Well, the 18-hour bus ride from Luxor wasn't too bad. The bus was far nicer than I had expected and there were enough seats for everybody - that automatically makes it an improvement over some of the sleeper buses I've taken. All but seven passengers disembarked at Sharm el-Sheikh early the next morning; those of us continuing on to Dahab were all tourists. From Sharm it was an easy two hours to our destination. Once we arrived I said goodbye to Christoph and Chen, who were staying in a different part of town, and grabbed a taxi to my guesthouse. It was quite nice; it's not right on the water but one street over and it has connections with restaurants that are along the water where guests of the hotel can lounge around on pillows in the sun and breathe in the sea air. I had my own comfortable little hut on the compound - very beachy-rustic. The hotel also has connections with travel agencies and dive operators in town, and I hear they come very recommended for setting up day-trips. I lounged around for a day to recover from my arduous journey but took time to have dinner with Christoph and Chen and to arrange a snorkeling trip to the Blue Hole.

I woke up nice and refreshed the next day and wandered over to a sea-side restaurant for breakfast. Then I wandered around the main strip and, since no shop seems to open before 10 am, took the time to look in all the shop windows at the items displayed there without shopowners trying to hustle me in. Then I went back to meet my ride to the Blue Hole. The Blue Hole is a sinkhole jut north of Dahab that is surrounded by a beautiful reef. It's probably the most popular dive- and snorkel site around Dahab. The jeep picked up Christoph and Chen as well and we drove along the coast to the site. We dropped off our things and picked up our gear and dove in. It was incredible! The reef and the marine life in the area are so bright and colorful - it was fantastic. I spent a couple hours in the water and then walked along the coast to dry off in the sun. Dahab doesn't really have the classic sandy beaches. It's very rocky here with the notable exception of white-sand beaches down by, say, the Dahab Hilton. The interior of the Sinai is all desert but it's not a desert with the sprawling sand seas like the Sahara; it's very rocky and rugged with many mountains.

Hmm, what else have I done while here? I took a SCUBA lesson! It was just a one-time, introductory lesson, but it was a lot of fun. The instructor took me into the water at the Lighthouse Reef and I learned how to clear my mask while under water, how to equalize the pressure as we descended and what to do if I lost the mouthpiece. Then we went diving! Since it was just an intro lesson my instructor - Nemo, yes, really, Nemo - controlled my buoyancy and all I had to do was swim, equalize the pressure in my sinuses and look at the pretty fish. It was great! Although the sudden transition from near-weightlessness in the water to suddenly readjusting to both my own weight and the weight of all my diving gear was very tough. The steps up the shore were some of the most difficult I've ever had to make.

I also spent a day in the interior of the Sinai at St. Catherine's Monastery and Mt. Sinai. We left around 8:00 am to be at the monastery before it closes at noon. The most popular trip is to leave at night to climb the mountain in time to view the sunrise and then climb down in time to visit the monastery, but I opted for the sunset trip instead. Seeing how many people were in the parking lot getting ready to leave when we arrived, I'm very glad I did - there must not be any room on top of the mountain at sunrise, there were so many people! I wandered around the monastery and saw the "burning bush" that everyone was touching - I was too short to reach but in one picture the careful angle makes it look as though I'm grabbing the end of the holy shrub. After the monastery we started the climb up Mt. Sinai - here's where they get you. Camel touts follow you up the mountain, interjecting every five minutes with "Camel?! Camel?!" and the mandatory guide ("You might get lost! There are many different paths!" "Yes, this one goes up the mountain while this one goes down the mountain. However will I figure this out on my own?") rushes you along even though there's still five hours until sunset. My theory is that the guide is in on the camel pushing - he rushes you so that you'll tire more quickly and succumb to the temptation of the camel. My little group of stragglers rejected this policy and we took our time walking up - seriously, we had five hours until sunset and the top of the mountain is cold. Where's the rush? We wandered along until we reached Elijah's Plateau and the 750 stairs to the summit. After 750 stairs we finally reached the top and settled in for more than an hour as we waited for sunset, which was beautiful and well worth the trip, by the way. Then it was back down the 750 stairs while there was still enough light to see and nearly two hours of wandering along the mountain path in the dark trying to stay on the path and not tumble over the edge. All the guides had completely deserted us for the trip back down. We (by which I mean my Australian friend, Amy, and me) finally reached the bottom of the mountain, only to to choose the wrong path back to the parking lot and end up in a camel field. No matter. We made it back eventually.

There was also the day trip to Petra, which was fantastic and has a blog entry all of its own. And there was the camel safari to Ras Abu Gallum. We drove up to the Blue Hole (this time "we" means myself and a Finnish couple, Christian and Anina), picked up our snorkel gear and eagerly hopped on our camels. We were not eager for long. Camels are not a comfortable animal to ride, especially when they turn competitive and start racing. After two hours of their antics we arrived at the protectorate and our little hut on the beach. We snorkeled for more than an hour and were treated to a Bedouin-style lunch in our hut before taking another two-hour camel trip back to the Blue Hole. Fortunately we had different camels this time that were much more sedate. Then it was back to Dahab. Christian, Anina and I wandered around town getting falafel sandwiches and kushari, watching as people fought and were thrown out of internet cafes and we were treated by a restaurant owner who made us oragami.

Other than these little excursions I've been lounging around on the beach reading cheap paperback thrillers and browsing among the souvenirs. Tomorrow I head back to Cairo and I have to say, I'm going to miss Dahab. I would come back here in a heartbeat - perferably after I've completed a PADI certification course.