Our tour started out with a day in Cairo. We went first to the Giza pyramids. You're able to pay extra to go into the biggest one. Not for the claustrophobic. The passage was a tight dark wood ramp that went up to a small chamber with a tomb. There is no way it would be allowed in the US. The pyramids are a crazy collection of tour buses and tourists, people selling every kind of pyramid inspired junk you can imagine and camel guides. Our next stop was the Sphinx. Just as much mayhem just squeezed into a smaller space. We also visited Sakara Pyramid which is the oldest. It is a step pyramid.
That afternoon we went to the Egyptology museum. It is massive! There's really only so many mummies one can appreciate though. By far my favorite exhibit was the King Tut collection including his famous gold mask. King Tut had the most incredible jewelry collection! It made me quite envious. It's hard to imagine that he wasn't a very important king and only ruler for a short time. I can't imagine the collection that must have accompanied the the longer ruling kings.
If anyone is ever considering driving in Cairo- Don't! There are no traffic rules. There are lines painted on the road to guide traffic but everyone ignores them. Instead of three lanes you have five cars abreast each vying for next small opening. I had heard before that the number one cause of death in Egypt was crossing the road and now I believe it. Despite this we didn't see any accidents. By the end of the day though we felt really bombarded and we were looking forward to Red Sea.
Dahab use to be a small fishing village on the Red Sea. It is about 1 hour north of Sharm el Sheik. We've been told that over the last four years it has boomed. We still found it to be a pleasant place to spend 6 days. It doesn't cater to the package holiday crowd so despite being touristy your don't see the all in one resort travelers. There is one main street that runs along the coast. It is lined with souvenir shops, restaurants and dive centers. Diving is Dahab's main draw as the water is very clear and it has some of the nicest reefs.
Heath was excited to do diving because Vince is a diver and Heath would like to be able to go with him. We signed on the a PADI open water course. We were lucky that and got an instructor all to ourselves. Mohamed was great and we had lots of fun chatting between our dives. The course is a combination of videos and reading as well as skills you learn in the water. The skills are to teach you how to handle things that may happen under the water so you won't panic.
The best part of course was the open water dives we did once we were proficient in the other things. I've never seen so many bright colorful fish in my live. We dove a couple of really spectacular reefs. One was called Eel Garden because a collection of eels lived in the sand and they would float like plants coming up from the bottom of the ocean. The would retreat to their sandy homes when you swam over them. On another dive we went to The Islands which had giant corals. There were all different kinds. We saw brain corals, small red and yellow corals and giant fan corals. They were beautiful.
We spent the mornings and afternoons diving. Evenings we spent relaxing at one of the restaurants along the beach. Most were decorated with large cushions and lamps. Some even had fires going. The food was delicious. Dahab felt like paradise. Even with the hoards of tourists Dahab retains some of its fishing village roots.
The landscape in the area is very dramatic. The mountains surrounding Dahab are brown and red and rocky. They jut up almost straight from the ocean with only a small beach area. They are completely desolate with no signs of life. It's such a surprise when you enter the water and see it teeming with brightly colored living organisms. Across the Red Sea from Dahab you can see the matching coastline of Saudi Arabia. At night you can see the lights from a small town on the Saudi coast. Dahab is one of the most relaxed towns I've ever visited and I wonder how the town in Saudi differs from it.
We completed our course and are now certified divers. We had a lovely holiday soaking up the sun and sea and we got to see some beautiful things.
Looking out at Cairo from Giza
The Pyramids
The Sphinx
Dahab
Mohamed
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