Egypte / Egypt 2002

July 12, 2002 – Dahab

After an early wake up at 8:30, the breakfast is quick, just before some snorkeling at Eel Garden to see the fishes. Time goes so fast in the sea that we send 2 hours there.

We go back to the camp, having a break while watching ships crossing to reach Aqaba in the north and in front of us with the Saudi coast behind.

At noon, Jorge only wants a Koshary whereas I come back to the usual Beduin Beach Restaurant to have my third mixed salad. On the corniche I meet the French couple and we start talking about the monastery of St Katherine and they tell me not to forget that the monastery is closed on Thursday and Sunday so if we want to visit it without spending too much time in Sinaï, we have to go there tomorrow morning. As we want to sleep at the top of Mount Moses, we must go there early in the morning tomorrow and that’s a challenge.

We have to review our plan to go there. I have one week more in Egypt but I have to go to Siwa and spend some time in Alexandria and Jorge wants to go Jordan before going back to the states.

Dahab bay

As there is no tourist office in Dahab, we have to deal with travel agencies there to find the one that would be able to offer you the service. First bad news: there is no more bus from Dahab to Mount St Katherine at 9:30am, all the guidebooks are wrong. Second bad news: No one seems to be able to take us there for an affordable price (that’s to say without renting the whole minibus for 150 EGP).

Finally, we only find one travel agent who is ready to propose us the one way trip for the monastery for 30 EGP each because he already rented the minibus for a couple of American staying at the Hilton. We will go with them.

In the meantime we go for some snorkeling at our favorite spot, enjoying the view of the Red Sea.

Tonight we decide to have a great lunch at the Friends restaurant. I go to the Tota where I buy 2 Stellas for the dinner. We take a seafood meal, it is a huge one: calamari, langoustine and 3 other fishes. The meal goes with French fries, rice, salad and tomatoes. It is a great dinner as we don’t know when we will eat like this again.

At 9pm, we go to pay the guy for the next morning trip to St Katherine.

We go again to the Tota bar to have a drink but we will not stay long there as we have our bags to prepare and a short night before the tough day that will be for us tomorrow.

At the El Dorado, I meet Jack, Cathy and the other French who will go to Mount Moses by minibus in few minutes to see the sunrise. What we ant with Jorge is to see the sunset and sunrise from the Mount and for sure sleep under the stars at 2,285m.

Main expenses of the day :

Night at the El Dorado Camp : 7.5 EGP (Double room : 15 EGP)

Mixed salad : 8 EGP

Seafood meal : 35 EGP

Drinks (water, soft drinks, tea…) : 10 EGP

Beer : 12 EGP (6 EGP each)