Our House...It's in the middle of the Desert (Sinia)

To get to Nuweiba, our buddy Mina hooked us up yet again. He arranged for us to have a driver pick us up from the hotel and take us to the train. Again we had to be up fairly early to make sure that we made the train on time. The train was uneventful and we made it to Luxor when we were supposed to. This is where our original plans were about to change.


When we arrived in Luxor Mina's groping EX friend Abraham was to pick us up from the train station and drive us the rest of the way to Rhuhgada but when we got there he was no where to be found. We called Mina and he said that Abraham was to show up soon. After about 15 minutes of having to dissuade other taxis that we were not interested, Abraham arrived. He seemed like he was a bit frazzled. I guess that was probably because he had arranged other work for the day before he would drive us. He tried to persuade us that it would be nice for us to have a one hour rest at his house while he went and picked up his other group. That would have been okay had it not been 11:00 am and we would have to kill 2 hours with all of our gear.


We called Mina back and he said he would figure it out. Abraham dropped us off for something to eat and promised to be back in 30 minutes to take us because we told him we did not want to wait until the early afternoon. However, after 30 minutes he was not there and we called Mina back. Within two minutes Mina called back and said that he will talk to Abraham and deal with our problem. Abraham informed Mina that he had arranged other work and would be able to take us three hours later. So Mina made another phone call and had another driver pick us up within five minutes. We were also very happy because Abraham had arranged for a travel permission for us and was attempting to charge us 120 pounds...the new driver explained to us that this was free. In the end, after realizing that Mina wished no longer to work with Abraham, we decided it would be good to inform Mina of Abraham's unprofessional actions...bum grabbing. Mina said that he was glad that we had told him and never again would he work with Abraham.


It turned out for the better because our new driver was great and when we arrived in Rhuhgada he helped us to get our tickets, took us to find a clinic to get a vaccination (didn't work out...Katie was so happy!) and helped us to get a hotel. Because we only had about 5 hours to stay in Rhugada we opted for a cheesy and cheap hotel to catch a few zzz's and maybe watch a few movies. To our surprise we turned on the tv to find hardcore American porn!! We flipped through the channels to find that there was only three channels in total (news in Arabic, the movie channel and porn) and they cycled from channel 1 to 150.


So after we decided that the movie did not look good we headed out to check out the town. Our quick little walk turned into three hours of shopping and finding out all about the Russian love affairs that are born here. It turns out that this is the one place in Egypt where the Russian people love to come for holidays, especially the women ;).


We finally managed to get to sleep around 11:45 pm, three hours before we had to wake for the ferry. When the alarm went off Katie accidentally turned it off. She reset the alarm (the phone) so as not to fall back asleep and dragged it into bed with her. Despite being a little sleepy we managed to get all of our gear and get to the ferry. Like most things in Egypt the ferry boarding station was poorly organized and it was hard to decipher where we should go. After three or four people rambled something to us we managed to find our way but realized that we no longer had a cell phone...it was in the bed!


We met a nice man named Sameh who let me borrow his phone and call the hotel. Being that it was three thirty in the morning the hotel reception was a little slow going and didn't seem to want to look for our phone. I asked him to call it when he was in the room and he said that he would see what he could do. In all honesty I don't even think he left his seat and just said he looked because we knew it was there. But all we could do was think of how we were possibly going to get Mostafa's phone number so we could call him when we got to Nuweiba as planned.


With the help of Sameh (translation) we were able to get a taxi in Sharm el Sheik that would take us to get a new phone and then take us to the bus. Because it was still so early we had to drive around forever to find a shop that was open. Luckily we were able to find one and purchased a new phone. Step 1 phone – complete, step 2 – Mustafa's phone number ???.


We decided it would be worth calling the hotel back and see if our phone had been found. The person I spoke to on the phone spoke little english in compariosn to the man I had first talked to in the morning. Despite this he was able to go to the room and find our phone. However, I could not explain to him that I needed the numbers inside the phone. So we called up our savior Mina and he was able to explain the situation and get the numbers we needed and also said he would arrange to get our phone back (how we did not know but we knew he could anything).


The bus ride was uneventful with the exception of about three police stops where, after the first we were short about 20% of the original passengers. It was hard to know why the people were told to leave the bus but from what we could gather it was because they didn't have a valid permit to travel to Sinai and so they were told to go home. We also met a new friend on the bus, Ohad, and he decided that he might as well share a taxi with us because he really had no plans of his own.


We were expecting to see Mostafa waiting for us in Nuweiba but upon our arrival he was nowhere to be seen. Our driver had been waiting for an hour ( not sure why because when he called we told him the exact time we would arrive) and so he did not want to waste anymore time. We had tried calling Mustafa but for some reason his phone was off. We managed to buy just enough time to look around the bus depot and a nearby restaurant before the taxi driver would leave us.


On the drive to Shanty lodges we continued to call Mostafa with no luck. The taxi driver told us that the bus from Cairo should come in at 3:00 pm so we should not be worried. However, we were because Mustafa did not know our new phone number and we were sure he had arrived on the early morning bus.


It was difficult to enjoy the beautiful beach and the great food we had been served upon arriving at Shanty because we still had not been able to reach our friend. What made the situation worse was that when we checked our email we found one from Mustafa that said “Where are you? I have been in Nuweiba for five hours and I think I am going to cry”. We were now in ultra panic trying everything we could, from calling cyber cafes in town to calling the bus stop. This was no good because we had to get the lodge owner to do all the talking because we could not explain ourselves properly in the wrong language. As a last resort Katie called the hotel (where we had left our phone) to see if we had any messages on our phone but we did not. However, as Katie was talking to the hotel reception, Mustafa called and so finally after three hours of panic we had found him. Mustafa was happy to see us when he arrived at the beach and I am sure the rest of the lodge staff were happy too because now “those annoying Canadians could fianlly shut up. Mostafa explained to us that the reason we could not reach him was because the night before he had lost his phone...what a coincidence.


We spent the rest of the evening swimming, chatting and enjoying the absolute peace and quiet of the area. There was no constant electricity but at nights they ran a generator to power some mood lights scattered all around the property and in the grass huts. I also learnt Shesh Besh (in Arabic ??? - backgammon in english) from two of the workers. They had to put up with my slow play and I figured I was boring them but when we finished our fourth game Sleman (lodge owner 1) translated to me that Hassan (lodge owner 2) thought I was a quick learner.


We also learnt that night that Sinai is like mini Israel because all of the Israeli people come here on there holidays (it is half and hour to the border). This was definitely the case because all of the Bedouin people in Sinai could speak perfect Hebrew. Not like I could tell but it was sure easy for Ohad to converse with any of the workers although we couldn't.


We set up our Mosquito net in our tiny little hut on the beach but it was difficult because the roof was just out of reach (we truly are small) and our small mattress was on the floor. It didn't really matter because we were pretty exhausted and fell asleep pretty easily. We knew the Egyptian's love to stay out late but we hadn't seen it first hand, until we were in Rhugada for when we woke to take the ferry at three am all of the same stores were still open and the people still hanging outside. Despite this Mustafa was obviously tired and feel alseep an hour before me (but not before Katie – haha).

The next morning we awoke to the sun shining, with the ocean right outside our door (literally thirty feet and with no obstruction) and of course some back issues. After breakkie (Adam's word) we headed down to the beach and I taught the rest of the gang (now short Ohad) how to play backgammon. Mostafa, who had originally thought it was a hard game, was amazed at how simple it was and we played quite a few games and ended fairly even in score. We spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach and doing nothing, which I think was unusual for our friend from Cairo as he is used to the fast pace back home. I don't think it bothered him at all because part way through the day he passed out face first in the sand (literally – face covered).


After speaking with some of the staff Mostafa reported to us that he was the first ever Egyptian man to come to the Shanty lodge in the ten years it had been opened. Although, we were honored that we could do something like this for him, we were a bit taken back when he further explained that some of the workers couldn't believe that he wasn't trying to take advantage of our hospitality. In fact because some of the staff know knew that he was staying with us, they wouldn't give him 'Egyptian' prices for cigarettes but were giving him triple the true price like the rest of the tourists on the beach. We decided that we should go into town and get some supplies for our Desert Safari the next day. In town Mostafa managed to get a carton of cigarettes for the price of one pack in Canada, we also managed to get dinner, water and a few beer for almost nothing.


Once back at Shanty we met up with our desert Safari guide Lafala who gave us the lowdown. After hearing the price Mostafa was a little taken back and figured that was too much and couldn't accept our offer. After explaining to him that we had known the price when we gave him the invitation, he accepted. Katie decided to hit the sack early that night so Mosafa and I sat out and talked over beers for quite some time, where I learned a lot about our new friend.


The next morning we packed just enough gear to head out into the desert and left the rest behind, after discussing with Sleman that we would be back to stay another night in two days time.


Katie was a little freaked because to get to our camel pick up point we had to drive in the back of the truck. Katie asked him to drive slow but I think that he took that as a joke and might have sped up a little (it sure felt like it around those hairpin corners). Anyways we made it safely to our destination where we were quickly (in Arabic) directed to jump on the camel and get moving. We had ridden camels before but this was Mostafa's first time so we snapped endless pics. We were also lucky enough to be with a group of camels that had a two month year old (Zarka) who was so cute. Just like most kids she was very playful and when she wandered too far, her mother would start to grunt until she could once again see her baby.

I was put on the stubborn camel (Zamarek) and after five minutes was about two kilometers behind. Our guides didn't seem to mind because they made no effort to get my camel to keep up. It was amazing to ride the Camels through the Mountain ranges. It was neat to enter the desert of the mountains and watch the ocean behind us disappear.


The only time I would manage to catch up with the rest of the group was when we stopped to get off the camels and walk through the difficult parts. But once we got back on the camels I was always soon left behind with my camel wandering where ever he wanted. It was good because it allowed me to get some nice pictures of the rest of the group ahead of me, that is until I was so far behind I couldn't even zoom in on them.


My camel was definitely the explorer of the group as he would venture off the beaten path leaping over rocks. At one point I was scared because he ventured so far off the path and was literally running (jogging speed) over rocks. I knew it wasn't safe when Lafala yelled to me to grab his rope and make him stop. But once again when I was back with the rest of the group they left me on my own to get lost.


Katie rode the mother (Aqmar) of the baby while Mustafa rode a camel that had been freshly marked. The camels are marked by making a deep incision on their neck or body which turns to a scar and is used as an identifying mark. Katie was horrified by the sight of the marks on the neck and probed Lafala several times about whether he was going to be okay, which he replied with a simple yes.


The mountains were very nice but by noon it was scorching hot and our guides led us to an oasis where we would rest and eat lunch until it became cooler. Lafala and Musa unloaded the camels and spread out blankets for us to sit on. It is easy to see how at night it was going to be cold because even in the shade it was like a whole new world to being in the direct sunlight. Despite our guides having modest means to cook the food we were treated to English tea with camels milk (our guide tried to convince us that it would make us strong like camel and immune to the sun – which was delicious) and a great tuna and vegetable salad with bread. Katie was shocked to find out that the bread was cooked in the dirt and we would have been unlikely to discover this had we not seen Musa scraping off any dirt from the crust.


After lunch we rested for what seemed like forever and Musa and Lafala disappeared without any indication as to where they were going. All we know is that they grabbed blankets and sleeping gear and headed off down a ravine. After a total of 4 hours in the oasis Musa and Lafala returned and we headed out again.


By the time we left it was much cooler and we didn't venture too far until we found a spot to setup camp. While Lafala was cooking chicken soup, Musa had to go gather the camels. When we had first arrived they had let the camels roam with their two front feet tied together with a short leash. This didn't seem to matter to them and they still managed to venture far enough that it took Musa two hours to fetch them.


While we waited we started playing games like throw the rock at a target. Mostafa made a ridiculous target and we attempted with three turns each to try and hit it without any luck. Out of the blue a rock flew over and hit the target right in the middle. We looked over to see Lafala sitting twice as far as us from the target with a pile of stones. After the first hit and our compliments to his aim he began to throw rock after rock. Although, Kaite, Mostafa and I were taking turns throwing rocks three before the next would throw, Lafala just began looking for stones, throwing one every 5 seconds. It was funnier to watch his enthusiasm with the game rather than playing and when he stopped we were finished.


In between games Katie set up, what she liked to call, Our House, which consisted of three blankets spread over an area of ground that Katie had cleared of all rocks (or so we thought). She then preceded to tell everyone that in Our House, there would be no shoes – haha! She then proceeded to start singing, “Our House...” but instead of using the original lyrics, she created new ones. Before you knew it, we had all started singing her crazy song, “Our House...it's in the middle of the Dessert, Our House...it's in the middle of Mnt Sinia”.

Although, Musa had told Mostafa that we were crazy for not having sleeping bags we had figured we would be okay if we all slept in one area sharing the three blankets we had. After the sun went down we put on all of our clothes as it was starting to get cold. Katie and I were a little more used to it but Mostafa, who had not grown up in Saskatchewan, was a little more concerned and bundled himself up like an Eskimo. Shortly after dinner Lafala and Musa headed to sleep and we were left to fend for ourselves..

That night was the most amazing stars any of us had ever seen. Being that the only major city on Sinai was 300 km away there was no lights to diminish the stars effect. We seen three shooting stars (a first for Mostafa) race all the way across the sky. When we finally decided to try and sleep (like 8 pm) the wind decided it had other plans and began ripping across the open areas near us. Although, Katie and I were cold, it was Mostafa who had to get up an build a fire because I think he honestly feared for his life. The wind was sucking almost all of the heat from his fire but it took me a while to convince him that it would be warmer under the blankets. After I built a wall with camel saddles we all wrapped ourselves in blankets and stayed like that until Katie woke up choking on sand. Katie and I woke late at night (different times) to see the brightest and most brilliant moon directly over our heads, which had hidden almost all of the stars.

We woke very early the next morning (4 am) and got an early start on breakfast...we needed coffee. We then headed out on foot to the coloured canyons. It was a difficult walk, illustrating to us, how bad of shape we were in. After about one hour Katie had to stop to use the bush toilet, which consisted of the only busy we had seen for 3 km. Mostafa and I ventured ahead to give her some privacy...we didn't have to worry about Lafala because by this point he was three quarters of a km ahead. All of a sudden Katie was calling us back...a snake had startled her when she went to go pee. Luckily when she had turned around she had seen the snake out of the corner of her eye and even more luckily the snakes head was burried in the bush and only its tail was near her.

After Katie had finished, we hurried to find Lafala but with no luck. It was as if he had disappeared...isn't your guide supposed to make sure you get there? After aimlessly wandering around and making all sorts of noises to try and alert Lafala that we were lost he finally came back. It took another thirty minutes to get to the coloured canyons but it was worth it. The colored canyons was a crevace in the rocks that was filled with sandstone rocks that were of all colors from green to yellow. It looked like one of those glasses that is filled with colored sand and they use to toothpick to push the different layers of color into neat patterns. We had to climb up small ledges and through very tiny holes in the rocks and had a lot of fun doing it. When we reached the end Mostafa ventured off (to give us some alone time????) which was nice because it gave me some time to use the bush toilet. I have to say that after this trip any prince or princess left in either Katie or I are gone. In all honesty though, Katie and I much preferred using the natural bush toilet to the disgusting squat toilets we have encountered along the way.

We returned to the camp after tying to spot the snake so Lafala could identify it. We had no luck but from our description Lafala figured it was quite poisonous. When we arrived at the camp Musa was gone with the camels but Lafala already anticipated this because we did not stop but walked on for about an hour through the scorching heat to the oasis we had stopped at the previous day.

Again we dined on incredible tuna salad and dirt cooked bread and stayed for what seemed even longer than 4 hours before heading back to our pick up point. All in all it was a great experience even though we were freezing cold the previous night. We truly enjoyed the company of the guides and Mostafa.

After saying our goodbyes to Musa we headed back to Shanty only to find that our huts for the night were now occupied by the thousands of Israeli's that had come for passover holidays. Not only was our lodge full but all of the huts along the beach were full. Either Sleman hadn't understood that we were planning on staying another night or he couldn't refuse the business – but either way, he allowed us to stay under one of the canopies on the beach for the night.

After arriving back from the desert we once again had cell coverage and Mostafa found that he had received many messages from his fiancé and work. Mostafa was able to make some phone calls and from the look on his face things weren't well. It turned out that his fiancé was a bit of a freak case and the employee his boss had found to fill in for him while he was gone did not show up to work. Therefore, Mostafa was now out of work and without a fiancé. We felt pretty bad but he was very calm and had been offered work at one of the lodges along the beach but wasn't sure yet what he was going to do.

After a quick dinner and some more backgammon we robbed some cushions from one of the other canopies and wrapped ourselves in carpets and went to sleep (again it was only 8 pm but we were dead).

Under the canopy was more comfortable than the rock mattress we had slept on the night before and was much warmer but we still could not manage to sleep in and were all awake by four thirty in the morning. We had a relaxing breakfast and arranged for a taxi to pick us all up to take us to the Nuweiba bus depot where we would all catch a ride back to Cairo. However, at the last second Mostafa informed us that he was going to accept the job and would not be coming back with us. We would say our goodbye which was met by tears from our new friend and headed into town to make the long bus back.