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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.

I was in Dahab, a small laid-back town along the Red Sea coast in Egypt’s Sinai province. Dahab is often used by tourists as a base for exploring Sinai Desert and Red Sea scuba diving.

There are two tourists concentration areas in Dahab; one in Dahab Bay where luxury hotels like Hilton is located, and the other in Asalah, a backpackers and professional scuba divers hangout with an impressive Red Sea beach stretch. Along with a friend of mine, we stayed in the latter where we suspect we could hunt for Sinai Desert excursion at a budget price.

Where we stayed in Asalah, Green Valley Motel also runs Green Valley Tours. They have a package that covers Color Canyon in the morning, a visit to an oasis and Bedouin camp for lunch, followed by White Canyon in the afternoon. It costs 150 Egyptian Pounds per person on an air-conditioned-less jeep shared with 4-6 other passengers.

Earlier on our way to Dahab we met an Arabic speaking English kid. He recommended us to an Arab friend of his whom also runs desert excursions. He quoted us 155 Egyptian Pounds per person for the same deal offered by Green Valley, but he promised air conditioning.

After about an hour scouting around and deliberating our options, we agreed.

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The next day they came and picked us up at our motel after breakfast. We found two Swiss girls already on-board the jeep. The air conditioner wasn’t running. Later, three more passengers joined us; A female Egyptian who claims to be a journalist (and could speak a few languages), and two guys that we hardly spoke to.

Just before we hit the highway, the guy whom we made tour booking with the day before asked me to step out of the vehicle. I was cautious about leaving my female travel companion in the jeep, so I stayed close to the door after stepping out. Given the experience we had with touts in Egypt and their sinful pride of having four wives, I wasn’t about to trust any Arab.

He demanded that I settle the full price of the tour for both of us on the spot. I did. Then he sternly asked me not to discuss the price with other passengers on-board and made me promise. It wasn’t just weird. He was intimidating!

Once we got onto the highway, the air conditioner was running at full blast.

We passed by a police checkpoint along the way where they verified our passports. We had a moment of suspense when the policeman questioned our tour guide on why our entry visas were stamped in Luxor. Then both men walked away from the vehicle and returned with our passports couple minutes later. We had no clue what just happened since they spoke in Arabic, but I grew suspicious of what may have transpired. Later I found out that our tour guide did not have a permit for desert excursion bearing foreigners aboard.

Once we left the highway into the desert, they switched off the air conditioner.

Our first stop was Color Canyon. We went hiking in the valley in the heat of summer, and as much as I enjoyed the initial thrill and experience I would know better next time. It was very hot! Nevertheless, our visit to Color Canyon was worth it. There were shadows and shapes formed in the rocks by nature. Some were cute, others were amusing.

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There were steep paths in our journey, other obstacles were narrow and had little passable window through the rocks, but our tour guide did help us through the valley. At times we had to climb some slippery rocks. Between the two of us, we almost ran dry of our bottled water supply, but thankfully we managed to last.

We stopped by a Bedouin village for lunch. The meal was nothing fancy but interesting. We noticed that in Egypt most dishes are served with either fries or chips. While it doesn’t blend with the main dish, it gave us options. I, for one, ate only the chips. I longed for mashed potatoes while they served us tasteless and pre-chewed meat!

After lunch, our tour guide explained to us the origins of Bedouins and Islam in Egypt. He wasn’t very articulate in his words nor was he accurate in his facts. It was actually entertaining to watch our fellow traveler-cum-journalist debated facts with our tour guide.

Later we proceeded to White Canyon on another long but gratifying hike in the desert. Especially because at the end of the trail we had to ascend a 5 meters high cliff using a rope.

On the way back, one of our Swiss friends hooked the jeep’s audio to her iPod and played some groovy tunes while we went on a bumpy ride in the desert. It was a good end to a long and adventurous journey.

I’d just think twice before I do any desert excursion during summer next time.

Sinai has a unique and distinct character when compared with mainland Egypt. For starters, it’s all desert and sand dunes without the river Nile flowing through it.

My friend and I, we took Egypt Air one hour domestic flight from Alexandria in mainland Egypt to Sharm El Sheikh, a major Sinai city along the Red Sea. Upon arrival at our destination airport, we were swarmed by a mob of cab operators, mostly Arabs, lavishly displaying their Islamic faith icons, deceitfully swearing that they are the only way to the city.

We had planned to visit Color Canyon, White Canyon, Pharaoh Island, Mt. Horeb (where Moses received the Ten Commandments) and St. Catherine Monastery at the base of the mountain. Using Dahab — a city north of Sharm El Sheikh roughly two hours by public bus — as our base, we had two nights and little clue to begin with.

One offered to take us to Dahab for 300 Egyptian Pounds. When we told him we wanted to go to Asalah beach, he topped it up to 350 Egyptian Pounds. We gently asked him to take us to East Delta Bus Terminal instead in Sharm El Sheikh city and he quoted us 150 Egyptian Pounds, again swearing he’s the only way to get out of the airport.

As we began to walk away, they got more aggressive and intimidating. Unswayed, we left the carpark and walked into a terminal building. Inside, the information counter informed us to cross the road outside the airport vicinity where we could ride a public van to East Delta Bus Terminal for 3 Egyptian Pounds.

We got on the van. They charged us 5 Egyptian Pounds. Each.

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A bus ticket from Sharm El Sheikh to Dahab only costs 11 Egyptian Pounds per person and can only be purchased an hour before departure time. We met an Arabic speaking Briton at the bus terminal. He suggested that we tag along with him once we reach Dahab to avoid those pesky deceitful touts.

Now, I didn’t know what to think of this Brit. He seemed like a nice kid in his early 20s but for all I know he could be a drug smuggler, serial rapist, arms dealer, or at the very best, a British MI5 agent needing a decoy. In any case, we gave him the benefit of the doubt and agreed to follow him as far as Asalah beach. My concern above everything else was to protect the female unit whom was traveling with me. She’s pretty enough to attract attention.

We stopped by two police checkpoints along the way. A plainclothes cop got on the bus and checked everyone’s identification document each time.

Upon arrival in Dahab, we were again attacked by a group of touts. This time the English kid got us covered. Speaking in Arabic, he negotiated the price to get us to Asalah beach and paid for the three of us. We didn’t pay squat, but might as well because he made us jump onto the back of a pickup truck when we were expecting a four door sedan! Just kidding.

One thing for sure, the price is nowhere close to 50 Egyptian Pounds the cab driver in Sharm El Sheikh airport was asking for.

For a moment, there was tension in the air on board the pickup truck when an Arab tout with a fake Australian accent got into argument with the Briton over our accommodation. We had not figured out our accommodation yet at that time, but we rather scout around along Asalah beach ourselves rather than taking one from touts.

Once we reached Asalah beach, again, there were many touts trying to offer us accommodation. By then I was so tired of their efforts that it was easy to ignore them. Not necessarily polite. After close to an hour lugging our backpacks, we settled for a place called Green Valley for 80 Egyptian Pounds per night.

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Green Valley is a nice little hole in the wall situated somewhere northern part of Asalah beach backpackers area. For a room with attached bathroom, warm shower, a noisy air conditioner, dusty floors and questionable bed stains I’d say 80 Egyptian Pounds is probably a little too high price to pay. We could have bargained for a better price, but our backpacks were just hurting.

Asalah has plenty of shops catered to tourists, most requires bargaining. There are plethora of restaurants and beach stalls to choose from but they all serve a similar menu. On the bright side, once we lose the backpacks there were less touts approaching us.

And the Red Sea beach walk in Asalah is charming.

Finding a place to spend the night was only the beginning. The greater challenge was to find a local tour package to cover Sinai desert excursion.