Dahab, Egypt
Blog: By Way of the World - 21 August 2009
By: Erin
Because of several recent terrorist attacks in the region, the Sinai peninsula has checkpoints every few hours. This made for a very unhappy overnight bus experience. Bright flashlights searching the vehicle, soldiers with submachine guns around their shoulders, asking us to dig out passports in our half-asleep state was not pleasant.
But, it was worth it. The Red Sea (technically the Gulf of Aqaba at that point) was stunning. The town of Dahab is very chill, with hotels and restaurants right on the beach. We spent a whole day snorkeling in some of the best coral reefs in the world and and other days sitting on a big pillow on the beach having our meals in style.
Hookahs (sheesha as they call it), the Egyptian water-pipe that's for smoking flavored tobacco is quite prevalent, though we didn't partake. Dahab is a perfect antidote to the hustle and bustle of Cairo and is much cheaper than the resort-city of Sharm el-Sheik (where the airport is).
We stayed at Jasmine hotel, in a room overlooking the driveway (the rooms overlooking the beach are twice as expensive, so naturally we chose the cheaper one). No AC, but it was considerably breezier than Cairo, so we didn't miss it... much. The only downside was that the running water in the bathroom was salt water... yuck! Terrible shower, I must say, and God forbid if you open your mouth -- a huge gulp of extremely salty water floods in.
Aside from snorkeling and laying on the beach, the other main attraction in Sinai is the Bedouin culture. You can pay for an "authentic" Bedouin dinner out in the desert, but after our "homestay" debacle in Sapa, we were just too concerned that the local people were being taken advantage of, so we didn't do it.
One evening we took a bus several hours away to climb Mt. Sinai (or what the locals say is Mt. Sinai... it turns out there's another Mt. Sinai in Jordan!). We had to go in the middle of the night; otherwise we wouldn't make it up the mountain in the intense daytime heat. So, at 2am, we embarked with our flashlight. I have never seen so many camels in my entire life. It was like our trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge, but here every single Bedouin follows you up the mountain with his camel to "help" (for a price, naturally). Literally the ratio of tourist to camel must be 2:1. And like Tiger Leaping Gorge, they disappear at the most difficult part, where you're most tempted to give in.
Camels are very funny creatures. They are not well-behaved, and most look bitterly unhappy to be schlepping Westerners up a mountain in the middle of the night. Every few feet, we saw a local tugging and muttering, while the camel was refusing to move and making it clear by issuing some very weird groaning noises.
Needless to say, we took the challenge and climbed the mountain sans camel, with just our own two feet. It was a pretty strenuous hike, especially the last section, which consists of hundreds of stairs. Canned mango juice sustained us pretty well, and by 5am, we were crammed at the top with the other 200+ Westerners, poised with our cameras to take a shot of the stunning sunrise.
It was very beautiful, and I would definitely say the hike is worth it, but we did not exactly experience any spiritual awakening due to the hundreds of others people bumping into us, stealing our good spot, singing, cursing, and smoking. Apparently weekends are the most crowded, so if you ever do this, do yourself a favor and go on a weekday.
On our descent, a very strange moment happened when one of the Bedouins guiding a camel offered to pay for Dan's watch. We've had countless locals offering to sell us things, but never a local offering to buy our things! Dan absolutely wasn't giving it up (it's like the best travel watch ever) but I sold him mine for a whopping $3. He happily paid the price while we wondered if we should have just given it to him for free (it was a cheapo one that I bought in Chinatown in KL). But I didn't want to offend him since he'd offered to pay, and he seemed pleased with the transaction, so we were happy to do him the favor. Apparently they don't get these items very readily around there.
At the end of our descent, we toured St. Katherine's Monastery, one of the oldest continuously-operating monasteries in the world, and also home to (what locals claim is) a descendent of the burning bush.
We actually missed it the first time since there's no sign, but luckily happened to take a picture of it.
We had a great time in Dahab, and were upset to depart so quickly. This is definitely a great spot to relax, do some snorkeling, and rest up before continuing on your journey.
But, it was worth it. The Red Sea (technically the Gulf of Aqaba at that point) was stunning. The town of Dahab is very chill, with hotels and restaurants right on the beach. We spent a whole day snorkeling in some of the best coral reefs in the world and and other days sitting on a big pillow on the beach having our meals in style.
We stayed at Jasmine hotel, in a room overlooking the driveway (the rooms overlooking the beach are twice as expensive, so naturally we chose the cheaper one). No AC, but it was considerably breezier than Cairo, so we didn't miss it... much. The only downside was that the running water in the bathroom was salt water... yuck! Terrible shower, I must say, and God forbid if you open your mouth -- a huge gulp of extremely salty water floods in.
Aside from snorkeling and laying on the beach, the other main attraction in Sinai is the Bedouin culture. You can pay for an "authentic" Bedouin dinner out in the desert, but after our "homestay" debacle in Sapa, we were just too concerned that the local people were being taken advantage of, so we didn't do it.
One evening we took a bus several hours away to climb Mt. Sinai (or what the locals say is Mt. Sinai... it turns out there's another Mt. Sinai in Jordan!). We had to go in the middle of the night; otherwise we wouldn't make it up the mountain in the intense daytime heat. So, at 2am, we embarked with our flashlight. I have never seen so many camels in my entire life. It was like our trek through Tiger Leaping Gorge, but here every single Bedouin follows you up the mountain with his camel to "help" (for a price, naturally). Literally the ratio of tourist to camel must be 2:1. And like Tiger Leaping Gorge, they disappear at the most difficult part, where you're most tempted to give in.
Camels are very funny creatures. They are not well-behaved, and most look bitterly unhappy to be schlepping Westerners up a mountain in the middle of the night. Every few feet, we saw a local tugging and muttering, while the camel was refusing to move and making it clear by issuing some very weird groaning noises.
Needless to say, we took the challenge and climbed the mountain sans camel, with just our own two feet. It was a pretty strenuous hike, especially the last section, which consists of hundreds of stairs. Canned mango juice sustained us pretty well, and by 5am, we were crammed at the top with the other 200+ Westerners, poised with our cameras to take a shot of the stunning sunrise.
It was very beautiful, and I would definitely say the hike is worth it, but we did not exactly experience any spiritual awakening due to the hundreds of others people bumping into us, stealing our good spot, singing, cursing, and smoking. Apparently weekends are the most crowded, so if you ever do this, do yourself a favor and go on a weekday.
On our descent, a very strange moment happened when one of the Bedouins guiding a camel offered to pay for Dan's watch. We've had countless locals offering to sell us things, but never a local offering to buy our things! Dan absolutely wasn't giving it up (it's like the best travel watch ever) but I sold him mine for a whopping $3. He happily paid the price while we wondered if we should have just given it to him for free (it was a cheapo one that I bought in Chinatown in KL). But I didn't want to offend him since he'd offered to pay, and he seemed pleased with the transaction, so we were happy to do him the favor. Apparently they don't get these items very readily around there.
At the end of our descent, we toured St. Katherine's Monastery, one of the oldest continuously-operating monasteries in the world, and also home to (what locals claim is) a descendent of the burning bush.
We actually missed it the first time since there's no sign, but luckily happened to take a picture of it.
We had a great time in Dahab, and were upset to depart so quickly. This is definitely a great spot to relax, do some snorkeling, and rest up before continuing on your journey.
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