Egypt Day 2: Blue Hole Tour
Security Crossing for the freeway going to Dahab It's quite a long queue today. Mostly tourist buses. It seems like there is a requirement that each van is accompanied by a police vehicle to get through as they cross that motorway.
So today we are going to Dahab, about 90km from Sham El Sheikh. And then from there we are going to a right past and go to the blue hole. This is the most important part of the sea around that area. So quite important. So we had a 2 hour van drive through the desert roads and we stopped at Dahab for a rest break.
10 minutes. It cost us 5 EGP to go to the toilet. And then we stopped at another place to actually hire the scuba kit. Not Scuba Diving (Snorkeling) mask, wetsuit, life jacket, all for $10.
But just before we go to the blue hole, part of the trip is to have a camel ride. So we are here waiting for our camel. We've got a really nice backdrop here of the sea, the mountains, all these tourists. We are one of them in these minibuses. So we are going snorkelling where we will be going around the blue hole.
And I'll introduce you to that later. The first part of it will be camel riding and that's part of our package. So you can see the people going in the far distance there. And it will be a little 10 minute camel ride in a triangle shape going along the bottom of the valley of the mountains there. And then coming back to this point again.
And these people are setting off. So the trick is to hold the hump and lean back. A bit different from horse riding. Hop on guys, hop on.
So we are aboard this transportation. His name is called Mishmish. Don't know what his character is but he seems quite relaxed here. We're riding. Looks easy when other people are riding but when you're on top of these things Mishmish here, you can feel the power of the camel. It's quite a task to stay stable on this seat here.
There is no foot straps so your legs are hanging off the air. We've got a 10 year old boy leading us the way. There's an option for some people to go on the ride on the machines there.
You can add that as a package but we'll just do the camels. Thank you very much. Thank you.
Thank you. Mishmish, thank you very much. Goodbye for now.
After our camel ride it was a very short trip here to what looks like base camp for the Blue Hole. It's a Bedouin style tent. We leave our stuff around and we'll be leaving everything here and going to Blue Hole. We're getting toilet facilities and changing room in the back. We're waiting for the big thing.
The Blue Hole is like the Bermuda Triangle for diving. In recent years, 200 people have died there. It's a mystery how they died and the bodies, they have not recovered, many of them.
How can I describe it? The sea, if you look at the sea out towards the ocean from here, the Blue Hole is actually on a shelf, a very low flat shelf. You can actually walk on it to the Blue Hole. Then there's a sheer drop to the ocean itself where the waves are massive. The hole is in the shelf, on the shelf, about 100 meters and it also tunnels in down below the sea out to the open ocean as well. It's a really weird kind of current system there.
What we're going to do, we're going to be going on a ring around and back into the Blue Hole in a line. The whole thing will be 40 minutes in total and I'll film it on the way. That was the Blue Hole snorkeling scene you see.
And now we are sitting in what looks like a little Bedouin style restaurant. Where we will be served chicken and rice. Some young kids there selling some beading work. And this is all part of the package. After this we will go back to the Bedouin camp and get changed, have a shower. Our meal for today is chicken, rice and vegetables.
And it should be had with hummus but they only got ketchup. Heinz ketchup. After the meal they have taken us on a mini bus ride to a part of the excursion which is oils and (perfume) factory. Looks like the oils but we are going to have a look. Perfume and oils. Probably going to give us a presentation before asking us to buy a few things.
Perfume lotus flower. Lotus is a very old flower in Egypt. If you have been to the Egyptian museum you will find it in the room of King Tutankhamun. Six parts of alabaster stone. Full of this beside this.
I didnt film because I just want people to have their privacy. But we had a demonstration of various different oils, some perfumes. So for example this one is mint. It's very strong. When you drop a few drops in the water and you sniff it. Really powerful smell.
And you can purchase here. This is a 50ml for $10. A 75 for $15 and so on. To $10, $15, $20, $25. And they don't differentiate between which perfume or oils you have.
Not just perfume. They want to flog us some jewellery as well and also some local cultural items. This is a Bedouin. Good. Very good.
The one that is spiral is not for the nose. Ladies and gentlemen. This is probably a Bedouin. I would go there. From the perfume and oils factory. We have been on a one hour ride.
And now we are in this valley. Vassala they call it. Vassala. Now we are going to go for a 20 minute jeep ride. And then a 20 minute walk through the valley. So they locked us in a cage in the jeep.
Very comfortable and cosy in here. We got a head kid hanging off the back. We are going to the valley. The music is playing. That's our tour guide. He just climbed off the roof.
This is proper terrain. Rocky sand. Fantastic views of the valley. I am not going to climb down. I am so exhausted. An unexpectedly fun ride on a jeep there. It's the final excursion of the day.
We are going to go through this valley here. Walk through the valley. This is actually called Salami Valley. It used to be 30 million years ago all under the sea. And then an earthquake broke this earth up into this valley. It says it's dry most of the time but two times a year there will be water flowing through this.
Incredible scenery around here. And we arrived in a jeep. Descending to the valley of Salami. This should be a 20 minute walk through the valley. Water required.
It's very pretty. The sand is very soft. It's hot but bearable. Fine. It's amazing that there are things growing around here still. That tree is looking very fresh in the middle of that valley there. Very interesting rocks here. Broken off by the river. These fabulous looking plants here.
That's a very elegant tree. Spikes on the trees there so don't get too close. Lots of rocks ahead.
The guide is going around picking up litter. Very considerate person. We'll take a view over there and see what they're looking at. Walking on barefoot.
Negotiatng on some rocks here. So if your not too mobile it could be a problem. Respect! All in all, I think this is really worth our experience coming through this valley. The jeep ride was exciting. The landscape was magnificent.
The view around. The canyon walk was a little bit different from what I expected. The canyon walk was a little bit different from what I expected. This is more than 20 minutes. It seems like half an hour already and we have more to go Looks like some scenes from a western movie.
With the Indians and cowboys getting ambushed around here. I'm not sure those rocks are suitable for climbing. They look a bit flaky to me. It's getting greener here now. It rains here from time to time each year.
The jeep is ahead of us so you don't have to walk back. It's just one direction and they pick you up. Looks like they're building something off plan I wonder if they got council permission for that. A nice little house with two windows, needs a roof. And it will be really cosy I don't know what this is.
Some kind of construction here that was broken apart. A bit of respite from the sun.
2023-06-28 19:01
