Up to Mt. Sinai and down in the depths of the Blue Hole: Dahab, the Sinai, Egypt

In the second week of January we passed from Petra, Jordan  through Eilat, Israel (again) to reach the Sinai, Egypt.  It was two hours before we straightened out our Egyptian tourists visas at the Taba border.  With nerves of steel, a chaotic scurry from one desk to another, gentle persistence, a helpful tour guide who could speak English, and extra dollars we passed through to the Egyptian side, meeting our driver at the expected hour.  The hair raising two hour ride, (sometimes headlights off in the pitch dark; speeding through switchbacks; passing through several checkpoints with machine gun welding plain-clothed guards; driver texting or talking on his cell phone continuously), we arrived safely at the aptly named Dahab Paradise hotel. 

Pool at the Dahab Paradise hotel

From the hotel we reached the town either by walking or catching private taxis to chill out in Bedouin Wifi cafes so that Karoline could complete schoolwork.  When returning one evening from a wonderful Egyptian dinner at the Bedouin Meya Meya restaurant, I was struck by how cozy the town felt.  Men (only?!) casually wondered the streets, greeting one another intimately, (often kissing, foreheads connected, whispering—likely Muslim blessings).  We too were openly greeted with much fanfare, feeling warmly welcomed.

"School day" at the Bedouin internet cafe Green Valley

On a picture perfect day we were driven the 10 minutes to the Blue Hole for spectacular snorkeling and more hanging out at a Bedouin café.  There we relaxed with, and were entertained by, the café owner nicknamed Zizu.  Together we smiled as busloads of Russian and Italian tourists arrived in waves from Sharm el Shiekh to ride camels into the dive zone, switch into wetsuits, take a 10 minute guided (!) snorkel swim through the Blue Hole, consume their token Bedouin lunch then hop back into their buses for the next “check that box” site. 

Fish and coral life on the reef at the Blue Hole

Karoline and Gerhard snorkel in the Blue Hole

Zizu is a young Cairene, who spoke with fellow hangers on in Arabic, Russian, Italian, a bit of Chinese, German, and English.  This 20-something year old confides that he is working his way to becoming marriageable.  This means that he already owns outright a house and the Blue Hole café, and is on the path towards buying 100% ownership in a restaurant in Dahab.  He still needs a bit more steady cash flow before he feels that he can become responsible for the welfare of a wife and children.  Yet, he is confident that he will be successful.  With a wink in one eye and a twinkle in the other, he proposes marriage to Karoline.  She fumbles, and—finally-- declares “ NO! thank you.”   In all seriousness, I heard from a tour guide that marriage is currently a huge issue for this country where the average age is something in the '20s.  High unemployment and the expectation that the man bear the economic burden of raising a family and taking care of a wife means that the marriage age is increasing and the percentage of people getting married is falling significantly.

Here everyone works, even late into the night.  Men are the vendors and interact with the tourists.  Women work hidden in their homes, or, when doing household marketing on the streets, behind heavy veils.  Poorly groomed modestly clothed children hawk handcrafts or services between bouts of street play and chatter with the tourists.

St. Catherine's Monastery, the Sinai, Egypt

Hiking to the summit of Mt. Sinai

Another day found us on the two hour drive to St. Catherine’s Protectorate, through desert, military checkpoints, and Bedouin enclaves, for a tour of the monastery and a 7 km hike up Mt. Sinai.  The monastery was interesting yet also a disappointment because it truly deserves a guided tour, whereas a guide speaking one of our languages was not available.  This is the longest—and currently--operating (Greek) Orthodox Christian monastery in the world.  Because of its remote location, it did not suffer the burning of books and iconography that other Orthodox Christian monasteries had suffered in one of the Byzantine periods.  Therefore, it holds the world’s most precious collection of Christian codices, manuscripts, and iconography—truly impressive.  I had hoped for more, yet could view only three of the largest collection of encaustic style icons. 

The top of Mt. Sinai is where Moses received the Ten Commandments and currently hosts a small Byzantine era Greek Orthodox church.   The hike to the summit of Mt. Sinai was the fourth such climb in seven days for us, (after Nimrod Castle in the Golan Heights, Israel and two climbs in Petra, Jordan).  Thus, while the views were magnificent, they were competing with the others for our gratification.  We loved the fresh air and vigorous exercise, yet did not care for the pestering camel ride vendors or the garbage strewn pathways.

A Dahab taxi ride

Like the rest of Egypt, Dahab is suffering from the news scare and consequential lack of tourists.  No Americans in sight.  What few tourists there were seemed to be Russian, Korean, Italian, and the occasional British.  Our hotel is normally at 100% capacity this time of year, whereas now it is 25%.  We were hounded by vendors desperate for business.  “For Sale” signs and abandoned building construction, along with uncollected garbage reign the streets.  For us this condition was largely a blessing as there was no competition from the normal hoards during this high season.  We received special attention, making acquaintance with many optimistic friendly people whose fortitude is inspiring.