2011 - Oasis Overland (Part 5 - Dahab, Egypt)

A few days slobbing around at a very quiet beach resort.

Tuesday 15 March 2011 - Friday 18 March 2011
View 2011 tiki tour on nzhamsta's travel map.

This is a laid back resort on the Red Sea. It is much nicer than some of the other places as it does not cater to the mass market package tourists like the other Red Sea resorts. Due to the situation in Egypt it is incredibly quiet. It is possible to walk down the middle of the road and not get run over. There are lots of restaurants in the town, most of them empty so we could take our pick. Omar's shisha shop also got visited a few times as he knows everyone and everything that happens in the town.

The main street of Dahab.

A general view of Dahab.

Only in Egypt.

The locks were getting long and scruffy so I opted for a haircut. The barber did a good job and then suggested a shave. He promptly lathered up lots of shaving soap and pulled out his very sharp cutthroat razor. Once he was done, he did all again, getting all the little bits he missed on the first pass. Smooth as a baby's bottom. They then get out the cotton thread and proceed to remove all the stray hair from around the eyebrows, ears (that makes your eyes water that one does) and back of neck. All this took about an hour and cost 70 EGP (NZ$17)

All bar three of the group climbed Mt Sinai. I opted out citing dodgy knees. We instead went to St Catherine's Monastery. Rugged scenery all the way and back. The monastery is still working and is occupied by about 20 Greek Orthodox monks. It has a wonderful collection of icons and is the alleged site of the burning bush that Moses received the word of God through.

A bedouin village in the Sinai.

The burial place of Moses' brother.

The site of the burning bush. Note the fire extinguisher at right.

St Catherine's Monastery.

The camel men at St Catherine's.

Otherwise, this was four days of doing very little. Some of the others went diving and snorkelling, but given that I cannot see very well without my glasses, there was not a lot of point.

Hotel review - The Bishbishi Resort is a great place. It has quite good rooms (with the ever present Egyptian plumbing issues), a decent seating area with power points and free wifi, cool staff, good food, and about a million cats that will steal the food from your plate if you are not keeping an eye of them.

One of the many cats at the resort.
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