Dahab Day 5

While we took plenty of pictures to help us remember our camel trip, this morning my body doesn’t seem to think that is adequate to ensure that I think twice before doing something similar again. And while I expected some parts to be a little sore, I am surprised by just how many muscle groups camel riding can punish.

Moving noticeably slower than previous days, we mostly plan on taking it easy today. We are leaving for Mount Sinai at 11pm to climb the mountain and see the monastery there, so need to rest up a bit for that. We do still need to eat however, so as has become the norm, we board the hotel shuttle to town and head for Yum Yum’s and a few dollars worth of delicious pita sandwiches.

With some time to spare before the shuttle back, we wander along the shore trying to pick a place to try a milkshake (the restaurants along the water all advertise them so we figured we should give them a try). We finally settle on one, and are enjoying the break when we see a cart rolling down the street marked “rice pudding”. This is impossible for us to turn down, so Ang steps out to buy one, which we will somehow manage to stuff down.

As really should be no surprise, “rice pudding” in Egypt means something very different than it does in Redmond, WA. There is some rice in it, so the advertising isn’t wrong, but it is just one ingredient, along with some noodles, chickpeas, lentils, tomatoes, some kind of secret sauce, and dried onion flakes. This all is scooped into a container and served hot, for the equivalent of about eighty cents. The more surprising part is that it is really, really good.

Back at the hotel, we try and get some nap time in to stockpile for the long night ahead.