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justal
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| posted on 10-5-2006 at 04:54 |
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Windsurfing in Dahab....
Well, Steve and I have just got back from just over a week’s windsurfing in Dahab, Egypt, so here’s the report. The
detailed windsurfing report can obviously be seen in my
windsurfing
diary
Rather than going on a package deal, the holiday was booked independently. Flights cost c. £150, we then booked directly with Club
Dahab for kit hire and tuition and for accommodation we stayed here:
Accommodation in Dahab.
Flights out were a little delayed but not too much and then we had a mad taxi ride from Sharm el Sheik to Dahab. The driver only went
off the road twice so I guess it wasn’t that bad. When we got to Dahab we were taken to the Bedouin area of Assalla where the
villa is. It is quite a culture shock at first with camels tied up outside shacks and goats everywhere. The villa itself however has
everything you need, is pretty big, clean and really relaxing. The garden is really nice and it feels like a little oasis of calm amid
the hustle of Assalla. In fact staying in Assalla made the holiday really as it adds an extra dimension to it. Most people stay in the
plush hotels near the windsurf centres at the beach. These are of course nice, but the whole area is really artificial and built
specifically for Western tourists. Most people staying there don’t get to see anything of the real Egypt. In contrast Assalla
itself was a really poor area of town composed of numerous breeze-block built shacks, many of which have palm-tree-leaves as a roof. It
also has a number of minarets from which the muezzins bellow out the call to prayer several times a day and night. (I actually got to
quite enjoy this chanting/wailing, even the 4.15am one!). Camels and goats are everywhere, as is camel and goat shit and the centre of
Assalla is a lively bustling place which seems to be full of car mechanics!
The Villa comes with its own housekeeper, Ramadan, who will do your shopping etc for you if you ask him nicely. He is a really nice
guy, speaks very little English but trying to communicate with him is all part of the fun.
We then cycled to the centre at Club Dahab everyday (on bikes that were at the villa). The cycle itself was nice. No hills, just a few
mad taxi drivers to contend with and a little trip through the ‘desert’!
Club Dahab is well run, the guys (and girls) there are really friendly and helpful and the kit is good. We were lucky and got 7 days on
the water with wind in the 16-20 knot range. One day it was a little stronger allowing me to get out on a 5.3m sail and there was no
wind at all on our last day. For me, the windsurfing conditions were just too easy. I like to sail in challenging conditions and even
out ot ‘Kamikaze’ things were a little too tame. For most people however the huge expanses of flat water are perfect for
mastering new tricks. Maybe a day with a decent Force 7 would have made it a little more interesting, but it would still have been flat
water. There is also a bit of a slog to get out to the wind as the wind is generally offshore, and as it drops off during the day this
often results in an even worse slog back up wind in failing winds to get back to the beach. It was never a problem but it did mean that
we ended up going out on slighty larger boards than we would have preferred so that we at least had some float to get us back.
The teaching was excellent with some good coaching and video analysis which I enjoyed as I’d never seen myself windsurfng
before!
We didn’t really join in with the night-life at Club Dahab but headed off to the centre of Dahab, Masbat. This is the area that
was hit by the terrorist bombs a week before we got there. Everything had been cleared up and it was business as usual. Although most
of the shops, restaurants etc here are Egyptian run, they are still there mainly for he tourists. So, although you have to barter and
things are definitely very different to the UK, it still isn’t the real Egypt that you get to see in Assalla. Some of the
restaurants are really nice though. They have large sofa-like seats right next to the sea and a really relaxing atmosphere. We also
managed to get a whole 3 course meal for 4GBP.
On the whole a great holiday. We did actually have 3 days where we saw some rain (unheard of apparently). It wasn’t much rain,
but it did rain! There was quite a bit of cloud about most days as well, but when this cleared towards the end of the holiday it got
pretty hot!
If I go again I'll definintely stay in the same villa as this really added an extra dimension to the holiday. I'd use Club Dahab again
too.
Al.
URL: Pixelwave Design - Website Design Wales
Shop: Website Templates
Personal Weblog: A Simple Life of Luxury in West Wales
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mNeil
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| posted on 10-5-2006 at 07:41 |
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glad to hear you had a good time
A KITE IS FOR LIFE!! THAT IS IF ITS A YARGA.
founder of storm'n Normans van club!
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jaimie072
Grommet 
Member #: 2017 Posts 5
Registered: 19-6-2006 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 19-6-2006 at 14:23 |
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Thanks for the post, made for an interesting read. I just came back from Dahab and had a great time. Masbat was completely dead, due to
bomb obviously. Along the sea front where there are about 20 restaurants and bars 90% were completely empty and the other 10% had 3 - 4
people in. So don't go there for the night life. Security there is very high so I don't think the whole terrorist thing is a threat.
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