I'm 28 and still want my mom when I'm sick

Since the last post Cameron and I have moved into our apartment and I managed to spend the first 3 days there in bed. Cameron had a stomach bug a few days before and I must of caught it from him or some people say it's just getting used to the food and water here. Anyways, it wasn't fun but Cameron took care of me and I have managed to survive and am back outside with the living.
Our apartment is great, a little empty at the moment but that will soon change. We have great views of the sun setting behind the mountains and a great view of the sea as well. We had a few cloudy days that brought strong winds and we could even hear the waves crashing on the beach about 3 blocks away. It has been nice to have a refrigerator and be able to make your own food which should save us some money as well. We have met one of our neighbors, an English guy who does underwater videography and has had us over for tea already. We have little Egyptian children running up and down our street playing all day and love say hello to us. We have also figured out what the deal with all the goats is... we figured out that they are here as street cleaners. I knew that goats eat almost everything but they really do eat everything... except plastic and glass. I'm not kidding, they eat cardboard boxes, paper and just about everything you throw away. I decided we would save our food scraps and dump them outside our gate for them to munch on . There are loads of baby ones and they are so cute. Although we can't really communicate with some of our other neighbors they seem really kind and helpful.
Cameron and I decided to take a "walk in the hills" as he would call it... I call it mountain climbing, but he is from Scotland. Anyways, we took a walk in the mountains by our house and I have to say it wasn't very safe in flip flops since the mountains are made of rubble and loose rocks but once we got to the top it was worth it. From one side you had an amazing view of Dahab and the Red Sea with the mountains of Saudi Arabia in the background and from the other was an endless set of red mountains. It was amazing.
We plan to get back on the diving track tomorrow since we havent been diving since we moved. Maybe checking out some of the dive sites in the south. We have a few prospects for work... I'll let you know as soon as something is definite.
Will post pictures soon.

Camels

View on the drive back to town from the dive sites

Pictures

View from the entrance to the Lighthouse dive site and the end of the main strip in Dahab
The beginning of the main strip
This is what I see from the side of the road on the way to our apartment
Goats and Sheep are everywhere!

Life

Cameron and I went to check on our apartment the other day, it is just being finished and so we were checking on the progression. Anyways, our landlord invited us for tea at his home which is right down the street. We went over for tea and sat and chatted with him and his family (even though he was the only one who spoke english), his daughters name is Sarah as well, the name seems pretty popular over here. They live in a basic building with a stone wall around an open ceiling area used as their living room with pebbles on the ground... makes us feel silly when we are asking for luxuries in our apartment.
Last night we went to eat at a restaurant on the water. Alot of the restaurants and cafes have rugs spread out over gravel. They are draped over dead palm tree trunks to rest your back on and have pillows piled against them. Anyways we were sitting right next to the ocean and the restaurant had a spotlight shining on the water and a little black and white spotted sea snake came up and swam around for a little while and then a bit later a sting ray swam up and sat for a bit, it was big, about 3ft across and we watched him until he swam away.
Today we went back to the Blue Hole and Cameron did a tech-dive while I read my book and I got to see a bunch of dolphins jumping in and our of the water about 100 yrds from where I was sitting. I also had a bunch of camels resting nearby and a dog sleeping under my chair while I drank hot chocolate. When I leave the internet place we are planning on going to check on some bikes to buy and then off for dinner. Hope everyone is well.

Life in Egypt

This is the beginning of our 5th day (I think) in Dahab and there are a few things I've learned since coming here... One is to always always check weather before assuming that just because you are traveling to the desert does not mean it will be hot. I know that it gets up to 40 C- about 104 F... but didn't bother to check what the weather was like at the moment. In an effort to keep my luggage under 30 kilos I gave away almost all the warm weather gear I had-which consisted of a pair of jeans. I replaced them in KL with very thin linen pants which I'm sure will keep me cool in the heat but does nothing for me at night here with the temp being around 15C-59F (it is cold when you have been in 90 degree heat for the past 2 mths) with the wind blowing like crazy. The wind is even brutal during the day if you are out of the sun and have been wearing my jacket everyday.
Cameron and I have been diving the past few days. Yesterday we paid a taxi driver to take us to a few dive sites and made a day of it. I bought a 3mm vest and hood to wear under my 3mm wetsuit to help with the chill of the 21C-69F water, I have been diving in 29C which is a huge difference. I was talking to a guy the other night and said that I bought a vest and he said he wears a 3mm vest and hood and a 7mm wetsuit-so you can get an idea of how cold you can get after being underwater for 45 minutes. The water for me actually isn't the most painful part-getting out of the water and out of your wetsuit in the wind causes enough pain for me to want to stay in it all day. We dove the Blue Hole yesterday, it's the most dangerous dive site in the world... it is kind of like a circle cut out of the reef that goes down 100's of meters and has a tunnel/arch through to the open water at 60 meters (200ft). I think over 100 people have died trying to go through the arch on one tank of air. It's meant to be done by technical divers with all the appropriate precautions taken. Many people have done it safely and dont worry it is not something I will be trying ever.
We might be moving in the morning, we found an apartment that is brand new and the owner is finishing putting in the appliances and things and hopefully we will be moving in soon. It's about a 25 minute walk out of the main strip so we will both be getting bikes as well, which by the way will be good for me since the food here is incredible and have been eating lots:). We have a view of the Red Sea from our reception (that's what they call the living room) and have a small sunset deck on the other side and can see the sunset behind the mountains. It's amazing. Also have a few Camels as neighbors and loads of goats wandering around.
Another thing that excites me about having our own place other than having more than just a bed in our room is having fresh water to shower and brush our teeth with. The well water here is salty. Not as salty as the sea but you can taste the salt when you brush your teeth. The first time Cam showered he came back with a wax film on him and in his hair like he rubbed a warm candle all over his body... We thought it was just cheap soap but realized that it was the water. My legs and body is so dry from it but rarely put lotion on because there is so much sand that it would stick to me which I consider worse than having dry legs.
I am really enjoying being here... I think it's going to be a great place to live.

More pics

View from the cafe at 'The Blue Hole' dive site.

Blue Hole again... Everyone takes Jeeps to the dive sites and then lays mats for their equipment.

Getting our gear together at 'The Canyon' dive site... the jeep we rented (w/driver) in the background and a very sleepy dog that found a warm spot on our rug and didn't move until we finished the dive.

Cameron and I after dinner.

Dahab

We finally arrived safely in Dahab last night after about 24 hours of traveling and it is beautiful here. We flew into Cairo and got a taxi for the 5 1/2 hour journey to Dahab... the entire trip here was just us on a road in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. As far as you could see was sand and mountians and a few clumps of palm trees here and there. 100's of different shades of brown, it is amazing. We passed a camel and her baby walking along the road, it was pretty cool. The closer we got to the sea the more mountians there were and we ended up driving through them and I mean through them just weaving in and out of these massive mountians. It felt almost un real like something you would see on tv where they pan out from the car driving through the desert and there is nothing else around except that little car and the different shades of brown. The town of Dahab is mostly a long strip going right along with the Red Sea and is lined with little shops and cafes on the beach with piles and piles of pillows. If you are facing the water you can turn 1/2 way around and not far from the town is a massive strip of mountians.
We just spent the morning walking around and found a place we can rent tanks from and plan on going for a dive this afternoon, there is a dive site we can swim to... There were divers everywhere along the main walkway getting their gear together this morning. Most of the dive sites are along the coast so instead of a boat taking you to the dives sites and jeep or camel takes you.
We are already trying to ask around about an apartment and seems like it will be really easy to find a place with everything we need and close to town. I think it will be fairly cheap as well, I just bought a 20oz bottle of water for .20 cents!! Well, think we are going to go find a good spot along the sea, play some cards and get some food. Hope everyone is well.

Last Days in Malaysia

Little Malaysian girls taking the ferry to school
Twin Towers in KL
Tioman Beach
Cameron and I on our last night in Tioman... with a little mango sheesha

Well, today is our last day in Asia... I can't believe that I will be heading to Africa in a few hours and couldn't be more excited. While in Tioman Cam and I had been practicing free diving... I can't really hold my breath for that long but Cameron can, and there are a handful of world champion free divers in Dahab that teach free diving courses. They say that most students after 2-3 days will be able to hold their breath for 3 minutes and free dive to 15-20 meters (45-60ft)! I want to take a course but may wait until later on in the season.

Our flight leaves at 12:20am and arrives in Cairo at 11am... we will take a bus to Dahab from there and plan a trip for later on in the year to go back to see the sights. Just thought I would check in and will post as soon as we get settled in Dahab.

Back in the City for a bit

Cameron and I are in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia right now awaiting a flight to Cairo, Egypt. We left Tioman Island a few days ago in search of a different place to work. Tioman was a great place but wasn't really going to give us what we wanted out of the season so we are moving onto Dahab, Egypt and the magnificient diving that awaits us in the Red Sea.

We have about 5 more days in KL and are already anxious to get out. There are tons of cars and honking and gas fumes... I am having such a hard time with walking around the city mostly because these people WILL run you over and I am constantly looking the wrong way (they drive on the left hand side of the road). We are staying in a hotel on the outskirts of Chinatown and Little India that is okay if you consider a room wth no windows okay. First sign you are on a budget is when you open the sheet and the hotel has spray painted their name on it... along with the towels too. I can't complain we luckily have air-con but there is only one remote for the whole hotel so the guy at the front desk sets it for you and ours has been set at about 55 degrees for 3 days, it doesn't help that the room is only a fraction larger than the bed. We finally got the guy to come up and turn the temp up after a 5 minute explanation, including Cameron miming shivering, he adjusted it and we finally got to sleep without our coats on last night.

As for Egypt, once we get to Cairo we can take a bus from there to Dahab although of course both of us are interested in seeing the sights in Cairo but aren't sure if we want to travel around there with all of our diving equipment. If we decide to head straight over then we will make some time later in the season to check it out.

Pictures

View from dive shop

Cameron on our chalet porch