Shishas, snorkling and splashing in the red sea; Dahab

Feeling revived after a free afternoon in Luxor, we all put on our fancy clothes and met in the foyer at half 5 for an evening tour of Luxor temple. The temple of Luxor is close to the Nile and parallel with the riverbank. King Amenhotep III who reigned 1390-53 BC built this beautiful temple and dedicated it to Amon-Re, king of the gods, his consort Mut, and their son Khons. The group then headed to a local resturaunt for a buffet searching traditional Egyptian food from delicious egg mashed egg plant to strange little sugary backava. Whilst dining there was also an in house silver jeweler selling beautiful pendants which I had couldn’t resist. 

The next morning some woke earlier than others opting for a 4 am ballon ride over the nile whilst we chose not to having already done one in Capadocia. So for a 6am wake up for the rest of us we piled into the bus and headed off to explore The Valley of The Kings; Where the ancient Egyptians built massive public monuments to their pharaohs. But they also spent time and treasure creating hidden underground mausoleums that no one was ever meant to see. This was the most famed collection of such elaborate tombs and lies on the Nile’s west bank near Luxor. Evening the Playing field we then headed onto The Valley of the Queens which was located on the West Bank at Luxor (ancient Thebes). There are between 75 and 80 tombs in the Valley of the Queens, or Biban al-Harim. These belong to Queens of the 18th, 19th and 20th Dynasties. Visiting a souvenir factory on the way back to the hotel then we headed out to a local eatery before jumping on the over night train back to Cairo. This time however Dan and I chose not to upgrade and were placed in the seater cart. Now as bad as I expected…I’m more used to Indian style seater which is cramped and hectic with hundreds of bodies squeezed together, however what we received was old, ruined leather reclining chairs with a good amount of leg room. It was full but all passengers had seats, however some chose to sit on the arm rests of other chairs and awkwardly watch us sleep. Noisy and bright, I somehow managed to sleep a good part of the 10 hour journey which pulled into Cairo just after 9am. 

Meeting up with the rest of the group back at the hotel we went to visit the Egyptian museum in Cairo which contains the world’s most extensive collection of pharaonic antiquities; no visit to Egypt is complete without a trip through its galleries. The original collection was established in the late 19th century under Auguste Mariette and housed in Boulaq. Several hours consumed looking at the incredible collection we finally hit the bustling markets full of jewelry, belly dancing outfits, shishas, clothes, art work and souvenirs…I was overwhelmed and couldn’t work out which direction to walk in and by the time I got my bearings unfortunately I had to return to meet the rest of the group! Heading out that night for our very last group meet we drank the evening away and smoked apple favored shishas until Haytham ushered us back int the van for home. 

The wake up call sounded at 4am for our early departure to Dahab which was intend to be about a 10 hour drive. 2 movies and about 8 toilet breaks later the 7 of us left, Haythem and another new 6 people who joined, finally arrived to the red sea at about 4pm. Our 5 favorites happen to those that stayed on; the ‘other’, our beautiful token yank Toni who had me in fits of laughter the entire time, the ‘newly married’ a beautiful Aussie couple Peta and Simon, and the ‘best friends’, two lovely and very trendy English/Pakistani girls. The road south east was long, windy and very deserted. The rocky mountains followed us the entire way to the ocean as to did a police escort (due to the unrest of Egypt at the moment it was mandatory). Our hotel was beautiful, right on the red sea but a little bit out of Dahab centre where all of the resteraunts and shops. With that said; the evening was spent in the town centre which reminded me a lot of Bordrum (turkey) with a few Nepalese influences. All set along the water with quirky names, bright lights and cushions it was very tourist friendly and easy to be in. Complete with BYO of $3 vodka…it was a cheap but tasty evening! 

The next morning we were picked up by three jeeps, Toni, Dan and I rode wind blown and rowdy the entire scenic route along the red sea. It was incredible, again the sandy rocks lined the beautiful blue beaches, as camels raced by and the occasional extravagant hotel would spread across the shores, the sun shone and it was smiles all round. Pulling into the blue hole; one of the beaches, it was more touristic and lined with cafes, snorkelers and divers…but for good reason. We spent the day soaring across the top of the waters, flippers on and goggles down; there was a giant reef just off the shores that was covered in coral and hundreds of fish! Definitely the most I have ever seen, it was memorizing and beautiful, hours had passed and I was in a world of my own listing to the faint clicking as the pretty creatures nibbled on the coral. 

Back in town that night, again stopping at he bottle shop along the way, Dan and i indulged in a delicious seafood platter and perhaps accompanied this with a few too many strong vodkas. The rest of the group headed back whilst dan and I rebelled, making our guide and another girl that had joined the group for a few more rounds and some shisha! Turns out this cheap vodka was cheap for good reason, Dan and I woke 12 hours later to the 2pm sunshine burning our sleeping headaches. Moving extremely slowly out of bed the rest of the afternoon was spent at the hotel; indulging in a delicious Thai curry and splashing in the red sea at the resort. Our original plan had been to take advantage of the quad biking, more snorkeling and sailing…obviously all was dismissed in our slumber states. That eve, like the others we headed back into town for our final super with the group at Aladdin’s. All of the restaurants seem to cater for a broad spectrum, ranging from western, to traditional Egyptian cuisine and most importantly delicious fresh fish! After dinner Dan, Toni, Peta and I decided to browse a few shops; unfortunately not as cheap as the rest of Egypt and unwilling to haggle their high prices we all left pretty soon. Negotiating with a cab for the ride home we agreed on a fare price…what we through was for a normal car, however pregnant Peta was out in the front and the three of us jumped in the back of ute, uncomfortable but careless we laughed it away. Home just before 12, we said our sad goodbyes and headed off to our room to pack up, accidentally falling asleep for a mere half hour we were woken by our 2am call to board our early bus. 

Stumbling out, Dan and I were met by Haytham and passed onto another On the Go representative who was to drive us in our private mini van to catch our Ferry into Jordan.