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| Wednesday, June 20, 2007 |
| Dahab sweet Dahab |
My last two weekends were some of the better ones I've had. :) The first weekend was to be a time to get refreshed for the coming finals. Though I am a bit more sore than a weekend of completely relaxation warrants.. I'll tell ya why! On Thursday night (the 7th), we (Svenja, Marshall - who had decided at about 3pm to come with us! - and I) left the student dorms at 9:45, met up with Courtney and Jen at the Central Bus Station at 10:00pm, arrived in Tel-Aviv an hour later. Our bus from Tel-Aviv to Eilat left at 12: 30am.We arrived in Eilat (the southern most point in Israel) at about 5am. This is where we crossed the border into Egypt. Thankfully, we had no problems and managed to acquire a mini-bus to Dahab. Two and a half hours later, we were lying on the beach!! This was the beginning of a completely sleep deprived weekend - wait, read "power-nap" (Good call Cass!). We swam a little and slept on the beach until lunchtime. After taking a three hour lunch, we headed back to our hostel.
I have to tell you about the restaurants in Dahab. They are right on the beach - a decent size wave comes and you get splashed! The cups come with foil covers. :) - and they are all Bedouin style with benches and cushions everywhere. It was a bit of a slower weekend so we were able to barter for our meals. Marshall did most of the barter for us. He is an incredibly likable guy and he was instantly popular because it was just him with four women. At one restaurant he got us free opening drinks, free starters, free dessert, free sheesha, and 30% off the meal! Granted, it was based on the condition that all four of the girls come and we all smiled... :D (I'm feeling a little used!) Everyone was so chill there, once they got you into their restaurants, they treated you like kings. They would bring you everything, let you stay as long as you wanted, they would sit down and chat with us for a while if we invited them, etc. It was so relaxing! One of the guys made sure he saved as a seat right next to the sea. Sip Hibiscus tea and listen to the waves. That's the life.
When we got back to our hostel after lunch, everyone from the dive center connected with the hostel came running out and grabbed Marshall. They carried him to a big tank of water used for cleaning diving equipment and threw him in. They had learned earlier that morning that he had never been diving before - and since he was open to the idea of trying, they decided to take him! (More like shanghaied him!!) They suited him up right then and there before he could think and get nervous. :) It was hilarious. And he loved the dive!
That evening at sunset, we rode horses along the beach. Marshall, Svenja, and I were allowed to let ours fly! Man, can they run. :) It was beautiful. Then a nice and very long dinner before heading to the "Free Bar" for some pool. (No idea how it got that name.) I think we finally fell asleep around 2am or so. We were exhausted!
The next morning, Courtney and I got up early - well earlier than the other three - and met at the diving center for some diving. :) We did two dives that morning with Gaffer, our guide. He was hilarious. We even had a thumb war underwater (I won!! Well... I cheated so that probably disqualifies me - but his hands were huge! How was my poor little thumb to compete??). It was beautiful and completely amazing! I feel so lucky! People travel from EVERYWHERE to dive in the Red Sea - some of the most beautiful diving anywhere in the world, and it's in my backyard! While we were diving, the other three slept on the beach I think. That afternoon, we got massages - oh man... that was awesome! Then Courtney and I met up with Mohamed for some night diving! I was sooo nervous. :) However, it ended up being phenomenal. There is so much marine life that only comes out at night - we saw needle fish, water snakes, rock fish, a star fish, and so much more. Everything looks so different at night when you can only see through your flashlight. Mohamed was a great guide also, I think I literally held his hand for about half the dive! Then when we had our safety stop (you always have to stop for three minutes at five meters), he danced with Courtney and I! I think it was a waltz. :) Then he kissed me! Well... as best you can with regulators in your mouths... It was so much fun! The craziest thing is when we turned off the flashlights under the water and moved our hands quickly, sparks would light up! It was so neat. :D If y'all ever get a chance - I'm tell you - diving is amazing!
The rest of the night was spent lying around and eating, then playing some pool. We were going to go dancing but there were hardly any girls dancing - just guys hanging out to watch... So, we weren't really into that idea. :) Courtney and Jen went to bed pretty soon after, then Marshall, Svenja, and I headed back around 2:30am. We got up the next morning at about 8:30 - I think. Marshall was up earlier and, holy cow!, talk about a frickin' morning person! He was singing, talking, telling stories, laughing, etc. I have never seen someone wake up that alert and happy. I could barely move or think I was so tired! Svenja and I were just lying in bed watching him - a little stunned I think. :-) After breakfast, we said goodbye to everyone at the hostel and diving center before we hit the road. It was an awesome weekend! Everyone was sooo much fun and easy-going! I am so going back as soon as possible! (And it's incredibly cheap!)
Here are some pictures of the weekend! (The first half of the album are from the above weekend and the second half are from the following weekend which I'll tell ya about in a minute...) |
posted by Unknown @ 6:32 PM   |
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