tropical island vacation

over the last few days, we’ve really been enjoying our tropical island vacation in Dahab. although, instead of being in the tropics, we’re actually in Egypt. and instead of being on an island, we’re… umm.. well… in Egypt. ok, well, other than the fact that we’re in egypt an not on a tropical island whatsoever, we really may as well be. Dahab is a small town on the sinai peninsula and is on the red sea coast. the town is mainly made up of a bunch of small restaurants that are on the beach where you sit and lean on pillows on the ground, eat off of low tables, and just chill out. every single one of them has music playing, a view of the sea, great juice an milkshakes, hookas, and about 20 some odd cats. in fact, cats practically rule the town here. every time you sit down to a meal, within seconds, you have a bunch of cats running up to you, climbing in your lap, sticking their heads out from under the table, and basically doing whatever it takes to get at your food. other than the restauarants, it seems like pretty much the only other thing in dahab is internet cafes and dive shops.

we got here just a couple of days ago, and it’s been a wonderful several days. other than 2 days worth of diving, which i’ll write more about later, we’ve done nothing but just kick back, sit around, and enjoy the town. we’ve got about a week here, and it’s nice to just chill out and enjoy the laidback vibe around here. i still haven’t decided for sure, but i think that i might try windsurfing or something else while i’m here. prices here are pretty cheap compared to anywhere else, and other than diving, we’ve been able to get by on about 20 bucks each per day.

also, i’ve been desperately needing a haircut. i’ve been putting it off more and more, and honestly, i was a bit worried about what kind of a haircut i’d get here in a small town in egypt. but since i’m not sure the haircuts in asia would be any better, i decided to just go for it and get one here. it turned out to be not too bad actually. not only that, but while i was at it, i got a shave as well. i’ve never gotten a shave at a barbershop before, and was defintely nervous to have some random stranger wielding a sharp razor near my throat. luckily, i survived… but the process didnt end there. at this point, the guy gets out this long string and holds one end of it in his teeth. using the other end, he somehow does this weird twisting thing while he pulls on the teeth end, and he starts plucking hairs from my eyebrows and cheeks! it was all quite odd, but half an hour and 6 bucks later, i walked out of the barbershop a new man.

ur current plan is just to kick it here for the next few days until the 26th, and then to head up to cairo to celebrate new years there…

*v