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It was our last day in Dahab, a small laid-back town in Egypt’s Sinai province. We woke up early for breakfast and went on our morning walk along the beach.

The day before had been particularly exhausting for both of us, a desert hike into the valleys of Color Canyon and White Canyon in the heat of the summer was both challenging and rewarding. This morning however was peaceful and mellow.

Someone had told us about this place along the beach called Magic Lake. It’s one of those mud pool that people bath in and it’s supposed to be good for the skin. Not that we were planning to jump into one, but we might as well have a destination.

Along the way I saw this dog on the ground. It lay flat, as if it was almost dead. I whistled to the dog and it got up. Then I noticed another dog closer to the shore, and they followed us on our walk. They were a pair; one female and the other male. Real cute dogs.

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While the two dogs did not follow us closely, they ran up and down the pathway and caught up with us in our walk. In a way, they led us to the Magic Lake. These were stray dogs, but they seemed happy to be with us, or maybe with each other. They ran into the water when we reached at the lake.

One of the dogs had its paw on my lap as I knelt down near the lake, as if it was pleading me to take them home. I have a soft spot for animals, especially dogs. I offered the dog some dried pickles. It was all we got at that time.

Later we walked back to our motel and checked out. The atmosphere changed rapidly once we were seen with our backpacks in public. Touts all around. Cunning and deceiving Arab touts.

We were approached by this guy who owns a jeep. He asked for 20 Egyptian Pounds for a ride to the bus terminal. We knew better that it shouldn’t cost most than 5 Egyptian Pounds, so we bargained.

He disagreed and lowered his offer to 10 Egyptian Pounds. When we stopped a pickup truck that agreed to take us there for 5 Egyptian Pounds however, he gave in to our price but he had a detest look on his face.

Then once we got on the road he spoke in a threatening manner for 10 Egyptian Pounds. My friend is not one female to be messed around with, and she yelled at him for being a liar. While she took the aggressive approach (one which she does innately without effort) I remained calm and bold. I wanted him to think that I’m a tourist from Israel (no Egyptian would want to mess with an Israeli, so I thought) and that I wouldn’t hesitate to take actions should he plans to drop us anywhere but the bus terminal.

Once we got to the bus terminal, my friend handed him 5 Egyptian Pounds and I grabbed her by the hand and yelled “Come on, wife!” and whisked her away from the jeep. I’ve seen how Arabs treat women and my priority was to protect her.

We returned to Sharm El Sheikh on a public bus service from Dahab. It didn’t take us too long to reach Marriott Red Sea Beach Resort in Naama Bay on a public van. The driver assumed that we were married and asked how long. “One month” I replied. He said, “Tell your wife only 9 months, not 10 months for a baby.”

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My friend gave me a cheeky smile and said, “Well, I don’t have a problem with that. That depends on your performance!” I couldn’t come up with a clever comeback that time, and she was being cute but it was just so wrong!

In Egypt, a female travel companion is by default assumed to be the wife. And it is wise to let the assumption prevails.

After two nights in a backpackers’ motel, I was only too happy to be greeted in an American brand hotel. Especially one that is a Marriott chain. I flashed my Marriott Elite membership card and they upgraded my reservation to a suite.

Now, I’ve stayed in various Marriott hotels in United States and Asia, but while I’m grateful they upgraded my room to a suite, we had to wait an hour before they gave us the keys. Even the hotel staff did not personally see us through but passed us from one bellboy to another. Thrice! It wasn’t the usual Marriott treatment that I expected.

Sharm El Sheikh is a whole different kind of tourist attraction compared to Dahab. This is an expensive place. All the big hotels and resorts compete well along the Red Sea coast here, which makes the beach experience all more pleasant.

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While I had some trouble looking for a swim wear at a reasonable price, a dip in the Red Sea beach here was a delightful experience. The beach was perfect. Later in the evening, we had dinner at Marriott’s beach side restaurant while we watched a Bedouin’s traditional dance performance.

Sharm El Sheikh has a plethora of nightlife activities. We had planned to walk along the beach in the evening, but we were too tired by then. We settled for a belly dancing performance in Marriott’s hotel bar.

The one thing we wanted to do in Dahab that we couldn’t do in Sharm El Sheikh was to watch sunrise. Here the resorts are facing south, unlike Dahab where the beach view is facing east.

This however was the most relaxing part of our trip.