After an 8 hour bus trip from Cairo, a couple of stops in the baking Sinai desert and loads of military checkpoints, we finally got to Dahab by 5pm. It’s a chilled little place on the Red Sea Coast full of hippy types, travellers and backpackers. It’s the cheap Sharm-el-Sheik.
Got a room from a dodgy tout at the bus stop, well it’s more like a shed on the beach. Looks like a great place tho’. Unpacked and hit the beach. Spent the evening in the bar chatting to a Canadian and a bunch of Brits.
The guy that runs the place we’re staying at is constantly trying to flog us a dive trip or, even better, the full 5 day open water course. We’re booked up to dive in Sharm, so keep turning him down as nicely as we can. Just over the water you can see the desert mountains of Saudi Arabia. A totally different place from the laid back atmosphere here in Dahab. It doesn’t look far across the sparkling sea of the Gulf of Aqaba.
We were told that a couple pissed Brits got it into their heads one day to pedalo across to the other side. They made it to the far shore and were promptly arrested by the Saudi border police and jailed for 3 months. Whoa ! Keep away from the pedalos !
Next day, hired snorkelling kit and headed off to explore the legendary reefs. Even with just a snorkel and mask, the coral is stunning. Spent a few hours floating about watching the fish and diving down to get a closer look.
Walked back along the beach in the burning sun to our little hut to clean up before an evening out at the Ship, a large bar built inside a replica ship. Legs are starting to sting a bit, think I may have some sunburn.
Be Jaysus, am I sunburned. Woke up this morning stinging like a bastard. The backs of my legs are burned up. I wore a t-shirt snorkelling yesterday, but, like a fool, the suncream on the back of my legs washed off in the surf. My lilly-white office legs were exposed to the full fierceness of the high Egyptian sun. Whoa does it hurt. I mean real pain. I can barely walk and am hobbling about like an invalid. Slapping on the aftersun like there’s no tomorrow. Shit. Not good !
The beach bars and restaurants are cool, with rugs and cushions arranged around low tables. The atmosphere is chilled and friendly. The waiters and bar staff hand out ‘cat guns’ – bottles of water with slits cut inthe top – so we can ward off marauding feral cats with a squirt of water. An unguarded plate is pretty quickly raided by a stealthy little minx.
The sea is calm and the weather hot. We eat out on the beach, sunbathe, read and relax. It’s a great.
So yeah... 