Dahab for New Years

Unlike the overdeveloped Sharm el Sheikh, Dahab is still a vaguely backpacker town on the Sinai Coast:



This was everything a vacation should be. Pictures:





We spent probably 3 whole days lying at one café, smoking shisha and occasionally ordering. Incredibly good food for a decent price, something I haven’t found so easily in Cairo, which has a lot of overpriced shit.

There’s something just amazing about a camel safari and then scuba diving:





It’s totally surreal, a world I’ve never experienced before. Sure, I read about Jacques Costeau and saw his videos sometimes, and maybe I read the Magic School Bus, but I never really thought much about underwater life. It’s much different from life on land. Much more colorful, MUCH more 3-D (so many times, you turn your head and knock a fish out of the way), and teeming to a degree you simply don’t find on land except maybe in a rainforest. It also has a steep learning curve, which is surprising but reminds you of mankind’s origins. My first dive lasted 25 minutes, 10 of which were spent equalizing pressure, and I used up 80% of my air since I was hyperventilating so fast. Second dive, equalizing was instantaneous, total dive time 25 minutes long and felt like 5 since it was so awesome, and I had ridiculous energy while using only 30% of my air. Breathing underwater was actually far easier than breathing in Cairo.

Supposedly at New Years, I had a lot of energy:





I don’t remember that so well, but what can I say? It was a blast, and I’m sad that Dahab didn’t last longer.