Red Sea

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Sunday July 23, 2006 - Well, I slept terribly and arrived in Dahab in a less than good mood. Met at the station by reps of the hotel the Canadians had recommended, so I went there. There was no room for me yet, so I waited 30 minutes while they cleaned one. Afterwards I got a shower and went for a walk around. Everything is pretty much at the water front and very touristy. I decided I didn't like it immediately. Even though everyone loves it here. There is no real beach, so I couldn't figure out what to do or where to go, unless you went to one of the many restaurants with cushions to relax on. But this isn't my style. I walked the length of Dahab and then back after some internet (air-con!) and then saw the Dutch couple from the desert - Martin and Marloes. I sat with them for a while - they had arrived the day before and would stay until Friday. They loved it here so I decided to give it a chance. Had dinner with them and then called it a night.

Monday - Spent a bunch of time in the internet cafe, a them to continue. Worried about my plans for Russia, China, visas, train tickets, plane tickets...So not carefree anymore. So much to think about and decide with my tight budget.

Met the Dutch for lunch and then we signed up to do a camel/snorkeling safari the next day and a trip to Mt Siani the following night. Back to the internet and the bank and then bed. Stressful beach days.

Tuesday - Had a crazy 4x4 ride to the Blue Hole, where we snorkeled around a bit. Really beautiful to see so many fish and then remember you're in the desert. Then we got on our camels and rode for an hour and a half to the next destination in Ras Abu Galoum National Park. Riding a camel hurts, by the way. My legs were in such pain afterwards. Sat for a bit and then snorkeled again. It was even prettier but harder going - there was quite a wind and so many waves that it made snorkeling difficult. Got out to have some lunch and then snorkeled a bit again. The back on the camel - ouch. So hurty. So glad when that ride was over. Snorkeled once more at the Blue Hole, just as the sun was hitting the red fish just right. Beautiful. It's times like this I remember how lucky I really am to be doing this trip. Came back to the beach and had dinner with the Dutch couple.

Wednesday - Got up late today and had my standard felafel breakfast. Tired of the guy who works there - keeps asking me to stay for tea and get drinks later. But it's the only place with take-away. Spent all day at the internet planning, then sat with Martin and Marloes at a restaurant reading for a bit. Went with them for an earlyish dinner and then back to the hotel to lay down until 10:30, when I got up to meet Martin for our trip to climb Mt. Sinai. We left a little after 11pm on a really packed full-minibus, mini being the operative word. I sat between Martin and the driver and it was tight, but better than the backseats. We arrived at 1am and got our minimal English-speaking guide and started the climb around 1:30am. Who climbs a mountain at night? It seems so unnatural. But it WAS cooler than climbing it during the 100 degree days. Needed a flashlight to do the walk. Was slow compared to most, as always. Martin was really fast. He would get way ahead, wait for me when the group stopped, then speed on ahead. At one point he wasn't there anymore and I just figured he was already on top. I was in no rush to get up there as it would be freezing and there would still be hours to kill. The trail was a camel trail, so it was easy to walk, but annoying because all night there were guys offering you a camel ride up to the top. It would have been so serene otherwise - I was even watching falling stars. The last bit is all stairs, and I took my time, along with two German girls. I finally did make it up to the top around 4:30am. Found Martin wrapped up in his sleeping bag. There were kids up there renting blankets and mattresses. Martin got me a blanket because he felt guilty in his sleeping bag - I had opted not to bring mine as it was too big to fit in the day pack. We sat there until 5:30am, when the sky started to change colors. When the sun finally did peak out we had a great view. I'm not much for sunrise as I'd prefer to sleep through it, but it really was beautiful. This is also the mountain where Moses got the 10 commandments from God, and you could see why this was a good site. The landscape was beautiful too - and we hadn't seen it before because it was all in the dark. On the top I also ran into the girls I had met on the bus to Dahab, so that was a nice treat. Walking back down the mountain I started to realize how fortunate it was that I hadn't seen the actual climb as I was going up. It was really really long and it would have been so self-defeating to see it as I was going up. In the dark I could believe I was almost there whenever I stopped to rest.

When we reached the bottom it was about 7:45am and we waited outside of St. Katherine's monastery until 9am for it to open. At that point I was exhausted and the monastery didn't seem all that worth waiting for. It wa ssmallish inside and a bit gawdy and overdone. People filing in and out and then it was over. Even got to see the "burning bush". It burns no more.

Drove back to Dahab and I kept falling asleep and either falling into the driver when he took a turn or getting woken up every time he shifted as the gear stick hit my leg. It was a long 90 minutes back. Martin and I were exhausted so we skipped our breakfast plans and went straight to sleep.

Thursday - I slept poorly from noon until 4pm, and then tried to sleep until 5pm. At that point I went out to collect my laundry so I could leave the hotel grounds (the rooms are all laid out in little village style format, not a hotel building per se), but it wasn't back yet. So I showered and waited some more. Finally it arrived after 6pm and I went out looking fof the Dutch couple. They were already eating dinner and I sat with them a minute before heading out to the internet cafe.

Afterwards I ran into the Australians from the second felucca - the nice ones - and chatted with them a bit. They would be climbing the mountain that night. Headed to find some dinner and decided to try one of the cheaper restaurants on the street side rather than the beach side. It was full so I waited a few minutes for a table. A German guy came up to tell me he was waiting for 30 minutes and I said no problem, you go next. His wife came over and a table opened and she invited me to join them. I did and they ended up being really cool. They have driven a car from Namibia to Egypt over the last ten months and are about to drive it home via Syria and Turkey and are stuck waiting in Dahab for their passports to arrive from the Syrian embassy in Germany. They had great stories to tell and have had quite an adventure. I wish them luck and safe travels through Syria - usually an excellent country to travel through from what I hear, but with the current Middle East situation, perhaps not the best time to go. But they need to get home...We had a nice dinner and they invited me for a drink (they had to go elsewhere since most places in Muslim countries don't sell alcohol), but it was already past 11pm and I was exhausted and hoping to get some good sleep. So we said good-bye and I headed home.

Friday - Yet more internet time trying to decide what I will do. I'm worried about getting my Russian visa abroad - so difficult to work out - plus the Chiniese visa, train tickets between the two countries, flights... There is so much I am trying to work out right now, I'm not having any fun at all. And Russia is massivley more expensive to travel in than I had planned, so now I am thinking of scrapping it in and looking into something else before China. I have already scrapped Israel, for obvious current problems. Some other time. But I now have a travel partner for China - Stephen, the Scottish guy from my Nairobi-Nairobi overland trip. He has a work schedule very conducive to travel. He works abroad for 28 days, then has 28 days off, and it always works like that. So he'll go back to Scotland or travel every other month. Mid-September he will meet me in Beijing. It will be the first time I'll know someone going into that part of the trip and I'm happy he'll be there. He already has his tickets and I have no idea how I will get there, which adds to the stress. But hopefully it will all become clear.

After the internet I went back to the hotel and played with the cats for a while. There are cats everywhere here - at all the beach restaurants, all the hotels, everywhere. The ones at my hotel are pretty cute and mostly tiny. There is a blond girl who is always playing with them and feeding them and we sat together for a while with the cats. It was relaxing. Afterwards I scouted out ways to get to Nuweiba on Sunday, which is where I will take the ferry to Jordan from. I tried to buy a new journal as mine is just about full, but there is nothing like that here. Had dinner at my cheap place and then back to the internet to chat with friends at home who were just starting work. I am currently 7 hours ahead of EST. Got a shower and sang out loud to my ipod later on. That may be the best thing about having my own room - I can sing all I want and pretend no one can hear me. And who wants to listen to music if they can't sing?

Saturday - Today is my last day in Dahab. Thought I would go diving but have decided to skip it. Not feeling it, it is extremely windy, and I'm a little concerned about finances. Three days of spending $10 or less makes me feel good. Plus I'm sucking down cokes, apple fantas, and Lipton's peach iced teas like they were going out of style, so I don't feel like I'm missing anything.

Another internet stress day - lots of time in here, the guy has even given me a special plan for regulars. Went back and played with the cats before starting to get my things ready to pack up. Would like to send some things home but think I will wait until I get to Turkey for better rates. The best part about being here for week is not having to repack my bag for that long! Will be a challenge tonight. Chatted with my cousin online and took care of some more details.

Last day in Egypt and I am happy to leave. Dahab has been the easiest going of all of Egypt bu tI am still done with it. It has been wonderful for sites but my least favorite country ever in terms of the people. It's really too much to deal with and I look forward to Jordan with open arms. But here's a little list of things to remember about Egypt:

Sleazy guys

pitas, felafel, feta cheese

congested polluted streets of Cairo

"Welcome to Cairo" (see sleazy guys)

water pipes called sheesha

camels

yummy Egyptian tea with free floating leaves

veiled woman

mangos and mango juice everywhere

tourist police with AK47s

really hot sun

nicest travelers

feluccas

men watering the streets to keep the dust down - it happens everywhere, and in a country that is a desert....

you have to haggle over everything...even for a coke at the same store each time

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