To the Red Sea Coast

Having Luxor all wrapped up, I was quite ready for some relaxing on the beach so I headed to Dahab.  There are a couple of options on getting here and the one I was wanting to take which was Luxor to Hurgada by bus, one night in Hurgada then a ferry across the Red Sea to Sharm el Sheik, then another bus to Dahab.  I had heard from a few other travelers that this way is not recommended because the cost and hassle is far from fun so I opted for the 16 hour bus that travelled up the coast, crossing into Sinai at Suez then down and around the southern tip and back up the east coast to Dahab.  I really didn't want to spend 16 hours on a crappy Egyptian bus but since Moses' staff had been rented out by some Russians, parting the Red Sea was out so the bus it was.  I've had worse but this was by far the most tortuous transport.  Much worse than the train.  But the Red Sea is well worth it.  I'm still here.  My hotel is right on the beach.  In the distance, you can make out the skyline of the mountains of Saudi Arabia with the most crystal clear beautiful turquoise blue water you could imagine.  I went snorkeling on day one and after seeing the amount of marine life teeming on the reefs and the clarity of the water I quickly decided that snorkeling would not be enough so I enrolled in the SCUBA class and after tomorrow I will be certified for open water diving.  I'm pretty stoked to get out there and have a look around.  4 out of the top 10 diving sites in the world are located here.  I've only been down to 12 meters (36ft) In class tomorrow we are going on 3 dives and down to 18 meters (60 ft).  Can't wait!!!