Day 17: Dahab

As you may have read, I got up very early this morning to make the 11:00am ferry to Egypt. When I got there, I learned that they had just changed the schedule and the next ferry didn't leave until 6:00pm, so I had way too much time to kill in a small town. I found sanctuary in the only place in the town with free wifi, McDonalds. From there I was able to contact my friend in Egypt and tell him I would not make it until much later tonight.

While the ferry was supposed to leave at 6:00pm we didn't move until around 7:30. I was one of a handful of white people on the boat and the only American. No one really spoke English, so it was rather difficult to communicate. At the restaurant on the boat, I was trying to order bread and hummus, they had no clue what hummus was, even though it is one of Jordan and Egypt's more common dishes. The language barrier was that bad. However, some guy ended up buying a bunch of food and giving it to me right after he paid. Not sure why, but I was beyond thankful. I'm still alive and not sick, yet, so it is safe to say that he did it out of goodwill.

The boat ride was way too long, about 3 hours. Once we landed, we had to wait on the boat for another hour, not sure why? A security guard helped me and a Chinese family through customs and immigrations (comparable to public high school security in the US). After we got through, a crowd of Egyptians were all bickering over which cab we should take, it was a mad house. It was pretty nice though, I was able to put my business school skills to the test and work the price down.

I am staying in the 7 Heaven Hostel right on the beach. The place is filled with scuba divers, mostly Asian. In the cab ride over, the Chinese family was telling me that it is currently the Chinese New Year and that it is really expensive in China because many tourists come there, so many locals take the time to travel.

The city of Dahab is really beautiful. It is centered around scuba divers, so the culture is very laid back and relaxed. Hostels and budget restaurants line the area around the beach, but honestly don't take away from the coast line like you would expect. The city has some great scuba diving and a beautiful gateway into the Red Sea.

Tomorrow I will get up early and catch an intro class to scuba diving. The last time I went, my sinuses were so bad I couldn't equalize past 23ft and I kept getting nose bleeds. Second times a charm right.... or is it third? Who's counting?

After that, I am going to leave for a 16 hour bus ride to Luxor. I thought that after high school I would never have to make a long trip on a bus again (because of high school athletics). My nightmare has become a reality. Luxor better be all that it has been talked up to be!!

Picture 1: Mosque in Aqaba
Picture 2: Aqaba beach
Picture 3: Sunset over the Red Sea