"Business is business, Mr." My time in Dahab

My route to Dahab

Once I landed in Sharm El Sheikh my plan was to take a taxi from the airport to the bus station and then catch the 7:30 am bus to Dahab, 85 km away.  I left the airport terminal and made my way to the taxis parking lot where, as opposed to Cairo, I was pleasantly surprised not to be mobbed by over a hundred drivers trying to get my business.  The only thing is that the drivers wanted 150 Egyptian pounds ($28) to drive me the short distance to the bus depot.  I promptly refused all the drivers who wanted that much, as one of the airport officers told me that it shouldn't cost more than 50 pounds.  After a lot of haggling and headaches and frustration, I finally said "screw it!!", and agreed to pay 80 pounds, but to my luck, an Egyptian national living in Germany also wanted a taxi, so the driver lowered the price to 50 pounds each...  score!!!   I felt so proud of myself for finally starting to get the hang of all this haggling business.  :-)

 As we are heading to Sharm El Sheik, the driver told me that his other occupant was heading to Dahab, in case that's where I was going, and if I wanted to, he could take me all the way there for 100 pounds.  I knew that the bus would be WAY cheaper, but heck!  I couldn't pass this up!  100 pounds to take me to my final destination after being asked for 150 just to the bus depot....  man!!  I was on fire that morning!  I quickly agreed and I set out on a road trip in the Sinai with two complete strangers who spoke very little English...  good times!

The scenery through Sinai is pretty surreal,  lots and lots of mountains with no vegetation at all.  Being early morning when we were driving made it even more spectacular as the desert colors are intensified to bright reds with the early morning rays of the sun.  As we drove on, there were 4 or 5 police stops along the 85 km stretch of road, and every time I had to show my passport before we were let through.
 

Just a street in Dahab, the nice part of town

Once in Dahab I was dropped off at a hotel I had pre-booked in Cairo through the same driver that stood me up that same morning.  The brochure I was given showed the hotel as being right next to a sandy beach with a great view of the ocean. Once there, I soon realized that the sand and ocean had been photoshopped in.  No matter, the place looked decent enough and was a VAST improvement from the hotels in Cairo.  The kid at the reception didn't speak any English whatsoever, so we had to communicate in the most comical of ways through gestures and by writing numbers on a piece of paper.   He  showed me the room, which looked decent enough, so I told him I would take it (I assumed the hotel was near the beach because that's what I had been told in Cairo).   As we tried to discuss the price, I tried telling him that I'd been quoted a price of 150 pounds per night, and that I would stay two nights.  He interpreted me as saying 150 pounds for both nights, to which he said no, and said that he could only do 100 pounds per night...  score again!!!!   I quickly agreed to this.

Beautiful Dahab and the Red Sea (not really red)

Once I was settled in my room, I noticed that things were not what they seemed and was soon grossed out by how unclean the bed seemed.  I thought I would at least go out for a walk and just stay there at this hotel for one night instead of two.  Once I left the building, I realized that there was no beach nearby, and there was garbage all around the building...  "oh well, I am in Egypt" I thought.  The main happening part of Dahab was about a 10 minute walk, where I found lots of hotels and restaurants lining the beach, along with the most beautiful views of the Red sea and of Saudi Arabia across the water.  I was soon regretting my choice in hotels.  I stopped for Breakfast at a really nice hotel where I eventually asked for their nightly rates. The rate turned out to be only twice as much as my hotel and with the added bonus of being next to the beach and in the middle of the action.  I weighed the pros and cons, and decided to hell with it, I'll lose the money for the night at the other hotel and book myself at this hotel for two nights.  I went to get my stuff at the other place and was soon registering myself at this cool new place.

Sunset over Dahab, Saudi Arabia in the background

So this is where you find me now, relaxing at a seaside hotel with the ocean in front of me and doing what people come to do at Dahab...   ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!  Being here is giving me time to update my blog, so you might want to go back to previous days where I only posted pictures , I will be writing my observations for those days too.

Dahab's promenade

Dahab itself is a sleepy quiet town with plenty of hippies as far as the eye can see.  People just lounge around smoking hashish or going scuba diving, the other main attraction here.  The beach is lined with wonderful restaurants with the most comfortable benches full of pillows for people to just lay back on, put their feet up, and wait for the overpriced food to be served.  You are basically paying for the comfort of the restaurant and the incredible seaside view, not the mediocre food.  I was craving grilled fish last night, so I made my way into one of those Bedouin type restaurants with the pillows, soft carpets, veils, Arabic music, etc, etc, you get the picture.  I ordered the catch of the day, and just lounged around as I watched the sunset over the ocean. 

Young Bedouin entrepreneur

This brings me to the title of today's post.  As I waited for my grilled fish to be brought up, a cute little Bedouin girl, no more than 9, came to my table and tried selling me a braided piece of string which she claimed I could use as a book mark (she saw me reading a book).  When I asked her how much, she said "twenty pounds Mr.", I said that that was too much and no thanks, I would only pay 10, I told her.  She looked at me with the most serious face I had ever seen and said very sternly "Business is Business Mr!" , to which I totally cracked up, and we eventually agreed on a price of 10 pounds (about $1.80), a lot to pay for a piece of string, but she was so adorable and I knew she was trying to make a living for her family, so I didn't mind.

So now I have been lounging around and relaxing by the ocean for the last two days.  Tomorrow I am heading to Mount Sinai, a sacred place to Christians, Jews, and Muslims where God is reputed to have given Moses the tablets to the ten commandments.  The adventure continues!!

This is how you know you are not home anymore