An Ordeal That Ultimately Provided A Beautiful Reward!

Thinking that I would be able to not have to deal with the heat of traveling by bus during the day as well as to save on lodgings for the night, I opted to take a bus from Ismailia to Dahab (located on the eastern side of the Sinai peninsula by the Sea of Aqaba; it's name is Arabic for "gold").

BUT WHAT A LONG AND EXCRUCIATING BUS RIDE!!!

It wasn't because it was a night bus. It was simply because I was traveling via a bus. And I've been on much longer bus rides in Morocco but for some reason, this ride really hurt.

As with the buses in India, they play movies at the start of the trip. At a very, loud volume. (I can't tell you what the movie was about as I was able to constantly drift off to sleep...as far as I can tell it involved men beating each other up, gun fights where no one is able to hit each other and lots of yelling. Then again, they could just be talking in really loud voices...who knows?) But that wasn't what made the bus trip so hard. What took so long were the numerous number of stops that were made. Other than two restroom breaks and one to wait our turn to traverse the tunnel that goes under the Suez Canal, the rest (10 or so?) were for identification checks. For a trip that I don't think should take that much time, it took about 8.5 hours or so because every time we entered a "new zone" (city limits), we had to present our ID. Other than the first ID stop, all the other ones had the guards/policemen pulling some of the passengers off the bus for a check. As I understand it, Egyptians must carry ID cards that have a scan code on it. Once that is scanned in, all their personal information is pulled up: personal stats, marital status, crimes, travel movement within the country, employment, education, etc. I wasn't sure why certain men were chosen to be checked - whether or not it was random or something didn't sit well with the guard/policeman. I thought it best that I didn't get too terribly nosy about these things although the really nice woman I was sitting next to was happy to explain things to me and help me out during the bus ride by letting me know what was up. (She has the most beautiful children, one of which was only barely two. Egyptians really do love children as some of the men around played with them, feed them, and held them. What was even more amazing was the complete ease with which the mother let these strangers hold and play with her kids. Other Americans I've met have commented about this complete faith and trust that we don't have regarding our children!)

Despite the ID checks and the seemingly painfully long ride, it was definitely worth it as we approached Dahab. There are peaks after peaks of mountains, all noticeably bare of any flora. In the early morning light they are truly breathtaking, reflecting the increasing sunlight in shades of reds, browns, and greenish-grey. There were very few people left debarking by this time so there was no rush or crowding. The taxi ride had me in the back of an open pick-up truck/jeep. This was great as I was able to get 360 degree views approaching the little beach town. After the taxi driver helped me find a cheap enough yet decent hotel, I settled in for a nice nap.

Here're some links with pics and some info on Dahab:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dahab
http://centre4sinai.com.eg/environment.htm
http://centre4sinai.com.eg/galleries.htm
http://www.travelsinparadise.com/egypt/dahab/index.html