Trip to Dahab Oct. 1-5, 2008

Oh My----It's the Sinai!

Monday, October 6, 2008

This is being written on Monday morning, approximately seven hours after our group of eleven
Sinai Peninsula explorers returned to Alexandria. In this blog I will attempt to give you a capsulized version of our trek through an ancient and historically significant land. Continued below.......

The pool area of the hotel complex in Dahab

Tamer (P.E. teacher) and his son, Noah--On the bus
Another shot on the bus(to the left is Seth..one of the new teachers)
One more time--pool area

Pool area from a different angle
Our budding actor friend who works at the hotel.

Minnesotans in the Desert
The Sinai in full bloom---or.....a pile of REALLY old rocks.

A hotel development-this is located on walkway past the hotel.
Another view of the same area-See the sea to the right..Si??
Marshmallow Motel
Moses---Where are you??????

Lone palm tree standing straight and tall

Is that Moses on the beach chair taking a breather?
The Red Sea----unparted--in the background--the mountains of Saudi Arabia
One if by land....two if by sea
What if Moses HAD stayed here???!!!
Young Egyptian maiden with windblown hair

Well, all right now.....let's begin. There were 5 couples (plus everyone's adopted son, Noah) on the trip eastward. (Seth and Kristal; Joseph and Lianne, Frank and Jane; Tamer, Jean, Noah; Kris and me). Tamer's brother works in the tourist industry and had arranged our trip for us. We rented a bus to take us to Dahab. This is where you should get out your maps. The Siani Peninsula is located to the east of mainland Egypt and is wedged between the Meditterean Sea to the north and the Red Sea to the west, south, and east. The Suez Canal slices it way from the city of Suez northward to Port Said. On the eastern border of the peninsula are located Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia.

Our destination was the small, formerly Bedouin city of Dahab, located in the southeastern corner of the Sinai Peninsula. It is just north of the fashionable, up-scale tourist resort area of Sharm El Sheikh. Although I'm not altogether sure, my guess would be that it's about 400-500 miles from Alex to Dahab.

We left school at about 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 1, and by the time we arrived in Dahab, it was about 3:30 p.m. Our route took us southward, around Cairo. We passed by the Pyramids (yes, THOSE pyramids), which in itself was quite a treat and a bit bizarre. Here we were on an Egyptian freeway, surrounded by 21st Century confusion and noise, and just a few miles away we could see these ancient marvels of mankind, seemingly somewhat out of place.

A couple hours east of Cairo we came to the city of Suez. In this area there is a lot of security, and we were asked to show our passports a couple of times. This is because of the Suez Canal, and it's also because of tourism. The Canal and the Sinai Peninsula are both high-profile targets for potential terrorists, so there are many boys with guns on both sides of the Canal.

There is a tunnel under the Canal, and this is what we took to get to the Peninsula. Before doing that, however, we took a "pit-stop" at a local "Holiday Station-store" in Suez. That's an experience, too, but I won't get into that in this blog entry. The tunnel under the Canal is perhaps a mile in length. Once through, we began the long journey across this famous land of sand that Moses and his buddies wandered through thousands of years ago. The desert photos above tell it all.....there is a whole lot of NOTHING in the Sinai. In some ways it reminded us of southern Arizona, except that in AZ there are desert plants such as cacti. There are VERY few plant of any sort that we could see. Just lots and lots and lot of rocks.... Very few villages....

We did come across a group of camels wandering around the middle of all this sand and rocks. They probably belonged to the Bedouins who live in the area. Until fairly recently the Bedouins were really the ONLY folks who lived in this area, but within the past 20-30 years the tourists have begun to come to the Red Sea resort areas along the coast. However, as far as I know, there are VERY few people living in the heart of the Sinai..there just isn't much there. And yet....think of all the bloodshed that has taken place over the years as various countries have fought to wrest control of this triangular piece of hot rocks from each other.

We reached the the eastern border of the Peninsula early on Wednesday afternoon. There are two branches of the Red Sea that fork to the west and east of the Peninsula. The Gulf of Suez is on the west, while the Gulf of Aqaba is on the east side. We came to the city of Taba on the far north end of the Gulf of Aqaba. This is the area where Egypt, Israel, and Jordan intersect. From there we journeyed southward past the area of St. Catherine's Monastery. This monastery is older than Bob Smith, believe me....it's the area where Moses supposedly saw the Burning Bush. Unfortunately, we did not have time to visit it, nor were we able to climb Mt. Sinai, but that's another story.

Finally, in mid-afternoon we arrived in Dahab....As I mentioned before, this small city was really just a Bedouin community up until fairly recently. From what I've been able to learn, when the Israelis had control of the Sinai back in the 70's and 80's, they began to develop it as a tourist area. The Egyptians, once they had re-gained possession of the Peninsula about 25 years ago, have continued to develop it as a tourist area.

Our hotel, and for the life of me I can't think of the name of it right now, is a brand-new one, opened within the past two months. It is right on the sea, just foosteps from the shoreline. There is a walkway that runs along the shore in both directions for perhaps 4 miles and made for a wonderful walk/run path. To the north were the restuarants and shops selling everything under the sun. To the south, mostly undeveloped land, perfect for a solitary early-morning jog.

The tourists come from many places, but according to someone I talked to, many of them are British, Australian, other Europeans, and also a fair number of Americans. Most of them, of course, are there for the sea, and almost all of them are also there to go scuba diving or snorkeling. The Red Sea has a well-deserved reputation as one of the world's most magnificent underwater treasures, with crystal-clear warm water and a cacophony of colorful coral and sea-life.

Thus, on our second day in Dahab, we donned scuba and snorkeling swimwear and "parted" the Red Sea. Two of the couples in our group are experienced scuba divers, while the rest of us did the Snorkle Shuffle. There is an area just a few miles from Dahab known as the Blue Hole; that's exactly what it is. Just offshore, next to the coral reef, the bottom drops off and there is this relatively narrow space(perhaps a hundred yards wide) where you can go down, down, down for hundreds of feet. This area is perfect for scuba and snorkeling enthusiasts; if you keep close to the reef you can see an abundant variety of plant and animal life.

The scuba dudes went down under for an hour, while the snorkel gang floated along the edge of the reef, passing over the Blue Hole as we did so. This was the first time I've ever gone snorkeling using proper equipment, and it was a fabulous experience, As I looked about in all directions, I almost felt as though I was watching a underwater documentary on the Discovery Channel, except that I was actually experiencing it in the here and now. Lots of fruity-colored fishies swimming within inches of me, some of them bass-like with stripes, others pencil-thin. It was also the first time I've been up close and personal to a collection of coral. At one point we floated right over the reef, just inches above it, and got a first-hand look at this oddly-shaped sea cemetary. It was a treat for this Midwestern boy.

We had thought about climbing Mt. Sinai and visiting St. Catherine's Monastery, but the sea kept calling us. We really didn't have all that much time, and we wanted to spend the bulk of it just walking, talking, chewing, with not so much "doing". We read, we swam, we walked, and that is exactly what we had come to do. We ate at several sea-side restaurants downing some delicious fish and calamari, among other goodies.

One interesting sidelight; one day we came across a wandering camel on the walkway to Dahab. It apparently had wandered from its owner and decided to take a stroll past the same touristy hangouts we were passing. At one point it must have gotten a bit thirsty and so dipped its snout into a swimming pool and snorked up a snoot-ful of water. Lots of cats in the area, too.

The trip back to Alex on Sunday proved to be somewhat eventful. We left at about 9:30 a.m. and hoped to be back at school by perhaps 7:00 p.m. That was not to be......Our bus broke down about 80 miles from Alex. This was at about 7:30 p.m., I suppose...By the time a replacement bus had been ordered, it must have been 10:30-11:00 p.m., and we didn't arrive back at school until after midnight......

We spent a wonderful, rest-filled three days in Dahab, and despite the long hours spent on the bus, it was well worth the time it took to get there. Now, we have the rest of today (Monday) off and then return to school tomorrow.