Penguins Far From Home

Day 82:

Being in Dahab was the perfect remedy for our travels. After two and a half months of mad-dash travel (never more than 5 days in one location), we arrived in Egypt knowing that we had 24 days for just 4 locations. A mental burden was lifted off of our shoulders, and we responded by doing very little for 5 days.

Our lodging was the Penguin Hostel, which Mosleh from the Cleopetra had reccomended. He also gave me a name and a password. We arrived with half a dozen other travelers, and I asked "Is Emad here?"

A friendly guy who seemd to be in charge responded, "I am Emad."

"Hallah wallah!"

"Mosleh my friend, hallah wallah! You get the special deal from Mosleh!"

Another traveler inquired if he would be recieiving the special as well.

"No, only these two. But everybody gets a free drink at the restaurant!"

With a start like that, you know its going to be good. As the waves splashed on the rocks beside us, Morgan and I sipped our hibscus cocktails and chatted with the international contingent of friends we had made on the minibus. Our brains slipped into autopilot knowing that there would be very little decision making in the next few days.



Decision making is one of the root causes of a infirmity I will call "Traveler's Stress." Even though we are vacation, many days are more stressful and tiring than a day of work at home. Morgan dreads getting off the bus in a new town, because it means more decisions while dealing with a mass of taxi drivers and hotel touts. The cure? Other than a trip to Mt. Sinai, and one afternoon snorkeling, we wiled our days away reading and playing backgammon on the terrace of the Penguin Restaurant.

Though most tour companies push for the sunrise tour of Mt. Sinai we opted for the sunset tour based on a fellow traveler's reccomendation. It is a two hour drive and a 2-3 hour hike, depending on the speed of your tour group, so sunrise tours depart at 11pm each night. They hike in the dark after no sleep, and then wait atop the freezing summit for two hours on the small piece of land they have secured from the other several hundred tourists. We have it on authority from a group of very tired and disshevelled Aussies. Fortunately, we laid in relative warmth napping and chatting for a few hours until he 5pm sunset. Then we descended as the sky drew dark and the stars came out. A really nice day.



On our last full day in Dahab, we decided to finally get out and do something. We headed for the Blue Hole, a legendary snorkeling and diving spot. It is basically a ring of coral a hundred meters or so in diameter, with the center dropping down goodness know how deep. The coral is close to the surface, and then continues as a living wall down into the depths on all sides of the hole. Once in the water, you basically feel like a charcter from Finding Nemo. It's like the fish tank at On-Rice, but we were swimming with all of them. I can only say that I wish we had done more of it. At one point I was swimming with a group of half a dozen lionfish (picture to come, maybe), thinking "Oh, I thought these were poisonous. I guess there would be signs if that were the case." Turns out they are poisonous, but they just cause high levels of pain, not death. At any rate, I think my only regret about Dahab is not snorkeling more.

What was the best thing about Dahab? Not Mt. Sinai. Not the snorkeling. No, the best thing about Dahab (and I imagine all of Egypt), is the price. Falafel sandwiches for $0.60. Chicken, rice, soup, vegetables, salad, pita, and tahini dinner for two? $4 US. Boo. Yah.



I will write more about adventured in Cairo and crossing the border into Egypt in the next few days. For now, give each other a Hallah Wallah for us this week!