When
we reached Dahab I noticed that it was also lacking the tourist, Dahab
had not had any protests as it was a small town that used to be an old
bedioun fishing village that now tourist flocked to because of its laid
back atmosphere and amazing diving sites. I expected that tourist would
still be here as it was an 8 hour drive from Cairo, far away from the
trouble but I was wrong most the tourist
had left. As we drove through the town I could see that the army had
also increased the their presence. Army officers with their jeeps were
parked in the centre of town and had taken over the police check points
that we had to drive through.
Our hotel was situated right on
the Red Sea about 10 minutes out of the centre of Dahab. It was a little
run down but because we were not married we could not stay in any other
hotel.Other hotels would ask for papers proving marriage because that
was the law and if they got caught with an Egyptian staying with a
westerner without papers the hotel would face serious fines.We could
only stay here because Marwuan knew the staff very well because this was
where he stayed every time he came to Dahab with his tour groups.
Walking to our room I noticed we were the only guest. We were given one
of the suites which consisted of two bedrooms. One bedroom had a King
size bed and one had two singles. The main room had a balcony off it
that looked over the Red Sea towards the red mountains of Saudi Arabia.
The staff at the hotel had made swans out of towels and placed the on
the King size bed.
The swans did not stay on the bed for long.
As soon as Marwuan could get rid of the hotel staff we were into each
other. Not seeing each other for 3 and half months we had a lot to make
up for. Hours went by where we were lost in the sheets. Exhausted from
the activities both Marwuan and I passed out and did not wake up until
Marwuans phone woke us up. I got out of bed to look out the window and
the sun had gone down it was past 8pm in the evening. We spent the whole
first day in bed. What other way would you want to spend it. Both
staving we went to have a shower to get ready for dinner. Drinking duty
free alcohol that I had purchased on my journey while getting ready we
both were laughing and dancing around the room. I was happy really happy
everything was perfect.
Once ready we caught a jeep into town
to get dinner still I couldn't believe how quiet it was. Last time I
was here the restaurants were full of tourist talking and laughing
loudly but this time each restaurant only had a few table full some
restaurants had no guest. The restaurants we decide to eat at we were
the only ones there. Honestly it was nice because it Marwuan and I could
chat to each other quietly over a glass of wine while listening to the
waves of the sea hit the rocks. We took our time at dinner even though
the food was out quickly we didn't rush off after we finished eating.
Marwuan got a phone call from a friend that knew that he was coming to
Dahab and wanted us to meet up for a drink at his hotel. At first
Marwuan said "No" to meeting tonight because we had only arrived today
but I told him to ring back and say we could. I had been drinking a bit
of wine and we had been in bed all day I didn't want to go back to the
hotel yet. I also was excited to meet some of Marwuan's friends and find
out how Marwuan is around people that he knows well. So we finished
our bottle of wine and walked to meet his friends.
Marwuan
introduced me to Mohammed and Waled. The bar we were at was run by
Mohammed but was not open to the public today so we sat at a table in
the corner. The bar was a little freaky because we were the only ones
there it was not lit up but you could still see fishes and sea creatures
painted on the walls in fluro paint. Walking to the toilet I was
looking in all directions thinking that someone would come running out
at me. The toilet had no toilet paper lucky I had my hand bag with me
filled with tissues. You had to be always prepared in this country at
restrooms because the majority of the population does not use toilet
paper they use running water to clean them self.
Marwuan had
bought a bottle of whiskey with him that I had got duty free. The men
were very excited it was a rare occasion to drink a good imported bottle
of alcohol. They were smashing down the drinks straight so the stories
were coming out. They both told me what they had heard about me and that
they were interested in meeting me as much as I was in meeting them.
Both of them told me that they have never seen Marwuan so into a girl as
much as me before but I thought it was just the whiskey talking so I
just laughed it off and changed the subject. Marwuan went all shy for a
while after that so there must be some truth behind it I remember
thinking to myself. We sat around talking about the situation that was
going on Egypt at the moment for hours.After the bottle was polished off
we all called it a night and we caught a jeep back to our hotel. Almost
4 in the morning we laid in bed watching the protesters in Cairo on the
TV until we both fell asleep in each others arms
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