payment point into egypt. The whole border process seemed like more of a scam than anything. 100 shekels to get out of israel ($30), $65 for an egypttian visa, 75 LE ($20) to get into egyt (didn't i already pay for this?) anda $40 ride to dahab (2 hrs)...and here I am. Eretz Mitzraim.
One of the first questions I was asked, by a nice man at the bus station was, "Are you Jewish"? I thought for a few seconds, quickly running through the many different versions of advice I have been given, then very deliberately said, 'Yes, I am Jewish". I mean, why not...it couldn't hurt...could it? yes it could have, but thankfully my judgement was sound and here I am on the beaches of Dahab, Egypt. After chillin for a bit with the police at the final checkpoint (75 LE), I realized that I didn't want to wait another 6 hours for the next bus and ponied up the cash for the cab. Sammy was a nice cab driver, although his english could have been better (so could my arabic). As soon as I agreed to ride with him, he went and got in another van! so off we were, several unpaid pickup and dropoffs later, we arrived at his home in Nuweiba. His father was lying on the ground and groaned painfully as he slowly lifted himself up sitting position. His mother made us tea and sat by the door (about 10 ft away) in her full garb, only visible through the eye slit. After asking if it would be alright to take pictures, I took a few of our grouping and then tried to take one of Sammy's mom. She quickly hid the rest of her face behind the all black head scarf. One more cup of tea and we were off to Dahab, so I thought. Actually, we were going to another part of the town of Nuweiba so Sammy could say hi to a friend. The friend he yelled and laughed ecstatically about and called 'The Donkey', was having trouble with his car. The engine seemed to be held together with a rubber band and an arafat (man's bandana kind of thing). We followed the donkey and his clunker to the main tourist section of Nuweiba, where he left the Jeep and got in our van, along for the ride. i fell asleep for a short while, then we were in Dahab before I knew it and Sammy was dropping me off at a hostel of his choosing."No, you stay here, they treat you nice, they have everything.' I was greeted by a man named Osama, was quoted a price for the rooms and for the dive courses, and subsequently met another traveler, Aaron from Boston. He is currrently my roommate here at Red Sea Relax. we walked together along the beachfront for about an hour, checking out many of the dive centers and accommodations.
We found Red Sea Relax and my premature skepticism was quickly overcome with excitement for what this week will have in store. We said yes, and without any up front payment,were taken to our room on the 2nd floor, with a balcony, two beds, shower/bathroom, A/C, tv, desk, closet, you name it! Living in the lap of luxury, we will be transfered to the dorm room tomorrow. The hotel has a pool, breakfast buffet, and everything is included in my 4-day dive class for $300. Much more to tell that has happened already, but I need to go back to sleep before my SCUBA class starts in a few hours. I woke up to write in my journal and discovered this lobby computer.
There are periodic alla-hu-akhbar's erupting from the adjacent bar room!
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iris
non-member comment
love it
Love all the descriptions, more would be even better. What was around the hotel?