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Published: January 17th 2006
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Nesima Resort
Our hotel room - it had a domed ceiling and a private little sitting area in front of the pool with views of the ocean. Ahh... Shane and I got up nice and early (5:00 AM) to catch our taxi to the Luxor Airport where we caught our flight to Sharm El-Sheik. At the airport, we met up with a family from Denmark who we met on the train from Aswan to Luxor. We ended up splitting a taxi with them from Sharm El-Sheik to Dahab (160 LE). They were a very interesting family - she was a nurse and had travelled all over the world working. I think he worked in aviation engineering. They had the most darling children - a boy and a girl around 8 and 10. They were so incredibly well behaved and sat quietly throughout the trip on the train and in the taxi entertaining themselves. The kids have been backpacking since they were wee little ones and have been all over the world. It was quite depressing to think that these kids were more well-travelled than most people we knew. Anyways, we ended up staying at the same hotel as them (Nesima Hotel). The kids would get up and play in the morning on the beach or the pool, then they would do their homework. How do I order up some
Nesima Resort
Here's our room from the outside with the little sitting area in the front. kids like that? Shane and I were so happy to see that having a kids didn't stop this couple from travelling; they told us that having kids travel with them actually opened up doors as most people love children. It is good to know that when Shane and I finally have kids (okay parents, don't get your hopes up that it will happen anytime soon), our backpacking days aren't over.
In regards to the Nesima Hotel, this place was gorgeous. Yes, Shane and I usually stay in clean backpacker accomodations, but I was so tired by the insane pace we were travelling that the princess in me was emerging by this time... And won. It was 402 LE per night to stay there (around $85 CAN - to put in perspective, it costs the same as staying at a Super 8 Motel -> come on, we can afford that, can't we?). We had a room right next to the pool. It was so nice to have airconditioning and an enclosed shower with bathtub. We bawled with joy when we saw how big and beautiful the bathroom was... We hadn't seen a bathroom like that in over two weeks...
Neseima Resort
Part of the pool and you can kind of see the pool bar behind the palm tree. Dahab itself was so relaxing and laid-back. We weren't hassled much except by the restaurants all making offers, throwing in extras just to get us to eat there. (Kinda reminded me of Greece.) There are so many resturants along the beach and the competition is intense.
That same day we made arrangements to do the hike up Mount Sinai. However, since the monastary was closed that morning, we couldn't find anyone else to hike with us. But we were on a timeline so Shane and I paid the steep price of a private taxi from Dahab to Mount Sinai (350 LE) which left at midnight. The hotel kindly packed breakfast for us and we were off for a one and a half hour long drive. Mount Sinai's claim to fame is that its summit is supposedly where Moses received the ten commandments from God. Armed with a flashlight, we climbed up the trail to the top at 2285 meters and bravely fought off sleep and all the Bedouins who assailed with "Camel! Take camel to top! It is very far away!" At one point at the beginning of the trail, you suddenly come upon a group of Bedouins and
Neseima Resort
Picture of the corniche from our hotel. literally sixty camels all sitting on the trail. It is very earie in the dark. We walked to the top with a pleasant young lady named Wendy who was from Washington, but was originally from Peru.
It was pretty cold out but we kept warm by hiking. It was a fairly easy trail except at the top and it took us two and a half hours to hike. It would have been faster if Shane and Wendy weren't slowed down by me, who grunted every step of the way and occasionally cried out in a half-state of delirium from lack of oxygen in my burning lungs if I couldn't perhaps have a camel to take my fat behind to the top. (Man, am I ever out of shape. Hard to believe I am the same person who carried 42 lbs on the West Coast Trail last summer, but that's what you get when you work all summer instead of hike - dumb, dumb.) It was so tranquil out and the stars were so incredible. I saw six shootings stars that night.
We were one of the first people up on the summit and got some prime seats to
Neseima Resort
Pic from the rooftop restaurant. watch the sunrise. At the top, we met a couple, who were originally from Toronto but were presently living and working in New York as well as a young Asian guy from Edmonton named Hing. Watching the sun rise itself was an ethereal experience.
After our trek down the mountain, we wandered through the grounds of St Katherine's Monastery, named after a martyr of Alexandria, who was tortured and then beheaded for her Christianity. As mentioned before, the monastary was closed on Fridays so we did not get to the see Burning Bush (or at least what is thought to be a descendent of the original Burning Bush). I was reading somewhere that the burning bush does actually burn once or twice a year - its seeds contain an oil which heats up under the sun and then self combusts. Interesting... Anyways, since we didn't see the Burning Bush ourselves, I found a picture on the internet posted by someone who did: http://www.markhorrell.com/travel/egypt/sinai/burningbush2.html
Afterwards we crashed at our hotel room for a few hours before getting up and setting up a dive for the next day. As usual, this was turning out to be a very relaxing few
Dahab
The very easy-going, picturesque town of Dahab. days on the beach as planned...
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