Drive from Sharm el Sheik to Maadi, New Cairo

Hi all, 

Hope you are all doing fabulously :) 

We just made the eight hour trek from Sharm el Sheik, which is located near the southern tip of the Sinai, to Maadi, which is an expat area in New Cairo located about an hour outside of Cairo depending on the traffic. 

A few things that I have noticed about driving in Egypt so far: 

1 - There are no rules. Seriously. I have not seen one set of stop lights, let alone stop sign. People will randomly drive on the wrong side of the road for no apparent reason. 

2 - Seatbelts are for sissies. Meaning they are more of an accessory in the car than anything else. Kind of like the fake fur on the dashboard, the Gatineau-like coloured lights under the car, or the Arabic stencilled on the windows. I haven't seen anyone use one yet, including myself. 

3 - Truck beds are well used. Either loaded up with people, which is personally my fav way of getting around, or piled high with a ridiculous amount of stuff. Like a mountain of cushions about ten times the height of the car, for instance. 

4 - Speed limits are non-existent. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are quite a few speed signs along the road, technically, but people drive at such break-neck speeds here that it is more of a suggestion than an actual speed limit. Funny story: one of my Mom's coworkers was telling us about how he was driving about 50km over the speed limit on his way from Cairo to Dahab, and happened to pull up to a random police car ahead of him. He thought for sure that the police car was going to pull him over, but instead the police officer pulled off to the side to let him pass. Good times. 

5 - Cars have internal speed limit controls. Which are obvi ignored. It is hilarious - owners of taxi cars and vans set an internal speed limit, which makes the car start beeping if the driver goes over a certain speed. Which means that there is an incessant beeping noise whenever you are in a taxi. Which means we had a full x hour drive with full-on beeping. It became strangely comforting, and I would start questioning the driver whenever the beeping stopped. Yalla!! Let's go!!

6 - Every car can be a taxi. No matter how old, new, big or small. An everyone will ask you if you need a taxi ride if you are walking on the street. Even if you are biking ;) 

7 - Drivers reserve their headlights for signalling. Even at night, people drive with their lights off and only blink them on to let someone know that they are passing, or to signal to someone else that they shouldn't pass yet, or that they can go ahead, or to wait a sec until I go first...it's like a whole other driving language ;)

8 - There are check points galore. It's not really a driving thang, but it definitely affects the driving here. During our drive, we went through x. Some are more lax than others - the guys running them will just say hi to our driver like they are best friends an let us zoom through. Others will take all of our passports, make our driver get out of the car to chat, and draw the entire process out while a group of body armoured guys with huge machine guns behind bullet-proof hidey-holes stare us down. Sometimes they make you wait for an hour or two for no apparent reason, or to wait for a 'caravan' of cars to drive as a group. We got it down to an art with our driver by the end - I would put my seat all the way down and pretend to be sleeping and the others in the back would draw their blinds closed so we didn't look like a van full of tourists. Which we are ;)

9 - Speedbumps actually make a difference. Drivers, or at least the ones that I've experienced, slow right down to go over Speedbumps. I don't know if it's the fact that the Speedbumps here made gibormously to the point that you think the bottom of the car will be scraped off, or that everyone is very conscious of their shocks, but man are the Speedbumps ever effective here. 

10 - Drivers pass each other like no tomorrow. Seriously, it's like a free-for-all out there. Solid lines, corners, left lane, right lane, on the curb, no problem. Just honk a bit, flick your lights and you're good to go. 

11 - Road lines don't really mean anything. There may be three lines, but it only allows for two lanes of traffic, there might be only one line but it somehow transforms into three. Go figure. Also, the whole 'keep right except to pass' concept doesn't really apply here. Slow trucks are gonna do what they wanna do, even if it means hanging out in the left lane. Or the middle. They don't give a what. 

12 - Honking means anything you want it to. It can mean hey what's up, who do you think you are, go ahead, don't be an idiot, stay where you are, see ya, hi, bye...and the list goes on. This can be done with one honk or multiple. Mostly they seem like nice honks until you are stuck in a two hour long line up to cross the Suez through the underwater tunnel and then shit gets real. Real fast. 

Speaking of which, our driver was amazing. He had the connections, so somehow got us to skip said lineup in about 15 minutes, and with a little bit of help from me - his copilot in the front - to push in the rear view mirrors to squeeze by a couple of trucks ;) 

We rent our taxis to and from Cairo, the airports, Sharm and Dahab through a guy named Bassem, who also co-owns the diving center we did our diving with, adventure diving in Dahab. Def hit him up if ever you need a reliable and cheap ride! 

Anyway, these are my impressions from my very minimal experience here so far. I have been told that driving in Cairo is a whole other ball game - I'll keep you posted on the craziness on the roads here ;)

Sharm el Sheik, Egypt

Hi friends! 

I am currently sitting beside the pool at the Marriott hotel in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt. It's nice, but my fam says that the other hotel that they stayed at while they were waiting for me to arrive (the four day plane ride here) was on a whole other level. They highly recommend the Movenpick, if ever you're in the area. It's a bit farther from the boardwalk, so you have to take a taxi, but it's worth it for the grandeur. Go big or go home, yo. 

We have been hanging out in Sharm for a couple of days now. 

It is very different from where we were in Dahab. It is very much a resort town, with pristine boardwalks and tons of western restaurants like McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Pizza. 

We prefer the more local restaurants, where we are always offered free sheesha and appetizers ;)

I feel like a couple of days in Sharm is more than enough. After the awesome laid back feeling in Dahab, which is a bit more real and less resort-y although still touristy with all of the shops selling the same stuff, Sharm is total resort-ville. It doesn't even feel like you are in Egypt. 

 

I went for a long run this morning, and noticed that there was someone running at the same pace jut behind me. It was starting to bother me, so I slowed down to let them pass me, when all of a sudden an Egyptian guy pops up beside me and asks me where I'm from. 

We had a good long run together, wandering up an down roads, when all of a sudden he asks me if I am married. 

Um, no. 

'Okay - how about one million camels ad two chickens?' 

...and that is where our run together ended ;) I mean, two chickens?! Common man. 

Anyway, we're planning on spending the whole day in the sun ad then taking a bus to Cairo to see where my mom and little sister have been living. It's going to be much colder there, so we are soaking up a much sun as possible ;)

 

Fun fact: January 7 is when Egyptians celebrate Christmas. 

Have a great day!!

Night Dive

We decided that we would make a change of scenery when my stepdad left and move over to the north side of Dahab, which is completely different from where we had been staying. 

Whereas our old hotel was close to the boardwalk in Dahab with all of the cool shops and restaurants, the north side has beautiful white sand beaches and is heaven for kite boarders and windsurfers. 

It's also the go-to place for Russians. We were literally the only English people in the whole hotel - even the signs were in Russian. Too funny. And slightly unexpected. 

Night Dive

We had heard from another family that they had seen a turtle on a night dive that they did, so we decided that our last dive in Dahab would be a night dive. 

Man, was it ever cool. Literally. Slightly freezing, but so freaking worth it! 

It was so different from diving during the daytime, for obvious reasons. We each had our own flashlights and went in pairs so that we could try and stay in a lineup easier that way. 

My mask kept fogging up, which was frustrating, so I was a bit prepccupied with that and trying to keep my buoyancy under control so that I didn't hit anything or go too deep and touch something poisonous - would have been a bit of a buzz killer - so I almost didn't notice the huge sea turtle that was hanging out under a rock. It was so cool!! 

We kept going for a bit, and then on our way back to surfacing, we actually saw the turtle swimming along beside us. It was so serene and big and beautiful... It definitely made the freezing-cold truck drive back to the diving center worth it ;)

If ever you are considering doing a night dive, I would totally recommend it! I thought it would be scary being underwater in the dark, but it's so interesting. Also, you can see a lot of things that you wouldn't otherwise during the day, and a lot of sea creatures hunt at night. Definitely an experience of a lifetime :)

Four-Wheeling in the Desert - Stepdads Last Day in Egypt

For my stepdads last day in Egypt, we decided to do something fun to send him off in style. 

Four-Wheeling in the Desert

We already took ATVs on a ride into the desert to a Bedouin camp, but one of my mom's friends' sons just arrived and she wanted him to try it out. 

We were told that we were going to take a different route than the last time, so we hopped on the bikes and got ready for a wild ride ;)

It was seriously the funnest ride of all time. 

We went off close to dusk, and already knew the leader guys so we were able to convince them to let us go fast. 

And they actually let us go SO FAST! It was ridiculously fun just givin'er through the desert dust. 

I was completely covered in dust by the end, but it was totally worth it! 

Actually, I have to admit something slightly embarrassing. I had my phone in my pocket to take pictures as we were riding, but we went way later than I expected and started to go through this awesome area with bumps that we were jumping over - in the dark - when all of a sudden I noticed that my phone had fallen out of my pocket. 

Disastrous. 

I got everyone to stop and had pretty much given up hope of getting it back as one of our guides went off to search for it in the dark. When he got back, he said that he was super sorry but didn't find it...joking!! I pretty much freaked out and have him the biggest hug ever and started dancing around. So good! 

Lesson learned: don't leave your phone in your pocket when on an ATV. Because it will fall out. And you will probably lose it. 

Stepdads Last Day in Egypt 

As our last hurrah for my stepdad, we went out for a big family dinner at a restaurant that met all of our new standards: to have good ambience, an open fire pit, free sheesha and appetizers ;) 

The appetizers here are out of control delicious - fresh pita bread, hummus, tahini, eggplant and babaganoush. 

So good. 

We will definitely miss having him around for our adventures, and hope he doesn't turn into a Popsicle back in Canada!

Diving at the Underwater Canyon and the Blue Hole in Dahab, Egypt

Hi friends! 

It's been another couple of days since I posted an update. We are still in Dahab, Egypt and are just packing up our stuff and getting ready to move to another hotel in Dahab on the north shore where there are legit white sand beaches and kite surfing galore - so excited to get my tan on! I already have the craziest tan lines from wearing random shirts during our many (many) activities, so I have to even it out a bit ;) 

Diving the Underwater Canyon and the Blue Hole 

On January 3, we decided to go for another dive. 

Because we're addicted ;)

We went to the underwater canyon, which I did as my first check dive way back when (how many days ago was that?! Haha the days are kind of getting away with me...).  It was super cool diving here again, although we weren't able to go down into the canyon this time, but we saw the bubbles that floated up through the ground from all of the divers in the canyon below. 

We then went over to the blue hole, obviously riding in the back of the trucks. I've literally neve had so many rides in the back of a pickup truck before in my life. Loves it! 

I think that the blue hole was my fav dive so far - it's this large 'hole' in the middle if the ocean. We went down the 'chimney', which is a big tunnel - I went down the second part as well with another guy that we were diving with, which took us down to about 35 meters below the surface. Crazy cray. 

It's weird because you can actually feel your mind processes slowing down a bit when you're that far under water. 

We then met up with the rest of the group and went along the side of the blue hole and saw some of the most beautiful coral that I've ever seen. 

Another successful diving day!

Biking in Dahab, Egypt

Hi friends! 

Hope you are all doing well :) 

I woke up this morning and went for a run along the Red Sea in Dahab. 

I can't get enough of this view! 

After breakfast and a bit of time lazing around in the sun, my family and I rented some bikes to see a bit more of the town. 

We ended up riding along the beach, which was tricky but so beautiful. 

We stopped to watch some kiddies fishing. 

And then continued on our way

So many pretty sights. Our bikes were pretty brutal - my chain fell off three times and had no gears to speak of - but it was a fun way to sightsee all the same! 

Made me miss Mr Blue, my bike at home, a bit. But let's be honest - ain't nobody biking at home in the minus 40C snowy weather ;) 

Sorry, that was mean. Sending warmth to everyone back home! 

New Years Day

Hi friends! I hope 2014 is treating you well so far :)

We ended up going out for an epic family dinner on New Year's Eve to bring in the new year. 

Gotta love it when there is an open fire pit in the middle of the restaurant ;)

We walked along the boardwalk after dinner to people watch - everyone was out and about. 

Every restaurant was also decked out and blasting the beats. It was like a huge street party, so much fun! 

Since we had a huge day of scuba diving, half of our peeps started crashing pretty early, so I went out for sheesha with my little sister, her friend and one of our scuba instructors. 

At the stroke of midnight, there were fireworks that went off over the water, way too close for comfort but we survived, and then everyone started making makeshift flamethrowers and sparklers by lighting clothes soaked in kerosene and whipping them around. 

Pretty wild. 

It was probably one of the more low-key New Years that I have had for a while, but it was great to be able to spend it surrounded by my fam :) 

New Years Day

We were all pretty worn-out after forcing ourselves to stay up past midnight, so we had a chill day lounging by the water and soaking up some rays. 

There's a bit of a wind by the water, and it's a bit chilly by Egypt standards since it's their winter time, but 25C is fine by me ;) 

Hope you all had a wonderful New Years celebrations surrounded by the people that are near and dear to your heart, and I wish you a year full of happiness, prosperity and lots of fun and new adventures!!