Diving & Dahab

The desert is beautiful. Much more dramatic and interesting than I ever thought it would be (and we all know how much I love drama!) My time there was far too short but now that I know what my options are, I can always plan my adventure back. If anyone is looking to do a Gilf Kibeer trip, 30 days in the Egyptian desert crossing Sudanese and Libyan borders, carrying any and everything you need with you, caravanning via tripped out Land Cruisers, count me in. Looks likes a seriously tough adventure that I must add to the to-do wish list. Any takers? Let me know!

But no trip to Egypt is complete without a dip in those clear and alive with coral waters; I was keen to get my diving boots back on. That first night back in Cairo, I stayed with a new friend who I met somewhere in Al Quseir. She and her companions were lost and I showed them the way. I know, hey? Couldn’t believe it either! I knew where I was going! Shocking. Anyway, she’s a teacher at the American College in Cairo, been in the area for a couple of years now, come stay anytime you’re in Cairo invite. I was in Cairo. BEAUTIFUL, HUGE, apartment in the loveliest district in Cairo paid for by the school, two cuddly, curious kitties to check me out, and everything was clean, clean, I’m at home, clean. Not the least bit awkward considering we had previously only spent a grand total of 5 minutes together. Really interesting woman and her hospitality was SO appreciated. I slept like an Egyptian Queen.

Had planned to get a move on down to Dahab the next day but was feeling disorganized so moved back into the hostel from my first stay in Cairo (so that I wasn’t imposing) and spent the day sorting out my venture to the Sinai peninsula. I REALLY like Cairo but was super excited for some beach, do nothing time. The next day, big ole 10 hour bus trip to Dahab.

Several police checks and at one point, crossing into Sinai proper, we all had to get off the bus, take our bags out from under the bus, and stand guiltily in line, passports out, while a fluffy and bored German Shepard sniffed our belongings. No contraband, no terrorists, no drama. Shame. So piled back in and on we go. Found my way to the hostel that was recommended to me in Cairo and yep, I’m here for a while. Dumped the bag and off I went for a walk. Again, as in most of Egypt, deserted resorts, empty restaurants, quiets shops. It’s kinda sad to see such beautiful property abandoned and going to waste. Even though there is obviously very little business around, I wasn’t hassled in the least. One nice, long, westernized strip along the water front of all of the hotels, hostels, and restaurants, then a parallel street with all of the markets, shops, and more local food restaurants, then a road that led off towards the real people world. The most relaxed, chilled out vibe ever. I can see how people get stuck here.

Planned to spend maybe three days there, ended up staying for seven. Walked, wandered, dived, hung out in the sun, did nothing, met people, napped, watched the water, and loved every minute of it. A holiday from my travelling and I’ve only been on the road a short time. Highly recommended to ALL!

Diving was the main reason for going and it didn’t disappoint. Didn’t really know what to expect but I was a happy girl to be in the water. Had to readjust for how floaty we are in the salty sea but clear, clear, see forever clear. Different than the other parts of Africa, not many fish, but the coral is incredible. Oh, and apparently I truly am a princess diver now. While most can dive Egypt in one long 5mm wetsuit, I was diving with one long 5mm, a short 5mm over top of that, and a hood but was teeth chattering blue coming out of each dive. Lots of head shaking and laughing at me under the water as I cruised along giggling, talking, and SHIVERRING the whole way. Big, big baby I am.

Not many divers at the shop I was with so after a very long but somewhat uneventful dive, I inquired about potentially more “dramatic” sites. Their famous Canyon and Blue Hole were stunning so to do coral cruises after that was a bit ho-hum. As we got to choose our dive sites because there were so few of us, they surprised me with a wicked-ass cave dive (open ended, no claustrophobic closed in for this girl) where we launched ourselves into the surf off of the ledge of this underground overhang and explored some fantastically dramatic territory. It was AWESOME! The perfect combo of fear, adrenaline, and utterly awesome scenery. Again, not a lot of fish but the topography was just amazing. Thanks for taking such good care of me, Penguin Divers. Let’s do it again soon!

I was getting stuck in Dahab. Having trouble making that final decision to pack up the bag and go, it was just so comfortable there. But I did it, I arranged my trip to hike Mt. Sinai and I was off. There were some words of caution as I had been diving deep that morning and would be climbing to 2500 meters only 14 hours later but it was a chance I was willing to take. I want to see the sun rise on Mt. Sinai.

So the trip to climb Mt. Sinai and visit St. Catherine’s Monastery (that’s at the base of the mountain) is now a thoroughly regulated tourist trap unless you’re on some kind of religious pilgrimage. I tried every which way and upside down to find a local bus, a different schedule, something that wouldn’t have me shoved into a bus full of us dorky travelers but there were no options to be had, unless I will willing to pay a fortune. I didn’t have a fortune. So the deal is you hand over a SMALL fortune, are herded into a tourist minibus with like-minded foreigners at 11pm, drive 2+ hours to the mountain, pay some more money, are given a guide (that you don’t need), are told to stick together (SUPREMELY annoying) and are herded up the mountain like goats. Not the nicest experience BUT it is what you make of it, right?

Had loads of laughs hiking up with 2 English folk and an Aussie, tried to engage a young Chinese girl but her English was limited and she was focused on powering up the mountain, met four Colombians who had just spent 3 months volunteering on a kibbutz in Israel, and the most amazing French girl who has done a year of volunteer work in India with plans to do more. Our group scattered, split up, regrouped, and carried on several times over the hike as we were passed by or overtook dozens and dozens of orthodox pilgrims coming to see the mountain for much more admirable reasons than my desire to simply see what the fuss was all about.

Crowded, fairly steep mountain path illuminated by a FULL moon (yay! Perfect timing!) with little shops selling drinks, snacks, and souvenirs set up every few hundred meters and offers to ride a “cam-eel? cam-eel? cam-eel?” up the hill every few seconds. So many people, a kind of organized chaos, but an encounter of a lifetime all the same. To scramble atop this spectacular mountain and watch the sunrise hearing the singing and praying of the religious zealots in the background as they appreciate the scenery for reasons far too saintly for me made it all worth it. Crowded and touristy? Yes? Would I do it again? For sure. It was just so beautiful.

Taking a different route down, just me and the inspiring French girl, we plopped and picked our way down an endless series of steps and boulders. Different scenery, just as breath-taking, knees and thighs screaming for mercy the whole way, and over-tired delirium settling in quickly. You are picked up from your hotel at 11pm, start your hike around 1:30am, end up back down at the bottom by the Monastery around 7:30am but the Monastery doesn’t open until 9am and the bus to bring you back to Dahab isn’t coming until 10am. You’ve been awake pushing 24hrs at this point, hiked up 2500metres or so, are stiff, sore, alternating between freezing cold and stinking, sweaty hot, and verging ever so slightly on grouchy but the oldest still functioning Monastery in the world, so yeah, I guess I’ll stick around. I think I fell asleep sitting upright on the concrete ground with my eyes open several times, but I’m gonna see this place if it kills me!

It was a Monastery. Very pretty, very old, very tiny, the fabled burning bush is inside and some other significant Biblical reference kinds of things that I sadly should have learned about, but a quick 15 minute jaunt through and I was done. I am one tired, aching cookie. I want to go now, please.

Dahab and Sinai a must see. Diving, hiking… life is good. While I’m super excited about Jordan, I will miss Egypt. Egypt has been VERY good to me.