Milly

My experience at Dahab in Egypt was amazing, i was a backpacker full of energy and ready to climb Mount Sinai, i set off from heliopolis in Cairo by coach not knowing whether i was going to get to my destination because no one was properly confirming that the coach was going to stop in Dahab. I took my chances and i ended up having the time of my life. But that was all after i stopped over first at a gas station where i was dying to go to the loo, i went into the toilet and it was covered in a swarming layer of cockroaches!! So gross!! but things drastically improved when we got to Dahab eventually...we found a whole load of hotels on the beach front and they were al really cosy and nice with balconies and yet only £9/night, so incredibly cheap!

Dahab is great because its near Sharm-e-shiekh, so it has the same beauty as Sharm but its not as commercialised so you get a cheaper deal on basically the same experience. I really enjoyed the ocean breeze on my balcony as i ate my breakfast in the mornings. Its a bit like a hippy beach with canopies and cushions lining the beach edge looking over the Red Sea and people are just chilling out all day and smoking the traditional Arab hooker, a long pipe attached to a bottle through which you smoke apple flavoured tabacco! Food was amazing everywhere we went but do go to the bigger places as some of the smaller joints can give you the runs for your money...yep the runs...you'll be in the toilet for the rest of the night!! but that is standard in most hot countries, you just have to be careful..

Our hotel was small but very clean and helped us personally with everything we wanted. They arranged for us to take a minibus at night to mount sinai, so we can climb the mountain at night and then be at the top to enjoy the sunrise..it was the most amazing experience of my life! Climbing a mountain with a bedouin Arab who could hardly speak English was scary but exciting, you just need someone with you to reassure you that you will be ok and he took about a tenner to climb up with us. It was a long hard journey but inspiring to watch the old and young all doing it together and a brilliant way of appreciating the turmoil, sacrifice and strength of Moses and his followers as they took refuge it the mountain from Pharoah.

When we were near to the top of the mountain, i felt relieved until i found out that they had carved out steps in the rock, all 700 steps..that was hard work but when you reach the top you see Christians, Muslims and Jews all together in groups celebrating their feelings about the past in their own special way. I read the dawn prayer that Muslims read on the rocks itself and some Christians were singing halla looya not so far away and some Jews were quietly reciting, it was a harmonious feeling and one that i wish could spread globally! Then i was exhausted after the sunrise and i knew we had to still go all the way down the mountain, but it was made easy by people willing to let you sit on their camels and so you could take a ride down the mountain instead, incredibly scary esp when the camel's foot slips on the rocks...but it's incredible how well the camels react to the environment, you just have to trust the one you're on. After Mount Sinai, you can visit St Catherines monastry and see the Burning Bush, but be aware that you need a guide book about the place because you are likely to get lost and not understand alot of what you are seeing..Overall i would rate this as one of the best mountain climbing experiences i've ever had!