Celebrations and sadness...

Listening to: Bongos playing in the bazaar

We're celebrating Eid at the moment. All very festive and it may be about as festive we get here in Dahab which suits us just fine :) The place is booked out with locals from all over Egypt celebrating their Muslim holiday and feast - festival of sacrifice. While it's not something that appeals to me as a vegetarian the purpose and belief behind the practise is one of sharing, love and community. So this is a good thing and the spirit here is delightful.

We made a decision and cancelled Thailand. We have plans to explore the Sinai further and visit Petra in Jordan and perhaps revisit Israel. So Xmas it is, in the Middle East - we are looking forward to it being very low key and laid back. Just loving the pace of life here and my head spins thinking about the chaos of Xmas back home :)

Dave had a wonderful time out with the Bedouins but he says he won't be trading in Mickey (his horse) for a camel anytime soon as he had rather a sore bum and thighs LOL. He enjoyed the Oasis, the three pools and the hospitality of the Bedouins. He's been loving the snorkelling right next door to where we are staying at Eel garden and further afield the islands . I lie in the sun and relax. Snorkelling sounds like hard work LOL. He said the coral shelf is amazing with some fantastic fish, not to mention Moray eels, puffer fish, sea urchins which kinda freaked him out a little. Once he got past the coral shelf the whole thing drops away into the depths of the ocean opening up to live coral of all brilliant and spectacular colour with fishies and other things (all beings uncertain) hiding beneath the coral and ocean floor. Each time he goes out he returns with a huge grin on his face so he's loving it. Me...I'm still trying to get it but then I'm not a water baby.

I'm feeling sad today for we found out that 'Foxy lady' died three days ago. We were wondering where she was and I feared that something awful had happened. It indeed had. She was poisoned and by the time the Vet came it was too late. Apparently, this is the governments way of keeping the street dog numbers down except they don't bother to inform anyone so the pets end up being a target also. Apparently, quite a few dogs/pets died in the town also. It's just sooooo' sad. Foxy Lady (real name Nancy - well no, her name is the Arabic version of Nancy which I can't remember) was a gorgeous, lovely girl. She left behind several young pups who are being hand-reared by the Bedouin boys from Sheikh Salem House.

We have more to plan for the rest of our Middle Eastern trip so had better go and do some research.

Midnight rambler signing off - ma' salaama...

Sparkling ocean and clear skies...

Listening to: the sound of the ocean

Our Dahab days of clear water, sunny clear skies and smiling faces are coming to an end :( In hindsight I wished we'd booked for longer. Maybe we can still reschedule our flights - but Egypt Scare - oops I mean Air, is a little dodgy and never seems to have vacant seats but we can try. Still waiting to hear back from our travel agent to see if we can change our Thailand plans slightly, which would give us a bit more time for things to hopefully settle down. We feel that some of our days in Dahab have been wasted due to our concern with Thailand and looking at other options as it was only yesterday the airport cleared and we're still be warned by Australian officials not to go there, but the airlines or travel insurance don't quite see it that way...

Dave is off on a snorkelling and camel ride expedition into the Wadi's of the Sinai with a Bedouin guide, Ibrahim. He is expected to be gone all day and I'm very keen to catch up on all his adventures. I'm still full of the flu - that he gave me!! so am going to lie in the sun for awhile and read my book.

Oh, and there is this adorable dog that hangs out with us, I've nicknamed her 'Foxy lady' coz she has the face of a fox and she is ever sooooo' cute :)

Midnight rambler wandering off into the desertscape....

Uncertainty...

Listening to: A cat crying

With Thailand's civil unrest we are left wondering what to do? However, we are grateful that we are not currently caught up in it. We are pretty much wasting today trying to figure out where to go from here. Do we reschedule all flights? cancel them? stay here? Shit!! We are supposed to be in Bangkok next Tuesday and while it may all be over by then - what if it isn't and we are being advised by officials not to travel anywhere in Thailand. So...I'm off to look for a decent coffee in a cafe by the ocean in a sunny spot and ponder our dilemma...

Ciao