Days 201 to 206: Six Days in Dahab, Egypt

There was a magnetic force in Dahab and I kept extending my stay here. After staying for six days I’m finally leaving today for Cairo. This post is a summary of my experience in Dahab.

Dahab was first recommended to me by Natalie, a seasoned traveler I had met in Larnaca, Cyprus. Later when I was in Jordan, I heard good things about Dahab from various travelers as well.

After I took the 45 minute boat ride from Aqaba to Taba Heights for $70 USD, I found a young couple who was getting a ride to their hotel in Dahab. I paid the guy $20 USD to share the ride with them. One local Egyptian taxi driver told me I couldn’t get a ride with them and wanted $70 USD so he can take me to Dahab. When I asked him why I couldn’t share a ride he said that the police said so. I called him out on his bullshit and ended up sharing the ride anyway.

The ride to Dahab from Taba Heights was about two hours by car. I could have taken the 4 PM bus, but I didn’t want to wait six hours in the bus station.

I arrived in the early afternoon and Dahab reminded me a lot of El Nido in The Philippines due to the beach vibes. One can do many activities here, including snorkeling, free diving, scuba diving, and hiking. I didn’t do any water sports because I’m a poor swimmer and I had done scuba diving in The Philippines before. The most I did was go into the water and relaxed. I spent most of my time hanging out with people from the hostel and meeting locals on Couchsurfing Hangouts.

The hostel that I stayed at, Rafiki Hostel, has many group activities. I joined a sunset hike in the mountains on the first day of my arrival. I met an Egyptian from Cairo named Marshan and an English guy named Archie on the hike. Together, we had dinner that night.

I also had great conversations with Daniel, a 72 years old man who is very spiritual, and his wife Olga at the hostel the next day. Daniel made me consider to become a vegan. He also gave me some information about his guru in northern India. The three of us also met up for a koshary meal, which is the Egyptian national dish with pasta, beans, chickpeas, fried onions, and tomato sauce.

After two nights at the Rafiki Hostel, I switched to the Bedouin Hostel to see what another hostel in Dahab is like. I had the worst night of sleep at Bedouin due to the mosquitoes. The second night was better and I had a good time hanging out around the camp fire listening to people singing and playing the guitar deep into the night.

I came back to Rafiki after staying at Bedouin. I prefer the Rafiki because of its activities and the social scene there. I did meet a young Chinese traveler named Alex at Bedouin Hostel.

On Couchsurfing, I met a local named Mahmoud. We hung out for a day and walked all the way south to Magic Lake and Lagoona Beach. We chilled at the beach for a while and I saw many kite surfers before returning back into the center of Dahab.

I invited Alex and another traveler named Evan for a grilled chicken BBQ dinner at Mahmoud’s friend’s place. We had a great time chatting and eating. Later that night, we attended an open mic event at Tota that was excellent. That night, I didn’t go to sleep until 2:20 AM.

I also met up with Sami and Christopher on separate occasions. They were the travelers I had met in Aqaba. I might meet Sami again in Cairo since we are going to the same place.

Overall, I spent more time chilling and relaxing in Dahab than doing anything else. Mohammed from Amman also introduced me to his friend Mariam. I met her at the open mic in Tota and she is very nice as well. Yesterday, I met another guy named Mohammed through Mahmoud. Mohammed just opened his ice cream shop so I made an Instagram post promoting his business.

I also hung out with Ali and Sander from the hostel for coffee yesterday. We had many laughs talking about shark attacks, of all things. Lastly, I met two more locals last night from Couchsurfing, Emy and Salaah. We had a good time chatting. Emy is also a realtor and informed me about the housing prices in Dahab. For the cost of a new car I could buy a property here, which is quite cheap.

Overall, I had a great time in Dahab and I didn’t feel there were many scammers here. Maybe because it’s a beach town and not a major city. I wish I could stay longer, but the Rafiki Hostel is fully booked for the next few days so I guess it’s time to move on. I’ll take the 10 AM GoBus to Cairo today.

Crossing the Gulf of Aqaba to Egypt