The Red Sea

Dear all, It s been a while now that i stick to the shore of the red sea, for a million good reasons... The place is really lay back. Somehow I feel here the same magie as i felt in the islands of Thailand, something i didn t think was possible.

Let me describe the set up.
The place is dry, very dry. Rocky Mountains are diving in the red sea but manage to form a 200 km rocky and sandy beach. It is so steep that 5 meters from the shore, the sea could be a 100 meters deep. You ve got corals all over the place and close to 10 meters visibility under water. Egyptians have set up what they call camps, which are bungalows, all along.

My bungalow is very basic but it s mine. I pay 1USD per night and I have more comfort that I need. As Suji knows already, i ve made it my place and organised my mosquito net, my ashtray, my lounge and my little kitchen. I ve been hanging out the past few days with a Taiwanese girl (she fills me up with tips on Taiwan where i will settle later on) and a Korean American guy.

Yesterday we went to the blue hole. It is located 5 meters from the shore and nobody knows how deep this hole is. Just many people died trying to figure it out. It is surrounded by corals, big, small, any color you like. It is absolutly beautiful, the water is warm and you can hang out hours around that spot, which i did. There was a lebanese guy with us and he knew about a village on a sand bar 6 km walking further north. We took the trip and it reminded me the 30 km treck I did with the french team in Amorgos, the greek island (By the way did you go and watch Le Grand Bleu in the bar?). We ve been welcomed with a lot of ganja. The place presents the same kind of amazing dive you find along the cost. No need to say that it is so remote and so lay back that it was painful to leave.

Now i m back in Dahab, the busy beach. I am visiting the different diving spots and i think in a couple days i ll be heading back to this village with a good jacket and my wallet for a few days. If you don t hear from me for a couple month, you can always try me there... Seriously, i have to move on. Egypt is a big country. I will go to Cairo in a short week, the pyramids and the night life. I need a new passport too, the one i have now is full. I think i ll spend a week in Aswan and Luxor and will then fly to Nairoby, Kenya. I left a little bit more than 2 months ago and i couldn t be in a better state of mine. When i leave the people i am with, it is to bump into some other cool travelers. Every body has a great story to tell which always make nights special. Definitly magic.

I ve spent a week in Israel, something i kept silent not to alarm anyone. I ve stayed in Tel Aviv with Tamar, my old travel partner from Thailand. I got the royal treatment. She lives alone in an incredible duplex in the heart of Tel Aviv. This country stonished me. I don t want to get into details right now, but beeing in Israel is like beeing in America. It reminded me of florida, the coast at least. I spent 2 days in Jerusalem and one day in the palestinian territories, in Bethlehem, where the christ was born. I really felt the holliness of the place and it was a perfect moment to dive into the New Testament that i ve brought along. The situation is tensed in Israel. People live totally normally but it s in the back of your mind all the time. The thing is that the places where the conflict are happening are very located. Hebron, Gaza and outside the old city of Jerusalem. The old city is so holy for the palestinian that they would never blow any bombs inside.

In fact when i was there, a car was bombed outside the old city, nobody was injured. In Bethlehem, they shoot at night only... I was with an Ossie guy, and we headed out of the place before down. It was very interresting to be able to talk with all the guys, a neutral way (i have a great french passport...). The moderated people from both sides are tired of this situation, they would just like it to stop and find a settlement. They really don t hate each other eventhough they live in 2 different dimensions. I went swimming a lot in the mediterranean sea and relaxed at Tamar's.

Here in Sinai, at the moment, there should up to 17000 Israeli crossing the boarder every day to spend holidays here. The places are empty and I haven t met more than 5 of them, and they were not that relaxed. Since a year, all the businesses along the shore, the so called camps, are empty. Which is good for me. I gotta go now. Please try and send me news from where you are.

I send a big kiss to all the one are close and my regards to the others.

Antoine