Hello and
welcome to Dahab, Sinai. A place with its own special energy - our little
piece of Paradise. It’s hard to describe what makes Dahab so special to
so many people from all over the world. But let me try…
The first time
I came to Dahab, I came with my father. It was 1983, and for me Dahab was
nothing less than Heaven. A palm tree oasis
with shining
gold sand (this is what Dahab means, 'Gold')… and the Sea.
This was my
first time to see and feel the Sea.It’s a feeling that I cannot describe,
except to say that it stayed with me for a long time. Back home in the
desert, I would close my eyes and see the amazing colours of the coral
reef, and the blue water stretching all the way to the Saudi Arabian mountains
on the other side.
The desert
is also beautiful, but in a different way. Here you are close
to the stars and everything around you is strong.
-
4Escape is a search engine that searches our network of websites each of
which shares a common theme: International relocation, living ? investing
overseas, overseas jobs, embassies, maps, international real estate, asset
protection, articles about how to live ? invest overseas, Caribbean properties
and lifestyles, overseas retirement, offshore investments, our yacht broker
portal, our house swap portal, articles on overseas employment, international
vacation rentals, international vacation packages, travel resources,
every embassy in the world, maps of the world, our three very popular eZines
. . . and, as they are fond to say, a great deal more.
The sun is
bright the nights black, summers hot and winters cold.Big spaces, strong
winds and high mountains with only 1 or 2 possible passage ways.It can
take you the whole day to walk from one family to the next, and at the
end of the day when you arrive at the well or oasis, 10 litres of water
feels like the entire Gulf of Aqaba! Growing up in the desert you hear
about the sea, but nothing can prepare you for what it is really like.
The life here
is softer, soothed by the sea.I liked the idea of trying a different way
of life, so when I finished school I returned to Dahab.
By the time
I got back,Dahab had started to make its mark on the travellers’ map.Anyone
who came for a day ended up staying for a week... or a month. And
when they went home, they couldn’t stop talking about Dahab(Dahab has always
had this way of making a permanent home in your heart).In these days, Dahab
was even more easy going – full of party nights and losing your day on
the beach enjoying the breeze.Enjoy today, tomorrow will look after itself!
So, what work
would I do in this beautiful place? It was normal for the Bedouin to work
in one of the beach cafes or as a taxi driver but when you look around
you at the mountains and the sea… when you hear the wind and see the stars..it’s
hard to do a city job.
I wanted to
do more enjoyable work connected with Nature. A friend taught me to windsurf
and later I visited the other world– the diving world.Then alongside diving,
I started to practice Yoga and Freediving, and to return to the desert
to learn more about the traditional Bedouin medicines and herbs (this
was an amazing experience – even for a Bedouin). And during all this
time, I concentrated on learning the tourists’ languages, especially English
and Hebrew, so that I could introduce them to all the wonderful things
in Dahab and the Sinai.
Today, Dahab
has grown up a little. It has seen many generations of travellers– the
Bedouin fishermen, the hippies of the 80s and backpackers of the 90s.
And throughout this time, the Israeli visitors have made Dahab their home
in the summer months.Today, there is a beautiful mix of all these people
in Dahab.They live, work and holiday alongside the divers and adventure
seekers that have discovered this jewel in the last 5 years.
There are people
here who came as travellers with nothing, and now have their own places
in Dahab, and families that are growing up here. Once you’re in Dahab,
it’s hard to leave.
You live near
the sea... you hear Dahab's famous wind. One friend of mine said that he
would leave Dahab if they built a MacDonalds. Well, in 1999 they
started to build a MacDonalds, and my friend Flo left.Then, half way through
construction, the flood come through the wadi and took MacDonalds to the
Sea –and Flo came back to Dahab!! So everyone was very happy to see Flo,
and also very happy to say goodbye to MacDonalds.
The nice
thing about living in Dahab is that you get to meet people from all
over the world. People from so many different cultures, but who share
the same independent spirit and open mind. You can share experiences,
learn new things and end up with close friends from distant countries.
After 14 years of living in Dahab, I am still in touch with friends living
all over the world. From time to time they return to Dahab, and we
pick up where we left off – as close friends always do.
- Began Summer
1998 - Now with almost a half million subscribers, out eZine is the resource
that expats, and wantabe expats turn to for information. Our archives
now have thousands of articles and each month we publish another issue
to a growing audience of international readers. Over 100 people a
day subscribe to our eZine. We've been interviewed and referenced
by the Wall Street Journal, CNN, The Washington Post, London Talk Show
Radio, C-Span, BBC Click Online, Yahoo Magazine, the New York Times, and
countless other media sources. Featuring International Lifestyles
~ Overseas Jobs ~ Expat Resources ~ Offshore Investments ~ Overseas
Retirement - Second Passports ~ Disappearing Acts ~ Offshore eCommerce
~ Unique Travel ~ Iconoclastic Views ~ Personal Accounts ~ Views From Afar
~ Two things have ushered us into a world without borders... the end of
the cold war and the advent of the world wide web of global communications
? commerce. Ten years and over one hundred issues! We're just
getting started - Gilly Rich - Editor
So, you could
say that there is a good world connection in Dahab, and this is a very
important thing these days.
Perhaps the
other thing we bring to the world is our care for the environment.
When you have experienced virgin Dahab –covered in palm trees, surrounded
with pristine coral reefs and full of fish –you work hard to keep these
things and to prevent less caring people from taking them away.
So what
about diving in Dahab? I have over 4800 dives throughout the Red Sea,
and I can tell you that Dahab diving has a different style. We dive
from shore, with a cup of Bedouin tea on the beach and nice chat around
the fire.I shouldn’t forget our famous Blue Hole or Canyon. Many Dahab
divers will tell you that their favourite dive is a sunrise dive at the
Blue Hole, or a Full Moon dive at the Canyon. Full Moon at the Canyon is
a very peaceful dive, followed by Bedouin Dinner in the Wadi and watching
the stars. And of course, there is nothing like a Camel Diving Safari.We
go to remote places north and south of Dahab, like Gabr El Bint (a National
Park area) and Ras Abu Galoum (a small Bedouin Village). Both are fantastic
places for diving or for taking 2 days off from your holiday!! Half
my diving history has been on these safaris. I like to say, “Three
Worlds, One Choice”, because they combine the three things that make
Dahab so special to so many people – diving, desert and Bedouin culture.
So now, after
growing up in the Nomad life, and coming to Dahab with little tourism experience,
I have my dream –Desert Divers.We mix the diving with all the other adventures
in the Sinai – desert safaris, climbing ? yoga.I am happy welcoming my
friends and helping anyone who would love to see Dahab and the Sinai.
Copyright 1996 -
EscapeArtist.com
Inc. All Rights Reserved