We have been loving the Sinai peninsula! We got five dives in. Three of the dives were in Ras Mohammad including Sharks Reef and Yolanda Reef. Don't worry. Unfortunately there were no sharks. Kar got her Advanced Open Water certification. Yipee!!!! This prepared her to dive the Blue Hole and the Canyon in Dahab which were phenomenal. We took underwater pictures but only on film so it'll be a while before we can share those. The Blue Hole was by far the best dive we've done yet. The visibility and wildlife weren't as great as some other locations but the scenery and the technical aspects of the dive were amazing.
We took a camel ride into the mountains and had a Bedouin dinner. There are 5 tribes of Bedouins on the peninsula and some still live the nomadic life. We had a nice chat with our guide about their life and how tourism has changed things. The camels were cool!!!! Kar's kept whining. It must be all the yummy food we've been having.
Speaking of food, Kar's friend Daphne asked us to mention it. We've been eating in style!!!! There are tons of vegetarian options but don't worry, Haig's had plenty of yummy seafood for dirt cheap. Our breakfasts have mostly consisted of fool, felafel, and fresh juice. We've also tried koshari which is just rice, pasta, fried onion, tomato sauce, lentil, and garbanzo beans all mixed together. Yummy!!!!
We went to St. Katherine's Monastery at the foot of Mt Sinai. Only the chapel and the descendant of Moses' burning bush were open for viewing. Haig went inside the museum where they had several relics some of which are on loan to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles and are on exhibit until May 4th. Then we climbed the rugged mountain (2,285 meters) where Moses received the 10 Commandments and watched the sunset over the dessert. Then we hiked back under a full moon. It was nice to work out for a change. Our muscles loved it!
Finally, Haig had to do surgery on Kar's little toe last night since somehow she got Tanzanian dirt and pebbles stuck in it and it got infected. We had ignored it long enough hoping her body would do it's magic, but it didn't. All is good though thanks to Dr. Haig.
In a few days, we fly out to Armenia which we're very excited about but we'll miss being lazy on the beaches of Dahab. Kar won't miss the saltwater showers though!
Miss you all as always :)
-Kar and Haig
Sign on the beach
Magic Lagoon of fertility in Dahab (Don't worry, we didn't walk around it 7 times to get it to work)
3 comments:
congrats on the advanced cert, kar!! that's awesome! can't wait to hear more about what you saw on your dives. sucks about the infected toe, but if that's all the health issues you've dealt with thus far, i can't say things are going too bad for you.
i didn't realize armenia was next. i thought that was the last stop. that should be a good month for you. familiar food and faces - a great remedy to any homesickness!!
speaking of food, sounds like you've been eating well! i'm glad to hear you got a nice long hike in to work off some of the calories. although, since you're not in america, the food is probably more whole and not as fattening. crazy what we've done to our food system here.
good job to haig on keeping up with his full moon adventures. i guess i shouldn't be surprised.
have fun on the next leg!
Holy moe-lee! I'm two posts behind!
St. Katherine's Monastery
The Sinai Peninsula
The Blue Hole and Dahab
The Blue Hole
Dahab
Ras Mohamad Park
The Sharks and Yolanda Reefs
What a wonderful sight to see two dearly beloved people in such amazing places, living life to what appears to be the fullest!
Things are good here- work is going strong and takes up much of our time, but weekends are reserved for fun fun fun! It is our 1 year wedding anniversary and we are going to Santa Cruz today, and have invited family over for tomorrow (at which time we will inflict the remainder of the wedding cake on them :-))! Just kidding (but we will actually try to serve the cake- perhaps it is a good thing you will miss it).
We love the comments (you guys should consider a career as travel authors) and photos so keep them up, stay safe and we send all our love, over the many miles, until you both return safe and sound.
Seerov,
Bahrig and Raffi
Post a Comment