if Dahab was a videogame where you had to maneuver your character around gobbling up milkshakes and picking up scuba tanks for bonus points, what would be the things that your character needs to avoid?
Cats
the island here is completely covered with cats. they’re *everywhere*. wandering in and out of the hotels, running through the streets, chilling on the beach, and doing all that they can to get food. unfortunately, although eating outdoors on pillows is really comfy and relaxing, it puts you on the same level as all the cats in town and as soon as you get served food (and often before) they all come running. in no time at all, you’ll have a crowd of 5 or more cats all swarming around you, begging for food, trying to jump on the low table, etc. and these cats dont take no for an answer. you push them away, or even spray them w/ water, and they just come back seconds later. it gets hard to keep track of them all. to make matters worse, a lot of the cats are really adorable, and you end up feeling guilty for not giving them a little food. you dont wanna be mean.. but there are just so many of them, and even if you *do* give them food, they just want more!! of course, on the flip side, i really am glad that the cats are here. they’re fun to play w/ when you’re not eating, and they definitely add an interesting character to the island. it seems like most of the locals will have one or two favorite cats that they favor.
Bracelett Girls
the other thing that this island has swarms of is little local girls selling braceletts. anywhere you sit, anywhere you walk, there will be groups of these little girls 6 to 10 years old who come up to you and ask you to buy their braceletts. some of them beg and plead while others havent mastered the art of selling and just blurt out “buy one!!” loudly. some will be persistant and sit down with you for a few minutes showing all their wares. others will just walk by and flash the braceletts at you and keep walking. some of them are alone while others travel in packs. we feel really bad for these girls as they are out doing this all day long. obviously they dont go to school or anything. they are probably just forced to do this to help their parents get some extra money. it’s weird though, just when i think that these poor girls have such a depressing childhood, i notice that a lot of them are really cheery and happy. they sit around and play games w/ each other when they’re not selling. they spend all day hanging out w/ their friends. it’s not like they are doing hard labor or working in the fields. they just walk about chatting w/ each other and occasionally flashing a bracelett…
Restaurant Touts
the whole coastline here is covered w/ cafes and restaurants so there must be some crazy fierce competition for business. because of that, every restaurant will have a guy standing out front and they try to stop *every* paserby to come into the restaurant. so basically you walk and get stopped by a guy who walks along with you for the next few meters in front of his restaurant, as soon as you get to the border of the next restuarnt, the guy from the other place walks with you. so walking down the coast, you will be talked to by like 15 or so different guys in just a few minutes! they’ll say anything to you to get you to come in. if you say you’ve eaten, they’ll say that you should just have a drink. if you say you’re not thirsty, they say to just come in and sit by the fire. or they’ll ask you to just come back later. they have an answer for anything you throw at them. as i said earlier, the only thing i’ve seen work on these guys is to have some koshary in your hands as you walk by!! at times, when you’re in a hurry to get to diving for instance, and you have all these people pestering you, it can be a bit obnoxious, but usually it’s just funny. the thing is, unlike many other places we’ve been, all the touting here is usually very relaxed, good natured, and funny. everyone in town seems to be perpetually happy and always joking. sometimes you’re just as likely to get a “hi how are you!” or a “have a good day” as you are to have someone ask you to come to their shop. it’s actually really really fun to interact w/ the locals here. i think this is partially cause a) sunny beachside towns put people in a good mood. and b) these people have a fairly easy life. if given the choice of living in busy cairo where you make very little money selling stuff to egyptians, or living here by the beach and raking in tons of money from the well off tourists, of course they’d enjoy this choice! it’s also nice that we’ve been in such a small town for 8 days. people are starting to recognize us… my barber will wave each time i pass his window, people will yell out “hey, california!!” to us, and others just give us a handhskae or slap us 5 when we pass.
Flies
so, this is the one annoyance that really does suck. there are soooo many flies around here. it’s practically impossible to sit still without a bunch of them landing on you. they constantly attack your food, your drinks, and your body. they’re so disgusting!!
heh, so all of these “annoyances” are really mild and only annoying at times. in all other aspects, dahab is great. we’ve been having such a good time here. such a nice relaxing environment… so many friendly happy people…
*v