Dahab
I’ve just returned from spending the afternoon and evening with Mom, Stephanie, and Pastor Brad. We had a nice trip to the Mount of Olives, followed by a filling meal at a Shish Kabob restaurant. It’s great to see the Holy Land with those who have just arrived – their reactions remind me of myself a couple months ago as I gaped and grinned at every new sight in Jerusalem (spoken as one who has been here for a whole two months already ). Mom and Stephanie’s luggage is still missing and AirFrance still has no idea where it might be. I think they’re settling in for the long haul without their luggage. Both bought some essentials today that should get them through a few more days.
Last week was Purim here in Israel. Purim is the Jewish holiday celebrating the story of Queen Esther and how she rescues the Jewish people from destruction. The holiday is marked by Jews around the world with revelry, joy, and a carnival-like atmosphere. Here in Israel, children dress up in costumes (which I’m convinced are leftovers from Halloween celebrations elsewhere), people send each other Purim baskets (very similar to Easter baskets), and it is a mitzvah – a command – for Jews to get drunk on the holiday until they no longer know right from wrong. We were given Tuesday and Wednesday (March 14th and 15th) off of school to celebrate. Some friends and I seized the opportunity for a short vacation during Purim (and my birthday, coincidentally) to head on down to the Sinai Peninsula, which is a part of Egypt.
We left Jerusalem for Eilat very early Tuesday morning. After a pleasant bus ride, we crossed the border into Egypt. The atmosphere was completely different from what we had experienced in both Jordan and Israel. Egypt was laid-back and friendly! The border guards joked with us, and the folks offering us cab rides were willing to negotiate the price. The border police and the cab drivers at the border were lounging around, chatting, and seemed to be having a good time. Our trip was off to a great, friendly start.
We got into a van that promised to take us to Dahab – our beach destination located about a 2 hour ride south on the Sinai shore of the Red Sea. The trip was quite an experience. The road took us along the coast of the Red Sea -- a beautiful, crystal-blue ocean that seems to assault the rusty-red foothills and mountains of the Sinai wilderness. Our driver stopped us halfway to visit his friend, who runs a resort (or perhaps a retreat center?) of straw huts on the beach. We shared some Bedouin tea with our host, who then offered us some smoldering cannibis. We politely refused, as did our taxi driver(thankfully).
We reached Dahab in a good and safe time. While we had heard of a hostel to stay at for 15 Egyptians pounds per room per night (1 U.S. Dollar = 5.75 Egyptian Pounds), our driver took us to the Penguin Hotel belonging to another friend of his, who offered us rooms for 30 Egyptian Pounds per night. We were satisfied with the price, the hotel (which offered snorkeling, scuba, taxi, beach front restaurant, and any other services we required), and the hotel’s beach-front location, so we decided to stay.
Dahab is a gem of a town on the Red Sea. It is a center on the Sinai coast for all sorts of ocean recreation- from scuba diving, to wind surfing, to snorkeling and tanning. I heard one fellow say that the Dahab of today is what Sharm El Sheik used to be like (the latter us a hugely popular, but commercialized, resort city on the southern Sinai tip). Since the Egyptian economy is in such poor shape, everything in Dahab is well within the bounds of a college traveler’s budget. Josh and I, who shared a room, stayed four nights and each paid 60 Egyptian Pounds for our room (about $12 US.) We ate very extravagant meals each night for dinner, and they only cost us $6-7 US. The restaurants seemed to compete with each other to see which ones could out-do the others in good deals. One night, for example, we had a 5 course meal (soup, bread and salad, main course, dessert, Bedouin tea) for the price of our entree. Basically, we ate very well and very much for the four days we were there. Anything our bellies desired was ours to have for a small price – from mango smoothies while we were sprawled out on pillows on the beach to platefuls of hummos and pita after a snorkeling expedition among the coral reefs.
Our days mainly consisted of eating, sleeping, reading, sleeping, eating, snorkeling, sleeping, eating, reading, and sleeping -- all of which took place very close to the beach. It was a nice, restful time, but I was ready to leave our hedonistic lifestyle by the final day of our trip. Perhaps it’s because of Dad’s (and now my own) work ethic, but I felt pretty useless while there and actually looked forward to returning to Jerusalem for some homework. I lived the high life for a few days, and, while I’m thankful for the chance I had to relax on the beach, I was well-prepared to give up the lifestyle encouraging me to “Eat, drink, and be merry.”
While I was in Egypt, though, I was able to watch the sun rise on Mt. Sinai, visit St. Catherine’s Monastery, and celebrate my 21st birthday. I’ll write on those events, and some general comments on Egypt, in my next blog.
Last week was Purim here in Israel. Purim is the Jewish holiday celebrating the story of Queen Esther and how she rescues the Jewish people from destruction. The holiday is marked by Jews around the world with revelry, joy, and a carnival-like atmosphere. Here in Israel, children dress up in costumes (which I’m convinced are leftovers from Halloween celebrations elsewhere), people send each other Purim baskets (very similar to Easter baskets), and it is a mitzvah – a command – for Jews to get drunk on the holiday until they no longer know right from wrong. We were given Tuesday and Wednesday (March 14th and 15th) off of school to celebrate. Some friends and I seized the opportunity for a short vacation during Purim (and my birthday, coincidentally) to head on down to the Sinai Peninsula, which is a part of Egypt.
We left Jerusalem for Eilat very early Tuesday morning. After a pleasant bus ride, we crossed the border into Egypt. The atmosphere was completely different from what we had experienced in both Jordan and Israel. Egypt was laid-back and friendly! The border guards joked with us, and the folks offering us cab rides were willing to negotiate the price. The border police and the cab drivers at the border were lounging around, chatting, and seemed to be having a good time. Our trip was off to a great, friendly start.
We got into a van that promised to take us to Dahab – our beach destination located about a 2 hour ride south on the Sinai shore of the Red Sea. The trip was quite an experience. The road took us along the coast of the Red Sea -- a beautiful, crystal-blue ocean that seems to assault the rusty-red foothills and mountains of the Sinai wilderness. Our driver stopped us halfway to visit his friend, who runs a resort (or perhaps a retreat center?) of straw huts on the beach. We shared some Bedouin tea with our host, who then offered us some smoldering cannibis. We politely refused, as did our taxi driver(thankfully).
We reached Dahab in a good and safe time. While we had heard of a hostel to stay at for 15 Egyptians pounds per room per night (1 U.S. Dollar = 5.75 Egyptian Pounds), our driver took us to the Penguin Hotel belonging to another friend of his, who offered us rooms for 30 Egyptian Pounds per night. We were satisfied with the price, the hotel (which offered snorkeling, scuba, taxi, beach front restaurant, and any other services we required), and the hotel’s beach-front location, so we decided to stay.
Dahab is a gem of a town on the Red Sea. It is a center on the Sinai coast for all sorts of ocean recreation- from scuba diving, to wind surfing, to snorkeling and tanning. I heard one fellow say that the Dahab of today is what Sharm El Sheik used to be like (the latter us a hugely popular, but commercialized, resort city on the southern Sinai tip). Since the Egyptian economy is in such poor shape, everything in Dahab is well within the bounds of a college traveler’s budget. Josh and I, who shared a room, stayed four nights and each paid 60 Egyptian Pounds for our room (about $12 US.) We ate very extravagant meals each night for dinner, and they only cost us $6-7 US. The restaurants seemed to compete with each other to see which ones could out-do the others in good deals. One night, for example, we had a 5 course meal (soup, bread and salad, main course, dessert, Bedouin tea) for the price of our entree. Basically, we ate very well and very much for the four days we were there. Anything our bellies desired was ours to have for a small price – from mango smoothies while we were sprawled out on pillows on the beach to platefuls of hummos and pita after a snorkeling expedition among the coral reefs.
Our days mainly consisted of eating, sleeping, reading, sleeping, eating, snorkeling, sleeping, eating, reading, and sleeping -- all of which took place very close to the beach. It was a nice, restful time, but I was ready to leave our hedonistic lifestyle by the final day of our trip. Perhaps it’s because of Dad’s (and now my own) work ethic, but I felt pretty useless while there and actually looked forward to returning to Jerusalem for some homework. I lived the high life for a few days, and, while I’m thankful for the chance I had to relax on the beach, I was well-prepared to give up the lifestyle encouraging me to “Eat, drink, and be merry.”
While I was in Egypt, though, I was able to watch the sun rise on Mt. Sinai, visit St. Catherine’s Monastery, and celebrate my 21st birthday. I’ll write on those events, and some general comments on Egypt, in my next blog.
posted by Jason | 12:34 PM
1 Comments:
Actually, Purim costumes started in Venice, influenced by commedia dell'arte. For more info about Purim, visit my livejournal.
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