Week at Red Sea Relax Resort

This entry is our week in Dahab, with a couple of other entries about our excursions. Ahhhhhh! Life is slowly returning to relax mode. Elaine slipped into it much quicker and easier than Cory who still seethes a little bit when he thinks of all the hustlers. It is quite comical to listen to Cory and Elaine come up with possible things they could say or do to distract these men without being rude. Then again some of the things they come up with are quite rude. As they must return to Cairo for the next flight they have chosen this as their answer when asked if this is their first time in Cairo. “No, it is our third.” That is not an untruth. The first time was when we arrived from Spain via Rome, the second time was after the trip to Luxor, and now this would be the third time. Not sure if that will make much of a difference however.

Red Sea Relax Resort, the name fits. It is a lovely little place not directly in the centre of Dahab, so not too many shops and shopkeepers to bug us. Prices are significantly cheaper here. Beers have gone from 40 LE to 10 LE or $8.00 to $2.00. As Egypt is primarily a Muslim country alcohol is not generally a beverage of choice. Elaine has yet to find any Smirnoff Ice or for that matter Gatorade. One beverage we have found that we are quite fond of is Schweppes Orange. We cannot recall if it is available in Canada, not that we have ever looked for it, but it is very tasty and has a nice little bite. If it is not in Canada perhaps we can petition Schweppes to bring it in.

Our first night here, we did very little. We did spend a few hours in front of the computer uploading entries and photos. Time did not allow us to get all the photos labelled however. Second day here we took a little walk around town in the early cooler hours when it was around 35 at 9:00 am. Dahab has 2 bookstores that carry English books. Cory had managed to get ahead of Elaine and was just about out of books. We picked up a couple, and later will go exchange some of the ones already finished. Elaine and Cory went for a wander and Cory picked up a pair of light trousers as we wish to enter some mosques and bare legs are a no no. After this they read, sat by the pool, went in the pool, sat by the pool reading, went in the pool, read, I am sure you get the idea. As they sat by the pool and looked at the rooms, they decided a room on the bottom floor would be better than their second floor room. They asked at the front desk about the possibility of switching. There was really only 1 difference between their room and the 1 available room downstairs. Beds. For the first time in over a month Cory and Elaine had a room with a queen size bed. All others had been twins. The room downstairs has two twins, which are pushed together. It was an improvement over the others. After checking out the room, they decided they could live with side-by-side beds and moved. (Cory says he is getting used to having sheets all through the night instead of waking to pry them from Elaine’s death grip in the middle of the night, so it’s not all bad) The room is in the far corner and from here we can come down the steps and jump into the pool. Around 1:00 pm they have shade on the deck, but are still less than 20 steps from the pool. The swimming pool here is open 22 hours a day. They close it for a couple of hours to clean and maintain it.

For dinner we went to the banks of the Gulf of Eliat, which flows into the Red Sea and watched the moon shimmering on the water. Across the way we could see Saudi Arabia.

The next day was another relaxing day, as we sat by the pool and read, and spent some time discussing some excursions we want to do while we are here.

There was time for an afternoon siesta, and then a light snack, delivered to our shaded deck.

With the 10 hour time difference between Egypt and BC, we got the computer out and made a couple of calls back to Canada. Then with the moon almost full we went for a stroll down the malancon and checked out the “nightlife” of Dahab. For the most part the men here are much more polite than Cairo and Luxor. They still try to get you into their shop or restaurant, but accept when you say no, and wish you and pleasant night and thank you for coming.

As Elaine and Cory left their jewellery at home, not having wedding bands seems to be a bit of a problem, and they have been looking for a fairly inexpensive band that will do the trick. Elaine saw a little stand and saw some nice options in the display case. She asked to see some of them, and the man behind the counter pointed out that they have these other ones that are custom made, and in 15 minutes can write your name in it, in Arabic or English. Yes, very nice, but I would like to look at these ones. These ones are very nice and a very good deal. After a while Elaine gave up and walked away. What a contrast, having to repeatedly say no to all these pesky salesman, and finally you see something you want to see, and they won’t show it to you.

One of the things on Cory’s list of “to do” was smoke a sheesha pipe in Turkey. Turns out these pipes are also fairly common in Egypt. Cory found a shop and he was able to get a demonstration of how they work, and he actually got to smoke one. (he coughed less than we thought he would. He says the pipe cools the smoke and removes many of the nasties) Elaine wasn’t really willing to try, but did pose for the photo opportunity.

It seems that when we settle into a place for more than a few days, things becoming mundane and routine. There are a few things that should be on your list of to do’s when in Dahab. One is you must go in the water to either snorkel or dive. Elaine has been having some leakage problems with her mask, so isn’t really keen on the idea of diving. Eventually this was sorted out and they went snorkelling. Dahab is similar to Roatan, Honduras, with the large number of dive shops and instructors willing to certify you for diving. The reef is so close to shore and drops off so quickly that it is quite the sight to see divers walking in the waist high water, and then they are gone.

By sitting around the pool we got to know some of the other guests. We met Matthias and Martina, and Nadya and Andres all from Stockholm, Sweden. Not one of them has blonde hair. Matthias and Nadya already have their diving certification and Andre was working on his open water certification. Martina is enjoying relaxing and getting caught up on her reading.

On Friday the 7th, Nadya and Elaine and Cory headed off to the Blue Hole to do some snorkelling. The Blue Hole is one of the most famous and dangerous dive sites on the Sinai peninsula. As they walked to the bell of the Blue Hole they came upon the memorial wall to those divers who had perished in the Blue Hole. Here was a famous dive hole, more famous for the number of deaths than the spectacular natural hole in the reef. Unless a diver is extremely good with their buoyancy they may plummet to the bottom of the 700 metre hole. The standard depth for an advanced diver is 30 metres.

Anyway, the snorkel trip was amazing. There was so much coral and fish to see. Cory and Elaine were quite happy to see a lionfish, also unicorn, cornet and many parrot fish. It was quite something to be able to look down and see the many divers below you. It was quite fun to swim through their bubbles and experience the tingling feelings. (Cory wasn’t quite as thrilled as Elaine) As the scintillating bubbles came closer to the surface they made a wonderful noise playing a sort of symphony under the sea.

Well it was time to head back to the Red Sea Relax for lunch. It was Friday afternoon. This is the most important day for prayers for the Muslim faith. A very large number of staff from the hotel headed off to the mosque for prayers. We were told that they would be gone for two hours. We found another restaurant and enjoyed a lovely lunch. After some time sunning by the pool and reading books, Cory and Elaine went for an early sleep to get ready for their big excursion tonight. Read the next entry to hear all about it.

It seemed time passed far too quickly at the Red Sea Relax and when it came time to pack up, none of us were really ready for it to end.

We went for one final dinner with Andre and Nadya, Martina and Matthias, and Osman, and Jack.

Aug 4, 2009

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