Left for ferry with an hour to spare, plenty of time to get my ticket and board. Wrong! Just barely enough time to get my ticket, go elsewhere to pay for it, get the ticket stamped, go pay the exit stamp, get the ticket stamped again, then go through immigration, and finally get my ticket stamped again (waiting in line at each step of course). Ended up getting on the boat with minutes to spare. The morning boat is the "Fast Boat" which only takes an hour accross (as opposed to the other ferry which takes a minimum of 3 hours). It only took an hour to cross, but then we weren't alowed to get off the boat for another hour (no idea why), then after everyone had gone through customs we had to wait over an hour for a bus to take us to the port gate - no more than 100m away!
I caught a service taxi with Rees (a New Zelander I'd met at the Egyption embassy yesterday), and Michael and Pip (a couple from New Zeland, who like Rees were working in London). We got to Dahab (about 90 Km south of Nuweiba) in the early afternoon. We explored a couple of the hotel / camps and all ended up checking into the Auski Camp. I'm sharing a very basic room with Rees just steps from the beach.
The afternoon was spent exploring Assalah (the Bedoin part of Dahab) which just consists of restaurants and cafes along a dirt road with seating and lounging space on the beach. The water is amazingly clear and the reef looks incredible. Saudi Arabia is clearly visible just accross the Red Sea (or at least the gulf of Aqaba). Rees, Michael, Pip and I did happy hour at the nearby tourist hotel / dive center, Nesima and then went to the Shark Club, a much recomended cafe. The servings were huge, the prices small, the food great, and the atmosphere relaxing - will definitely be back.
