Now that I spent most the day sleeping I'm ready to write about Dahab.
We left around midnight on Thursday and arrived in Dahab 8 hours later. Our rooms weren't ready right away so we ate breakfast at the hotel. They had an outdoor eating area right on the water. It was a really clear day so we could see Saudi Arabia across the water. I didn't realize how close Saudi was (and I'm glad it was clear the first day because the other days it was too cloudy to see). We rode horses on the beach for like an hour then spent the rest of the day hanging out by the beach. We snorkeled a little. I saw coral for the first time! Then we took a long nap before dinner because we were leaving around midnight to drive to Mount Sinai. I had the catch of the day, red snapper, for dinner. It was delicious. I've been a little hesitant to eat seafood in Cairo so it was nice to have good fish.
It took around 2 hours to get to Mount Sinai, and it was freezing when we got there. We started climbing a little before 3 am, and it took around 3 hours to get to the top. We took a lot of breaks, but it was still super hard, especially since we hadn't really slept the night before. And I kept vacillating between being hot from climbing to cold when we took breaks. Hiking up the mountain in the pitch black was interesting as well. We made it to the top just in time for the sun to rise which was really cool. I took a bunch of pictures, so check those out (though for some reason they're out of order). There was even snow on top of the mountain (probably the only snow I will see while in Egypt) so I saw the beach and snow in the same day. The walk down was much better than the way up. That took a little less than 2 hours and we could talk and relax a lot more. Then we went inside St. Catherine's monastery, saw the Burning Bush, and went home. I slept for about 5 hours after that, which felt great. Then I went to a bar with some kids from AUC who were also in Dahab for the weekend and eventually got dinner. I had barracuda! The food overall was kind of expensive throughout the weekend, but it was really good.
On Sunday, we had a nice breakfast again on the water (all of the restaurants are on a strip right on the beach). I had a banana milkshake that was one of the best things I've ever eaten. Then we piled into a jeep and drove to Blue Hole to snorkel in the Red Sea. The snorkeling was even better than when we had done it the day before. There were so many cool, brightly colored fish that weren't phased at all by people swimming around. The coral was really pretty, and the water was so blue. Coming back in the jeep we chatted with some Danish guys and the driver took a picture of Olinda and I while driving the car (kind of scary...) After showering we got ice cream and hookah then ate dinner and packed up. We took the bus home with some other AUC kids to save money. I tried to sleep but was generally unsuccessful. We got home around 6:30, and I slept for a long time...
I have some nice tans lines, since I was able to wear a bikini on the beach (the first time my shoulders saw the light of day since going to Egypt). Overall the weekend was really relaxing. Dahab is beautiful and it was nice to get away from Cairo for a few days.
Now I have to get back into school mode after having a 4 day weekend. Luckily I only have one class tomorrow. And I might be skipping my classes on Thursday because a friend here arranged for a bunch of us to get a tour of the American Embassy and talk to people who work there and I figure that's worth missing 2 classes. So I might have a 2 day week. Pretty nice.
On a un-Dahab related note, as of this morning I'm officially returning to Sandy Hill for the summer. I didn't feel like having to find and apply for an internship while 7 hours ahead of the East Coast, and it's my last summer for graduating (and this way I won't be pasty white at Douglas's wedding!). But I'm not working for as many weeks as I usually do, so all of you who miss me terribly while I'm in Africa, don't fear- I will be home plenty!
Ok, homework time!
Posts
