Well its been a while…… two and a half months back in the UK saw MD working as a part time festival organiser, performer and painter/decorator…all and all pleasant enough, but largelt without incident. Come Oct 21st and the coldest day of Autumn so far, it was time to set sail again for sunnier skies…first stop the Sinai peninsular in Egypt. After enduring itchy feet since my return from Scandinavia I was hoping this next leg was going to be more intense than Europe…..
Dahab Oct 21st -26th 2010
The morning flight from Luton to Sharm-el-Sheik airport entailed a stay in a travel lodge near Luton airport the night before, and a 30 min walk from the train station through the cold and dark estates of the town to get there . I had been staying in London for a few days before hand and the changing of the seasons was apparent in the faces of the local population ….stress levels seemed higher on the tubes, people were layered up and suffering from the first waves of winter illness … dark by 6pm …a bleak scene…..I was ready to get out, and the night walk through Luton somehow felt like the last lap round the track at the end of an Olympic marathon……..
The next day a quick frost covered drive to the airport lead to a typically long queue at the easy jet check in …. after a 20 min wait in a huge line the staff tried to up sell “speadycheck in ” for a price of £19 pounds to the disgruntled “ regular check in “ customers .. This caused a round a blasphemous laughter as the speedy check in line was clearly in view and was just as backed up and understaffed as our own ….Rip off Britain in all its finery……..
5 hours later I was descending into Egypt along with members of my family, who I would be joining on a dive holiday in Dahab for the first 5 days of the trip before heading off to start solo adventures….a good way to say goodbye as I would be on the road for the following 6 months after leaving them.
The first sight of Sinai was inspiring. I had been reading TE Lawrence during the flight and the dark shapes of the Desert hills at dusk seemed ultra real as we flew closer in.
After coming through customs and buying a visa that none of the staff at the airport seemed to care or know if I should have, we met our with some other people from the dive group and formed a party of Seven. The next step was an hour cab ride from Sharm el; Sheik to the “Red Sea Relax Resort” in dahab…..
Two minutes of highway code madness made me remember how people drive in the developing world….I was sure by the end of the ride that if our driver was to take the UK theory test on Hazard perception he would have ended up with a negative score despite this being theoretically impossible…..ah back in the danger zone again!
The next few days consisted of mainly relaxing by the beach, doing some light snorkelling ( I wasn’t participating in the diving ) and regaining some of the colour in my skin that had faded since the end of summer……felt a bit strange having a relaxation week at the start of a big trip but you have to get the chill time in when you can. One late night drinking session in towns only Karaoke bar with an ex US special forces man, a Land rover enthusiast from Norfolk and a Gas worker from Newport was about a crazy as it got that week ….
Overall a good introduction to Egypt. Dahab was a very relaxed town and the accommodation I was staying in was likely to be the nicest on offer until I hit Australia the following summer… Also gave me a chance to brush up on some bartering skills that had not been called into use in almost a decade. The first few attempts on my part reminded me that one of the best tools in the 3rd world travel case is anger. Safe in the knowledge that my patience would be well an truly be tested by some of the worst tourist hustlers in the world in the following week, I allowed myself to relax as much as possible for the time being …even at inflated tourist rates Egypt was dirt cheap compared to Europe. Ironically though being a Moslem country the temptation to drink was not as prominent. There were less night spots meaning that I was likely I would be drinking less anyway …..I guess it all evens out in the end.
On my second last day I took a trip with my mom ( another non diver )to St Catherine’s protectorate , a Christian monastery at the foot of mount Sinai that pre dated Islam. The drive across the desert was spectacular, the ground changing from a rocky volcanic mars type landscape to a sandy lunar one straight out of Lawrence of Arabia. The monestary itself was typically crowded with tourists, this time Russian orthodox pilgrims rather than Japanese pensioners ….( .” hey anyone here like electric eel…errrh …Leningrad cowboys?”.
The chapel museum was the highlight. It contained various texts and paintings that dated back to the 6th century. The most impressive being a supposed original copy of the decree of protection Mohamed was said to have given the monastery during his rise to power in the area….the bottom section was said to display his hand print……okay maybe not entirely plausible but certainly more believable than the “original burning bush “ ( located outside) that Moses was said to have found on his way to discovering the 10 commandments ….hmmm didn’t seem even slightly singed to me ……
Spent the final morning in Dahab doing some last minute snorkelling on the local reef and saying goodbye to family ….next thing I knew I was on a bus leaving on an 18 hour night trip to Luxor and the valley of the kings …..Monkey Dolphin’s voyage was about to begin again in earnest…..
"One late night drinking session in towns only Karaoke bar with an ex US special forces man, a Land rover enthusiast from Norfolk and a Gas worker from Newport was about a crazy as it got that week". Trust you to hang out with three people with whom you have no obvious connection, Scrutes. Sounds like the sit for a sitcom.
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