Monday, September 3, 2007

Sinai: you wouldn't catch me wandering about here for forty years

Heading from Cairo to the Sinai, by bus (not the same restrictions up here), you are immediately back into the desert. And lines of cannons and anti-aircraft missiles at the ready, as you near the Suez Canal. Fairly heavy military presence.

Dipping under the Suez Canal through a tunnel does more than take you to the Sinai. We actually cross from Africa to Asia. Glimpses of the Gulf of Suez sparkle; the rest is harsh desert with stark, short, steep, rock hills.

The bus takes us to the south of the Sinai Peninsula, to the sea-side tourist resorts town of Sharm El-Sheikh. With a couple of hours wait, we taxied down to town for refreshment. Long enough.

We're heading to the village of Dahab. As we await our bus, a huge, blood-red, full moon rises, shimmering across the Gulf of Aqaba. In jest, I say "This is pretty romantic, eh girls?" Deb and Sara burst out laughing. "Oh yeah, sitting in the bitumen car park of a bus station, being harangued by touts. Very romantic, Max." We laugh. I guess they'll laugh again whenever they see a full moon.

Each night since, in Dahab, as we sit on Turkish carpets, on thrown cushions, low tables, having a cold Stella, sea lapping at our side, the near full moon still rising desert-red above the hills of Saudi Arabia, probably only 25kms away, moon rays shining all the way across the waters of the Gulf, we turn to each other and say: "This is pretty romantic, eh?", laugh, and sigh. And reflect on just how lovely it is.

Dahab was once a bit of a hippies hang out. While it has developed tourist wise, it's still got a lovely laid back feel. It's pretty hot; it's the desert right to the sea's edge. But in a reverse of weather patterns at home, Oz and NooZillan, it's breezy in the morning, starting about 1:00am) and dead calm in the afternoons and evening The breeze helps keep the temperature down to the mid thirties. As it eases in the evening, it actually feels warmer, but without the unforgiving, unrelenting sun.

Dahab is a real dive-heads hang out. Good reefs, and stacks of marine life all part of the Red Sea. Sara takes the opportunity to do her Master Diver training. Deb and I, having snorkeled in stacks of places, bite the bullet and do the PADI Open Water Diver course. Full on couple of days: two dives a day, a book to study, Knowledge Review quizzes to do each night. A final exam. And we've done it. Open Water Divers, allowed to dive anywhere to 18 metres. That will open up new opportunities with bro, Whaleboy, and niece, Asha.

It's going to be a bit hard leaving Dahab.

So who is this traveling buddy, Sara? Swedish, but has spent some years working/living in Germany. After her Business Studies degree in England, she got a job with INFORM in a marketing position. But transferred to a consultant's role traveling the world to major airports advising, selling, and implementing ground handling improving procedures. Sounds a cool job. She also plays a mean game of pool. As a doubles team at a local bar (hey! Dahab is a tourist town) we've been hard to beat. She's pleasant company, we get along well. We respect each others space. She has been traveling two months longer than us, down some West African countries to Namibia, then flew to Kenya, and we have been pretty much on the same trail since, crossing paths in Addis Ababa, joining up when leaving Sudan. I think we are just in the same traveller 'head space'.

The Sinai experience has been completed with a trip to the top of Mt. Sinai. At night, because of the heat, and to witness the sun rise. After the Ethiopian 'arc of the covenant' experiences, it just seemed to complete the story by going up to where Moses supposedly received the Ten Commandments. At the base of the mount is St. Katherine's monastery. Katherine was a martyr at Alexandria, apparently tortured on a spiked wheel and then beheaded. (Hence, the fireworks called a Katherine's Wheel.) Ah, the Christians and Moslems have such a history of getting along.

Our plans take a slight detour at this point.

Max
aka Mad

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