Dahab and Mt. Sinai

We arrived in Dahab on the east coast of the Sinai Peninsula at about 2:30 pm after a full night of travel. We checked in to a nice hotel on the beach, splurging at $12 per night and promptly had a nap. A few hours later we were up and about, exploring Dahab which our Lonely Planet calls “the Koh Samui of Egypt”. Anyone who has been to Thailand’s islands will know what this means. The beach section is lined with small hotels, pensions, and restaurants and is almost exclusively populated with backpackers and other budget travelers. Diving is very popular here and there are many dive shops offering different excursions from wreck dives to camel safaris. Across the straight, Saudi Arabia is visible: as dry and stark as the Sinai Peninsula itself. Between the boardwalk and the sea there are dozens of restaurant seating areas, which are mostly low tables surrounded by cushions and floors of colourful rugs. Here you can order anything from a hamburger and fries to a milkshake. Does it feel like the Egypt we’ve seen so far? No. Is it relaxing? Very.

The next day, for the price of a tall, soy, extra hot, no water tazo chai latte (for which I would almost kill for right now, by the way), we got a lift in a jeep to a popular snorkeling spot and snorkeling equipment for the day. The site is called Blue Hole and appropriately so. Just feet from the shore, the coral reef suddenly drops away to a depth of 100 metres. The reef circles around, creating the “hole” but the ocean side is shallow enough that you can swim over top and explore the outside of the reef as well. My snorkeling experience is pretty limited but I never expected to see what we did. We were surrounded by tens of thousands of beautiful fish in colours that I don’t think there are even names for. We saw everything from tiny bright blue minnows to huge grouper-like fish almost three feet long. We saw puffer fish and parrot fish, long needle fish and angel fish and lots of different jellyfish. It was like being in the fish tank at Big Al’s (Oakville reference), but better. Speaking of fish, we had a really nice fish dinner on the beach at Dahab that night.

The next day we had a rare morning and afternoon of doing nothing. We walked the boardwalk, checked out the windsurfers down the beach, talked to other travelers, and lounged in the restaurants drinking mango and yogurt shakes and listening to Jack Johnson and David Gray. At around 6pm we went down for a nap because at 11pm a minibus came and picked us up for the two hour drive to the base of Mt. Sinai.

Some of you may know the significance of this mountain and some may not. Legend has it that God spoke to Moses through a burning bush on this summit. Now it is a common pilgrimage for the faithful as well as a popular place for others to climb to view the rising sun. There are two routes to the summit: a trail which is an easy walk and for which you can even hire a camel to carry you, and a steep staircase consisting of 3,750 steps that was built by some devoted monk as a means of repentance. We decided to take the stairs up and the trail down and it seemed as though we were the only ones who chose this route. For almost and hour and a half we climbed by the light of the moon and our Petzl headlamps up through a steep gorge and towards the summit.

We thought that when we arrived at the summit we would find dozens of people already there. We were surprised to learn that we were the first to arrive. Looking down into the valley we could see the lights of the camels and their passengers snaking their way up the mountain. Some of the entrepreneurial Bedouin people who live in this area rent out sleeping mats (we think also used by camels in the off-season) so got a couple of those, layered on the clothing and climbed into our silk sleeping bag liner for a couple of hours of sleep. When we woke a little while later we found that the camel processions had made their way to the summit and there were 100 or more people sharing the view with us. Luckily, our Bedouin friend had ensured we had the best spot in the house, and we sat in our bed and watched the sun rise over the mountains and through the sand-filled atmosphere.

By the time we got back to Dahab it was noon and time for another nap followed by a feeding and a bit of lounging and book reading. Next adventure is a five day trip to Jordan to see Petra and the desert of Wadi Rum.

Also check out the "Food" section of this site for the low down on Egyptian fare.

Photos:
The Cursed Sheesha
Camel at Blue Hole
Brandy with Bedouin Girl
Night on Mt. Sinai
Sinai Sunrise
View from Mt. Sinai
View of Mt. Katherine