Up until about 10-15 years ago Dahab was a tiny, quiet little fishing village in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, on the edge of the Red Sea. Scuba Diving was the big industry a little further down south at Sharm-el-Sheikh, and if anyone wanted to dive at the siters off Dahab, it would involve a 2 hour drive north.
Then a few business-heads opened up a few little dive shops and hotels at Dahab, and as these things do, it slowly mushroomed to what it is now - a slightly larger fishing village with a fair few dive operators and hotels, hostels and bungalows. It's still a long way from being a pure tourist hell-hole like Sharm, or Hurghada, and is likely to remain the quieter, more chilled out cousin - as long as the authorities stay wise and prevent an airport from being built there (Sharm and Hurghada have both had airports built recently to handle increased tourism).
Anyway, this was our first stop in Egypt after the border fiasco. Pity it was so short. This is the problem with organised tours - some places you absolutely love, but are in and out quick as a flash. On arrival, we stopped in at this awesome seaside bar/restaurant named Al Capone's, the usual surfie-hippy get up that a lot of sleepy coastal town eateries have - low-lying tabels, with lots of cushions to sit down at, with plenty of rugs, and knick-knacks and ornaments decking out the place, highlighted tastefully by strategically placed oil lamps, and a small bonfire in the middle of the room. Here i had the most amazing grilled calamari in the world, on a plate about 16 inches in diameter, full with sides of brown rice, fries, and salad, and along with a fresh-as-fresh-gets mango juice, it set me back about 10 Aussie dollars! Not typically Egyptian I know, but hey it still said Welcome to Egypt to me!!
Next morning we drove out to a spot called The Blue Hole for a spot of snorkelling. This place is as famous as any other spot in the world to the diving fraternity - i'd heard of it when i dived in Thailand, and so i was pretty excited to get in there and check it out, even if it was only for a snorkel. Basically, almost as soon as you step off the rocky beach and into the water, barely five feet in, and the coral and marine life are right there, in about 3 feet of water. Paddle out about another 50 feet of crystal clear water, and looking down you spy a huge drop off - an enormous underwater cliff juts straight down some 60-70 metres, with coral all colours of the rainbow and shapes and sizes and textures clinging to the edge. And the fish that live in the coral, ducking in and out, playing hide and seek, and schools just gliding by, make it such a magical experience.
I spent about an hour or so checking all this out before i started to get a little chilly, and rejoined the rest of my pals chilling out in a beachside cafe, supping on fruit shakes. I had planned to just take a breather and then go back in, but the sun was just so nice. After the past three weeks of fairly cold wintry weather, this was almost the first dose of decent warm sun we'd seen in a while, and i just wanted to soak it up. We then cruised back into Dahab for a spot of afternoon souvenir shopping, and then were outta there. As i say, short but sweet.
Just a short drive down the road, and we were in St Catherine, the jumping off point for Mount Sinai. Anybody who has the slightest notion of religion (of any faith) will know that Mount Sinai is where Moses recieved the Ten Commandments from God. Once again on this trip, i was spinning out about visiting a place that held such a huge importance for soooo many people, and was sooo famous for spiritual, historical and archaeological reasons. We were climbing to the spot where this happened - with a slight catch! We were to wake up at 3am for an early morning walk so that we could watch the sun rise over the desert mountains on the Peninsula. Needless to say, it was baltic cold, and all the clothing we owned was donned for the climb, some 2200-odd metres above sea level. There are two ways to climb this mountain, either via a camel trail to a point 3/4 the way up (and yes, you could hire a camel to ride up if you so chose!) and then walk the final bit, or follow the 3750 Steps Of Repentence, a path built by a pilgrim, as the name suggests, as a form of repentence to God. I wanted to climb the steps - if there's an easy and a hard way to do something challenging, i like to think i'd take the harder option for the reward of acheivement upon completion is so much greater. My tour leader had other ideas, wanting to keep us all on the same path, and insisted on the camel trail.
It was a pretty easy 2 1/2 hour climb in the end, and i got to the top about 20minutes before sunrise. As sunrises go, it was okay, but all sunrises get my stamp of approval (the few that i get to see that is!!), and, playing with the settings on my camera, i got some pretty neat piccies. Walking back down (via the Steps!), we stopped off at St Catherine's monastery, which had been around since the 3rd Century AD., just to boggle my mind some more!! And then, guess what! - back on the bus!.....for a 7 hour drive to Cairo.
Talk soon,
Tony
peace love and happy faces
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