Part II

After our delayed stopover in Eilat, we hopped in a cab to Taba, the border down. We payed our exit taxes and entered into Sinai.


I was relieved to realize that what I had thought were allergies was actually a cold. (A relief because I knew I wouldn't be feeling that bad for the whole season.) But, it is no fun having a fever in 105 degree weather. I did not enjoy the four hour ride from Taba to Dahab in an non-airconditioned bus, sitting on a temporary pop-up seat, listening to staticky Arabic radio.

Our driver made sure to slow down for the camels.

But he didn't make sure to turn off the engine and extinguish his cigarette when we stopped for gas.


We arrived in Dahab at nightfall, and after some asking around, found our "hotel," little cement huts with cots. About 5 bucks a night. You know, it was my second time in Sinai sleeping in huts, and I don't even think twice about it, but you couldn't pay me to sleep in accomodations like that in the states. Of course, I took the Halzel precautions as much as possible: I folded a clean shirt over the pillowcase and slept on my back, straight as a board the whole night.

We took one of the huts with A/C, there is no way with my cold in that heat I was going to deal with anythign less. Plus, there is nothing worse then sweating on disgusting mattresses.

Before we went to sleep, we went out to dinner.

We were tired, ok?

All I wanted to do was pass out and sleep through my cold, so I decided to stop by the pharmacy to pick up a little sleeping aid, some tylenol PM or something. So, I walk in and ask the pharmacist for something to help me sleep, and he says. "Ok, would you like valium or Zanax?" I was shocked! I didn't realize that you didn't need a prescription for drugs in Egypt. And they were cheap, too. So, I bought some tablets of both.

I think they were expired or insignificant doses, because they didnt really give me the effect I was looking for. Or maybe I was just expecting too much.

So this Egpytian pharmacist had long pinky nails, like cokeheads. Not as long as this guy's, http://i1.trekearth.com/photos/16503/pinky1.jpg, but still pretty long. He didn't look like a illegal substance type though, so I figured it was for playing the guitar or something. (I didn't really think about it that much, just in the back of my head.) THen, when Lauren and I went back to the pharmacy the next day, she noticed it and pointed out that that is probably how he cut the drugs at the pharmacy! Instead of sterilized scales and and spoons and knives (or whatever it is you use, mom), he just does it all with his nasty pinky nail.

In the morning when we woke up, we got a better view of our surroundings.


The beaches in Dahab are pretty to look at, but are rocky and small. We heard that the Hilton had nice beaches, so we decided to check those out.

Not only were their beaches beautiful, they also had this pool that went on forever:





But it was all a tease! There was a big sign next to it that said "no swimming," and it was only about 6 inches deep. Their real pool was just your standard sized one, a major disappointment!

There were only two families, British, around the pool (this was a week after the Sharm bombings), and I played water polo with their kids until we got kicked out.

So basically, our time in Dahab consisted of eating and spending time in the sun.

Stay tuned for Part III of Lauren and Rachel's adventures!