Busride to Dahab

After a looooong 10 hour midnight bus ride from Cairo to Dahab, we finally made it. The ride itself was pretty awful. We kept ourselves awake all night so that we'd sleep on the bus... or so we thought. We load the bus at 12:15 and we crash pretty much once we settled in. At 2 a.m. they start blasting an Arabic version on Grease on the TV. The color is awful, the sound is even worse, and to top it off, the one light they leave on in the bus is above my head.

Every hour or so we stop. Passport check. seat check. Check point check. Poor Kate isn't feeling well and is constantly being woken up by all the commotion. If you drove a car from Cairo to Dahab it would only take 5 hours. It took us double. This is the way of Egypt.

Sunrise over the desert however, was spectacular. With nothing in its way, the sun beams over the horizon- just a huge ball of fire turning the beige sand orange. And then as if out of nowhere, the mountains began. Large brown piles of jutting rock. So tall and massive. And then, as if the landscape couldn't be more breathtaking, the Red Sea begins. Welcome to Sinai.

In 1948, Egyptian forces passed through Sinai on their way to invade the newly-created state of Israel based on a United Nations partition dividing the land between the Jews and the Arabs. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Israeli forces entered the north-eastern corner of Sinai, but withdrew shortly after, following British and American pressure. Under the terms of the 1949 Armistice Agreement, Sinai, together with the Gaza Strip, remained under Egyptian control, although parts of it were demilitarized.

In 1956, Egypt used its control of Sinai to impose a blockade on the Israeli port of Eilat. Following this, Israeli forces, aided by Britain and France (which sought to regain control over the Suez Canal) invaded Sinai, and took control over the entire peninsula within a few days. Several months later, Israel withdrew its forces from Sinai, following strong American and Soviet pressure. Following this, the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF), was stationed in Sinai to prevent any military occupation of the Sinai.

In 1967, Egypt reinforced its military presence in Sinai, renewed the blockade on Eilat, and on May 16 ordered the UNEF out of Sinai effective immediately. In response Israel initiated the Six-Day War in which, the Egyptian army was defeated, and Israel took control over the entire peninsula. The Suez Canal, whose east bank was now controlled by Israel, was closed.

In 1979 Israel and Egypt signed a peace treaty, in which Israel agreed to transfer all control over Sinai to Egypt, despite the fact that large amounts of oil reserves had recently been found in the region. Subsequently, Israel pulled out of Sinai in several stages, ending in 1982. The Israeli pull-out involved the dismantling almost all of the Israeli settlements including the town of Yamit in north-eastern Sinai. The exception was Ofira, which became the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. (which we stopped in on the bus, but didn't go to- hardcore party town, and we are not hardcore partiers- we stayed in Dahab)

Dahab is a small town situated on the southeast coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Formerly a Bedouin fishing village, located approximately 62 miles northeast of Sharm el-Sheikh. Dahab is still considered to be one of the Sinai's most treasured diving destinations.

Today Dahab has examples of cultures from around the world, a multi national group of people have decided to settle in Dahab or have made this their second home. This gives Dahab an interesting mix and a very continental flavor.

The second largest population group in Dahab is made up of Bedouin Tribes who settled here some 800 years ago. In the past 30 years they have seen much change, some has had a positive impact on their lifestyle while some of it has been negative. The Jeep has long replaced the camel as the transport method of choice (but some still do- I saw 'em!), but fortunately the Bedouin Culture in Dahab has remained largely intact for now, with Assalah being the Bedouin Village.

In Dahab today there are around 10,000 Bedouin people made up mostly from The Muzzeina Tribe. In addition there are about 20,000 people here from the rest of Egypt and around 3,000 people living or working here from all over the world.

Bedouins are REALLY interesting. Bedouins are Arabic speaking nomadic tribes that originate from the Arabian Peninsula (mainly Saudi Arabia) and would travel the desert to locations where they would find food and water, sometimes traveling for days before they arrived at their final destinations. Each tribe would have an area of land under their responsibility from which they would make income by allowing travelers and traders to pass through. As knowledgeable guides of the desert they controlled the desert trade routes, and escorted caravans. Almost all those who live in Dahab, minus the expats who work at the dive stores, are Bedouins.

So we check in to our hotel ("Seventh Heaven," whatever that means) and go to find some breakfast. It's not hard to find. It's not tourist season so every restaurant is dying for business, giving you great deals. We settled on a place right on the water (literally) and had some yummy eggs, foul (type of delicious bean dish) and falafel. We then just walk around most of the afternoon to get our bearings and find the dive center where we would be renting our equipment for tomorrow's big excursion.

Sunset came quickly after roaming the beaches all afternoon and we headed for a rooftop deck for dinner. We had the best fruit smoothies and pizza. The view was fantastic- across from us is Saudi Arabia, to the left of us Jordan and Israel... but all around us amazingly turquoise water. At this point, I felt like the biggest hippie of all time. Jack Johnson music playing in the background. Small cats and dogs lounging everywhere, and the three of us just sipping smoothies (I can't emphasize enough how good these were) on the rooftop deck over the Red Sea. Kind of ridiculous, but I took it all in and just enjoyed being a part of the moment.

After dinner we did a bit of shopping. The stores were pushy, but not too pushy. I got some things for my friends, and then we headed to the hookah store, where one of Nic and Kate's roommate said we had to go. Enter: Omar, Master of Shisha.

Now, before I begin telling you about my experiences with hookah/shisha, I'd like to clear up what it is...

A hookah is a multi-stemmed, glass-based water pipe device for smoking flavored tobacco, originating from India. From India, it was made popular as the form we now see it in today in Turkey and Egypt. (so yes, FLAVORED TOBACCO. Nothing else. Amen, and let's move on)

So back to Omar: Master of Sheesha. This dude is one crazy guy. He is very good friends with Nic and Kate's roomie, so he was very warm and welcoming and invited us in to smoke. Now, I'm not a smoker by any means, but hookah is a very fun communal thing, and is enjoyable every once in awhile. The flavored tobacco he had was apple with a bit of mint. I wish I could explain the experience more, but it's difficult. He has two videos on YouTube, if you're really interested. Anyway, we spent a lot of time with him and he's a very nice, yet crazy guy. You must see the pictures below of Nic with Omar kiving him "Shisha Kisses." Wild.

After the craziness of Omar: The Master of Shisha, we went back to the hotel and crashed.