Slow Train Coming And The Art of Perpetual Travel: Part One.

These are my friends, Sally and Richard.

They are indeed gods of travel.

They've found in the world of traveling what amounts to the Holy Grail, the El Dorado, a state of Nirvana...

They are perpetual travelers.

We first met in the Dahab Hostel (that name keeps popping up) in Cairo back in the day. My first impression was that these folks really had it together. They were really serious travelers who were curious, engaging, adventurous, and knew how to chillax.

Anyway, I hung out with them in Cairo and then eventually bumped into them again out in the real Dahab.

We had long nightly discussions about the dream of perpetual travel.

Sally and Richard had a plan.

They went home to Australia after Egypt and sold all of their worldly possessions and hit the road, forever.

For the past couple of years they've traveled India. Now they're touring SE Asia ever so slowly.

Sal and Richard sitting on the porch of their Malaysian love shack.

Sal posing with "Rubber Man" and condom decorated Xmas Tree in Bangkok, Thailand...

I worship them and their lifestyle.

I'm not worthy...

They're keeping a brilliant blog, Slow Train Coming. Check it out.

Dahab, Egypt - Good night, and good luck.

My last meal in Dahab. There's a really cheap Egyptian restaurant around the corner from 7Heaven. Here I'm chowing down on cow ankles. Mmmmm...despite the chunks of fat hanging off the protein... Fish here is cheap as well. Notice the lack of eyeglasses... (photo courtesy of Sally.)

Diving here was a bit of a disaster. I could not achieve the depth of 30m that was required to go on to other more interesting dives. Not only was I bumped off of the Canyon/Blue Hole trip but they recommended that I take the peak buoyancy course. I agreed with them that I needed some kind of refresher but I'm wasn't sure whether I wanted to do the course work here.

I think, for the future, that I need to practice more. You know, keep my diving skills up. It would help if I owned some of the equipment as well (eg. fins and mask at least). But, hauling around SCUBA equipment would be impractical to say the least.

I might be headed to Thailand or the Philippines. I'll do some kind of refresher there.

Otherwise, I'm done with Dahab. What a relief. I planned on 5 days here. I spent 17. It's been a slice.

Heading back to Cairo tomorrow. I might head off to Mt. Sinai instead. That was the original plan. I'll sleep on it. I'm outta here for sure.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 30/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Dahab is 3 fourths underwater...

Photo courtesy of Thais.

I'm so exhausted. I did my checkout dive today. Checkout dives are intended for landlubbers like me who have not dove for many, many, many years.

I went with the cheap option, 7Heaven. Wise or not I was gonna find out first hand. I booked the dive and asked for a manual. That's how rusty I was. I spent the next 4 hours burying myself in the text.

The divemaster, Gefer, was Egyptian. He was okay. We had some communication problems with the hand signals. I figured out something really quick. SCUBA diving is not like riding a bike. I used to be an expert (ok, I was good) at controlling buoyancy. It's a combination between breath and using the flotation jacket. Couldn't do it. Frustrating thing was Gefer achieves it primarily with the jacket. You have to have done it to understand the concepts.

Anyway, for most of the time he was just dragging me around. Felt awful.

My breathing rate was pretty high. Gefer ended up giving me his back up regulator. How embarassing was that? I hope tomorrow is better because I was flopping around like a fish today.

Frustration aside, the Lighthouse Reef was pretty spectacular. Just metres offshore the floor just plunges to 30m. Lots of wildlife, especially them spiny-needle covered puffy fishes.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 29/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Getting a life...then a beer.

More Bedouin girls...That's Amira on the left. She burned me good on a bracelet. I hope she puts the money in her burgeoning college fund. By the way, Amira means "princess" in Arabic. (Photo courtesy of Thais.)

Finally did something about the heat today. Went for a dip down at the lagoon by the Hilton. The Red Sea is pretty damn cold compared to the ambient air temperature. So, I had to enter pretty slowly. Once in it's nice.

Nothing new. Constant Mo' versus Dahab conflicts. I think Mo's been here a smidgen too long. The touts are getting personal with their taunting. For example, he was showing some affection towards a girl in front of the locals. Now the touts are harassing him about it. Public display of such behaviour is risque at best. Strange that they act so childishly towards, to them, a complete stranger. Weird.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 27/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Brazil, Brazil, Brazil!!! (and No Chancy Mr. Dancy)

Fru fru drink on a hot day. (Photo courtesy of my good friend, Thais, the Brazillian.)

48C today? Piece of cake, my friends.

Met a real wanker today while passing time in Adam's Pub. [Ed. note: Although not the most aesthetic place in Dahab, Adam's certainly sells the cheapest beer. It's a favourite place of mine and all my traveling buds. Half a litre of barley sandwich will set you back a buck and change. Just get on the seawall and keep walking northward. Can't miss it.] Kept repeating the fact that he has nothing against immigrants (in his esteemed NZ). At the same time he kept coming up with examples of how the Chinese and Indians have ruined his homeland.

Re: Chinese. BUDDY!!! HHHHELLLOOO!!! I'M SITTING RIGHT ACROSS THE TABLE FROM YOU. I'M RIGHT HERE!!!

I couldn't get a word in edgewise. So, I got the hell out of there...

Got into another heated discussion with Mo' about WWII (I'm no expert but I do know who won, ha!) and the current situation in Germany (wrt very strict anti-hate laws). According to Mo', too strict. Yikes.

Ok, that's it except for wasta's email. He's expressed some interest in doing the 'stans. Exciting prospect.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 24/07
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Dahab, Egypt - I'm losing focus...without my glasses

This is the "Bowling Alley". It stretches along the Dahabian coast for a few kilometres. Seaside restaurants to the left and hotels and souvenir shops to the right...somewhat reminiscent of MacLeod Trail in my hometown Calgary. Touts everywhere (well, not this early in the morning). Only place in the world (so far) where I can negotiate the price of my breakfast.

It's Xmas every night in Dahab (Photo courtesy of Thais)

Okay, three days without my glasses... It's not killing me yet.

It was cooler today. 43 Celsius above zero. It's suppose to hit 48C this weekend. Not much relief overnight. Last night it must have been at least 30C (the humidity made it unbearable).

Not much today. Found peace and quiet down by the "Islands". It's best to stay away from Dahab and the touts down in what I call the Bowling Alley. They, meaning the touts, seem to have gotten under my skin.

One last thing, I found my soapbox today in its original spot. Yah! [ed. note: this not a hyperbole. amazing how the little things make a difference at this point.] Nearly floored me when it made an unlikely reappearance. I was hoping my glasses would be returned as well. That might take a miracle at this point.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 22/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Looking for the Dahab pawn shop...

A few soldiers of a much larger army of entrepreneurial Bedouin girls. They combine cuteness with the sales acumen of the best used car salesmen to form the most formidable retail force in Dahab. (photo courtesy of Thais)

Bad day. For starters, I forgot my soap box in the showers last night. It's gone... Seems like there's alot of busy fingers in in this hotel. I'm not sure whether it's guests or staff. Maybe both. Who ever it might be they are pretty desperate. I mean what's next? Party hats out of my toiletry bag? I dunno.

I was depressed for most of the day. Not for the soap box but the fact that I'm losing stuff almost daily now (little things add up to a lot).

Not much happened today other than hangin' with Mo and Joey the American Guy. Joey's kind of hilarious. He's a salesman back in the States. He sells pest extermination services door to door in San Diego. Apparently, he thinks Mo' would make an excellent salesman. Not so much in my case. It seems I haven't the personality to close the deal. Ouch, eh?

Had "dinner" with Young and Sandra tonite. Hot!!

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 21/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Dirty, Sexy Snorkeling...

This is the strip of seaside restaurants lining the Red Sea in Dahab. The concept, from my worldly travel experiences, is quite unique. Each restaurant is completely open except for thatched roofs overhead. Lots of xmas lights, Bob Marley tunes, Bedouin kids selling bracelets make for an interesting ambiance. Only downsides were relatively expensive food served and a monopoly on seaside space. For free beach and solitude, head south along the seawall...

First day without eyeglasses in a long time. The last time was in 1994 when I stepped on and crushed my then spectacles in Zanzibar of all places. It was my first trip to Africa and just 3 weeks into a year long trip. Could not get them fixed until I found a optical store in Harare, Zimbabwe, a month later.

[Ed. note: the optical store was not a Lenscrafter's]

I should carry an extra pair on these trips.

Somethings happened today. I know that's shocking...

First, it was a watermelon brekkie with my Aussie friends, Sally and Richard. They're really fun people. They travel somewhere ever year. They've been in Egypt for a couple of months now. I read somewhere that 99 percent of tourists see just 1 percent of the country they visit. Suffice to say, Sally and Richard have seen all of Egypt.

Anyway, they'll eventually return to Oz, work like dogs for the winter, and then take off again.

Today's breakfast topic of conversation: how to wipe your bum sans TP!

They had bought a whole watermelon fresh off the cart. I stuffed myself silly.

In the afternoon, I went snorkeling with Mo. On the way to the rental shop we met up with Joey the American and Sarah, a chick from Cowtown, of all places! Her last known address was in Lake Bonavista.

They were on their way to The Islands (sounds like a hot Brooke Shields movie, eh?), a reef that was a 30 minute walk south of Dahab. Turned out to be a great choice. The reef was 50 metres offshore. It was shallow at first (up to my knees), then the bottom just dropped off. I mean just dropped off like a cliff. The depth at first was at least 30 metres. Crystal clear waters. The most colourful corals (brain, branched, fan-like) lined the craggy wall. Schools of the most colourful fish swam about, weaving in and out of the coral. Funny, as I swam along, a pack of tetras followed me.

Had me a little stoked for a SCUBA dive...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 20/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Mr. Magoo goes to Dahab...

Dahab is like living in a soap opera.

Today has been particularly frustrating. While taking a shower this morning someone stole my eyeglasses. I had left them, inadvertently, by the sink. Why would anyone take my glasses? They were unique. I needed them! They were vital to my daily life! This last stunt is like tripping granny while she's crossing the street...then giving her a kick to the head just to make sure she's down for the count...

I got to get outta here soon. Here's the plan. Brekkie with Richard and Sally (Man's gotta eat! Am I right...?). Then a bit of snorkeling off the lighthouse. Afterward, find a SCUBA outfit. Do the dives then get the hell out of this place.

Bumming around is not good. Dahab is NOT Egypt (or is it?). In fact, some of the people around here are pretty nasty. I've seen traveler enclaves like Dahab in places like Bangkok and Kathmandu. But, in those places the stress level between locals and tourists was never this high. The Dahab touts are relentless.

PS. I've played my last game of backgammon.

[Ed. notes: Before I get any hate comments, I must say I had a pretty awful day that day. OK, I snapped. So, give me break...]

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 19/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Losing my bookmark in the Book of Life.

This marks one month in Egypt. I never thought I'd be here for such a long time. Usually I would have had the itch to move on by now. But, I'm in Dahab.

My review of what I've done so far in my time here: nothin'. Absolutely nothin'.

We did manage to play beach volleyball a couple of days ago. We chipped in to buy a cheap ball. A couple of locals joined in. Fun had by all.

Last night was good. Met a pretty hot Korean girl at the hotel. She was born in Seoul but raised in Brazil of all places. Her folks moved the family there when Korea was a mere shadow of it's present super economic self. Here's the bonus: she's a SCUBA diving instructor. She's interesting...

The boys are heading down to the foam-dispensing discos of Sharm tonite. Dunno why but I'm thinking of giving it a miss and just hanging out...

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 17/07
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Dahab, Egypt - Chillin' and the Zen of analytical calculus...

The Sea of Aqaba - The Islands just south of Dahab...

First complete day. Sunny and hot. Not much to do unless you dive. I'm trying to chill out. A tougher feat to achieve than you think. Here's are a few reasons why. 1) 7Heaven is not on the beach. So, guests have to hangout elsewhere. 2) Dahab lacks a beach close by. The closest spot is not exactly a sandy beach (but more gravel-like). The ocean front in town is dominated by restaurants. A big mistake in my opinion. 3) Harassment by restaurant touts. Really annoying. 4) Hangout spots are not free (or I feel somewhat uncomfortable sitting down when I haven't bought anything). I should be more like Jason. He has no qualms about walking into some of this places and playing Scrabble for hours on end. Now he's one cool cucumber, eh.

Perhaps I should be a little less analytical and chillax.

Tomorrow: Beach volleyball, maybe. We just have to find a volleyball.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 15/07
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Dahab, Egypt - After surviving the bubonic plague in Cairo, where do you plan on going? I'm going to Disneyland!!

Mountains to the west of Dahab, Egypt...

Finally here.

Arrived after a grueling bus ride yesterday. Glad I took the 0715 bus though. I awoke from dozing off just in time to witness the bus going under the Suez Canal. It was surprisingly narrow. When we popped out of the other side of the tunnel, it appeared as if dozens of humongous container ships were floating in the heat waves pouring off the hot desert sand. Much of the segment from Suez to Sharm El-Sheik was pretty bleak. Flat desert, rimmed in the distant horizon with jagged mountain ranges to the east and the white-capped turquoise blue waters of the Gulf of Suez to the west.

The bus was tolerably comfortable. The bus was never really full until we picked up victims of a mechanically challenged bus along the way.

Sharm, from a distance, considering it's top ranking as a tourist resort, was nothing to write home about: an highly exposed, sunbaked, sea pounded, cluster of homogeneous condo units. From there I and two other vagabounds switched buses for Dahab. Suffice to say, the scenery the remaining way turned dramatic. Close by jagged beige mountains jutted impressively from the base of the surrounding desert. The monochrome of the coastal monoliths was disrupted by ubiquitous, funky, striking bands of olive green rock.

Dahab appears to be a full on tourist town. There are two primary streets. I guess you can't even call one of them a street. More like a sea wall. A pedestrian, cobblestoned walk sandwiched by a strip of open air restaurants adjacent to the sea and another strip of even more restaurants and souvenir shops. Other than the locals running the businesses and an omnipresent army of motley-dressed, pre-pubescent Bedouin girls selling home crafted bracelets, there were few tourists other than large flocks of sunburned Russians, hippie-ish Japanese and groovy Koreans. Light all of this at night and you get the UN of all Disneylands.

I'm staying at the 7Heaven in a two dullah hut (15 LE). Nice. Cheap as borscht (hope the Russians don't find out about this place). I thought I'd be on the beach (like in Thailand) but I'll take this roof top locale.

This is the most touristy place I've stayed at. Not my style but I'll give it an honest try for a few days.

It's a small world... Re-united with Jason (from Siwa), Robert/Mohammed (German), and Matt (the American from Sudan). It's nice to see everyone. Mohammed seems to be a changed man. Effervescent, if I may use that word to describe a man. He's been here for 5 days now. He says this place is un-real. I'll certainly agree with him on that observation.


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Marker points to the legendary 7Heaven Hotel. Huts on top of the roof were 15 LE. Real cheap. Each hut is equipped with a fan. Good ventilation during the night but brutally hot during the day. Who hides in their room during the day when the Sea of Aqaba beckons from metres away? Anyway, "normal" concrete based rooms available. Hang on to your glasses in the showers. I'll explain in a later post... Diving lessons/trips available. Check for better quality elsewhere.

Out of Canuckistan: A travel blog, June 12/07
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Happy Canada Day!!!!! Or, cya later Dahab...

dahab can be a very very very lonely place (that's saudi arabia way in the back).

Oh happy days are here again!!!

you can't see this, but i'm dancin' a lil' jig, eh...

first, happy canada day!!!! to my loyal overseas friends, it's our national bday!!! to my fellow canadians, drink up and celebrate till the wee hours (even though that means till 9 pm for most of ya).

second, I'M LEAVING DAHAB!!!!! WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! i think that deserves repeat of the chorus:

Oh happy days are here again!!!

man, i think i just winded myself.

seriously, i've never been in a place as long as i've been in dahab. it's been definitely a love/hate relationship.

i'm going to miss the sea. i just finish 2 SCUBA dives. i thought i could pick up where i left off 7 years ago in thailand. unfortunately diving is nothing like riding a bike. you need practice to keep up the necessary skills. thus, i was pretty much floundering around in the deep blue sea. it was too bad. however, i did see some pretty cool stuff. the fish and coral are genuinely amazing. however, when it comes to SCUBA skills, i'll pick them up with a refresher elsewhere. perhaps, back in thailand?

i wish i traveled to dahab back in '95. back then (not long ago) i think it was a backwater. a true backpacker chillout spot where chill really meant chill. no hassle (even i have a hard time believing this one). but, i'll never know.

here's to the people of dahab...

to the touts and taxi drivers, everyone's got to make a living. let's just leave it at that.

as for the other people, it's about an ecclectic bunch as it gets. first, ricky, the greasy, flunk out from manchester. you're just 17 yrs. old and you're a wasta already... too bad. then there are friends from the dahab hostel in cairo who seem to have suffered the same fate as i. if he every reads this, Mo', my advice is to get the hell out of here. not tomorrow. i mean immediately. forget about western union. btw, you owe me 270 LE. jason, you got out in the prime of your trip. good on ya!! richard and sally... dunno how u did it but 2 months in dahab... how the hell did u do it? finally, to the blonde woman pushing the baby carriage back and forth, day after day, you are really really really hot.

to all my rushion friends, dost va donya!!! i luv u all!

finally, bob marley is the greatest human being to set foot on this planet.

Dahab...

thanks for the emails from my loyal readers with regards to my health and lack of postings.

i'm alive and well in dahab. i've been here for a long while now.

it's beautiful here. the scenary's pretty stark. the nearby desert mountains are jagged. they're butt up against the brilliant turquoise waters of the red sea. to the east are the seaside cliffs of saudi arabia.


dahab for the most part is a street and a half town. very touristy. the "strip", as i call it, rims the shoreline. there is a wall of chillout restaurants (and their annoying touts) on the seaward side of the walkway, while hotels, gawdy souvenir shops, internet cafes and ubiqutous scuba shops line the otherside. add to this, a caravan of gypsy-like beduoin girls, selling homemade bracelets.


not many tourists are here. the tourist trade is pretty much dead. those that are here are an ecclectic bunch. a plethora of vacationing russians, japanese/korean hippies, and a surprising number of canadians.


there's not much to do here unless you like to SCUBA dive or snorkel. otherwise, you work on your suntannin' and chillin' skills.

you'd think chillin' would be easy in a place like dahab but not really. the touts are relentless. actually, if you've been around awhile, the touts' remarks get quite personal. for example, on the way to dinner tonite, there is a bridge i cross. there's a troll, sorry that's tout, flogging a trip to a local attraction. i'm not interested and say "no thanx, i love dahab". the troll answers, "dahab doesn't love you." what's with that?

here, and in most of egypt, the traveler is nothing unless they fork out the cash. it's ironic that the very people who benefit from tourist spending actually talk trash to them as well. very strange sales techniqes...

i spend most of my time now avoiding "the strip". there isn't a local public beach in town. so, i've got to walk a half hour either north or south of town to get some peace and quiet.

i've got a few more days here. i've got to spend some of my hard earned cash to go scuba diving.

after that, i'm getting the hell out of here.

ed. notes:

1. not all egyptians are nasty sob's.

2. i still do not know where i'm going. i'll return to cairo and make some kind of decision quickly.

3. i went snorkeling yesterday. the biodiversity of the surrounding reefs is incredible. the show just starts about 25 metres off shore. it's shallow at first then all of a sudden the ocean floor just drops off. breathtakingly deep blue sea. beautiful corals. billions of colourful fishes. i haven't seen a Nemo fish yet...