Just chillin in Dahab
Trip Start
Dec 16, 2004
1
19
21
Trip End
Jan 17, 2005
Dahab,
Egypt
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
unbelievable! It's crazy to see the Red Sea to one side and then barren desert and mountains just on the other. The first day I went with a small group to race through the desert on 4WD bikes. In true Stayskal style--I got yelled at for going too fast and driving too risky. What fun is there in following the rules?! I was thinking that the guides would die if my father were there...he'd have given them some real problems as he is a true daredevil. Regardless, it was still lots of fun.
As I mentioned before, Dahab is an old spot for hippies--while most of them are gone (although I did see a few leftovers wandering about with a look of bewilderment on their
faces, probably they no longer recognized the place)
4 wheeling in Dahab
. Thus, all of the restaurants offer bedouin style seating only. This means sitting on the floor on pillows and eating off of low wooden tables. It's very relaxing to just chill out and eat and smoke sheesha and warm yourself by the firepits spread everywhere. Our hangout became Alcapone...and I made good friends with the waiters which meant free food...yeah! The second day I went snorkeling at the Blue Hole. It's called such b/c that is pretty much what it is! There's this part of the reef that is in a semi-circle and in the middle of it is an extremely deep hole that seems endless. It's quite scary to stare down into the vastness of nothing...but the brightly colored fish and red coral surrounding the hole were amazing to watch. A swarm of jellyfish floated on in and it was my cue to get out of the water! This area is interesting though b/c a lot of divers frequent it for its beauty...but many have died or disappeared here b/c of the caverns
that you can enter and easily lose your way in. We chilled on the beach at a bedouin style bar and had lunch. After that, we went trekking in the jeep through the desert.
Pretty much the remaining day and a half in Dahab were spent just lying around on the beach and drinking fruit shakes and trying to learn more Arabic. I was an honorary guest the last night for the dinner meal with all of the men. Just as in everywhere else, women are non-existent...so all of the establishments are run and worked by men only. So each night the Alcapone owners and waiters eat together and they were kind enough to invite me--the lone female. I'm very lucky in that I usually make as many local friends as I can so that I can enjoy the non-touristy experiences wheneverpossible. So that was cool.
Tomorrow, sadly, we have to leave to go to Mt. Sinai.
