A blissful week in Dahab, 22 to 29 December
Trip Start
Dec 22, 2007
1
Trip End
Dec 29, 2007
Dahab, Egypt
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
At the end of 2007, we decided to give the crazy consumerism-fest that is 'Xmas' a skip, and headed for (what we thought would be) a safe hideout - the muslim country of Egypt. The idea was to catch some 'wintersun', as the Brits call it, and do some of our favourite things... diving, snorkeling, windsurfing, relaxing on the beach, etc.
So we embarked on our first-ever package holiday - yes, that's right, the hardened independent travellers succumbed to the charms of Olympic Holidays! Or to be more precise, we fell for the price. For the same cost as a return flight on a scheduled flight (around £800 during the festive season) we got the whole lot: flights, transfers, 4-star hotel with breakfast and dinner. All this was uncharted territory for us - we were anxious not to be herded and surrounded by hideous Brits-abroad behaviour (call us snobs) - but in the end, we were pleasantly surprised.
For a start, only five other folk from our packed charter flight to Sharm El Sheikh boarded the small transfer bus bound for Dahab... everyone else stayed behind in Sharm, which is larger and more commercial. Most of the guests in our garden-style hotel, the Swiss Inn, were Swiss, German or Dutch, and the hotel was beautifully located beside Dahab's natural lagoon, a mecca for windsurfers. The buffet breakfasts and dinners were varied, and always fresh and tasty.
We slept in a little on our first morning, Sunday the 23rd, as we'd only arrived at about 1am. After a stroll on the beach to check out all the watersports centres on the lagoon, Rich arranged his windsurfer hire for the week with Club Vass next door, and went out for a spin. I settled into what would become a marvellous routine - a few hours in the sun with my book, punctuated only by a swim now and then.
On Monday morning we strolled into Dahab town, about 2km from the lagoon area and our hotel. The feature of this former fishing village, now holiday haunt of independent scuba-diving travellers, is a seafront prominade lined with little hotels and open-air restaurants. Many of Dahab's famed dive-sites are right off the prominade; we were totally blown away by the underwater paradise we encountered on our first snorkel at a site called Lighthouse. Having tucked into a delicious fish lunch at one of the seaside eateries, we headed back lagoon-side for an afternoon of windsurfing (Rich) and sunbathing (me).
My sinuses were causing me problems due to a nasty cold - I couldn't equalise - so when we signed up at the Ocean College dive centre that afternoon, the dive master recommended I pay a visit to the hyperbaric chamber medical centre nearby. The excellent Dr Taher prescribed a regime of "local remedies" to clear my passages and get me diving. These included a nasal spray and herbal syrup, and flushing the sinuses with a saline-type solution... Rich became very good at pouring the stuff down my nose as I lay head back on the bed!
After a slap-up brunch on Tuesday, Christmas Day, we paid another visit to Lighthouse for snorkeling, this time in the company of a South African couple we'd met at the Christmas Eve dinner the previous evening. In the afternoon, Rich did his check dive with Jo, the dive master, followed by some more windsurfing, while I kept up my sun lounger/reading routine... bliss!
The Blue Hole is Dahab's most famous dive site, and also its most crowded snorkeling spot, as I found out on Wednesday afternoon. With Rich spending the day zooming along in 'Speedy', the outer lagoon area, I'd decided to join a Club Vass snorkeling trip to the Blue Hole - very busy but lovely nonetheless.
By Thursday morning, Dr Taher's remedies had done the trick and I was ready to dive. At 9am we headed about 40 minutes south by Jeep for our first dive - Three Pools. Still not sure whether I'd be able to equalise my left ear, I took it easy in the shallows and was relieved when it finally 'popped'. After lunch at a beach cafe, the second dive was nearby Moray Gardens - neither of the dives were deep, but spectacular... and we simply enjoyed being back underwater again. And what a full day - we got back to our hotel at sunset.
On Friday morning we headed north of the village for our first dive of the day at Eel Garden, followed by a second at The Islands. Both were breathtaking - Eel Garden takes its name from the 'field' of ghostly garden eels protruding from the sand and rocking gently in the swell. At The Islands, we swam through an enchanting underwater labyrinth of coral formations and encountered the resident shoal of baby barracuda.
And so, our last day and evening had come way too quickly - we were desperate to stay on a few more days! A phone call to Olympic Holidays and quick search on the internet revealed there was no chance of changing our flight or buying a later departure... we reluntantly accepted that we'd have to leave on Saturday morning.
Having been 'good' all week (and often creeping to bed at 10pm), we joined the South African couple on a night out to celebrate their becoming engaged the previous day. After a few drinks, we headed into Dahab village for a superb seafood meal at one of the waterside restaurants... before long, it was 2am and we still had to pack!
Needless to say, with barely two hours of sleep under our belts, we looked a sad case when our transfer bus came to collect us at 5am! After what seemed a loooonnggg flight and even longer train ride from Manchester to Edinburgh, we arrived home absolutely exhausted but very content!!!
