Wanderings in the Sinai: Part One- Arriving at Rock Sea
One of the most memorable journeys that I have done in Egypt was the five day- four night camel safari in Sinai. My wife always wondered as to why didn't I ever write about it… I tried but failed…
I realized that it is one of the toughest things to write a travelogue where human interactions are minimal… humans provide a narrative… which nature may not be able to. It is not to say, however, that nature is devoid of any narrative… it takes a very keen eye and a very expressive mind to narrate the narrative of nature… which I do not have, though am trying to acquire.
All my journeys have had a stimulus… like my Konkan trek was done on the stimulus of reaching Goa… I did not reach Goa, but saw some most wonderful places on the way. My Lahaul-Spiti journey was done on the stimulus of reaching Leh by road… I did not reach Leh, but saw the most scenic places in India. The Western Desert journey was on the stimulus of seeing the White Desert… I saw it, yet I reserve special place for a place called Al Qasr. Sinai was high on my agenda and yet I needed a stimulus to go there.
One day while reading Al Ahram Weekly, I found out about Basata eco-lodge, located between Taba and Nuweiba on the Red Sea coast… Basata eco-lodge has been constructed by an Egyptian ecologist Sharif Al Ghamrawy… this place is a self sustaining unit… with its own de-salination plant, organic farm, solar water heaters and voltaic cells, the entire complex is devoid of any source of electricity. After reading about the eco-lodge, I decided to go there and relax for three-four days… I took leave from the office and university and was all set to go- when a day before leaving for the place, I realized that I haven’t done any booking for myself in the eco-lodge… my friends who had been there told me that Basata is often over-booked and it might be very difficult to get a place at such a short notice. Frantically, I gave a call to Basata…to find it overbooked, as expected.
I was at my wit's end… now what to do… My leaves were approved… I had a ticket to Nuweiba in my hand and my backpack was brimming with a hope of seeing a new place. I told myself… lets see another place, may be Taba or Nuweiba or even Dahab. The problem was that when I googled Taba and Nuweiba, I didn’t like the idea of the two places… I was about to zero at Dahab-when I stumbled upon some information on a place called Coloured Canyons…
Coloured Canyons was described as a natural narrow gorge, whose walls comprise of coloured stone layers… and therefore standing amidst the place, one can see a riot of colours all around. It sounded interesting. To reach the place, I realized that I had to take a 4-wheel drive from either Nuweiba or Dahab, and that it would be a half day jeep safari. The minimum amount quoted for the jeep safari was 400 Egyptian Pound… (About 3000 rupees)… If I was a part of a group then off course this amount would have got divided and I had to pay only say 1/5th of the abovementioned amount… but as I was alone, I was expected to hire an entire vehicle by myself and travel alone… didn’t sound nice.
I called up a friend of mine, an American called Richard. He suggest me something very sensible… if I had to see the Canyons, I had to see the Canyons. And if I had to spend 400 Egyptian Pound seeing it, then I might as well pay a 100 more to do a four-five day camel trek to the place… He said that Jeep Safaris are too artificial… and that the Coloured Canyons may not seem all that magical if seen in isolation… the process of reaching there often holds the key of enjoying the place.
He was right; even I maintain that. Sightseeing is not traveling… traveling is a holistic package of planning, reading about a place and trying to reach there… you wouldn’t enjoy a Taj, if you don’t wander in the streets of Agra, if you give a slip to Sikandra or Agra Fort… Sightseeing is soulless without the process of traveling.
Richard told me about a place called Mangana Beach resort, further ahead of Basata towards Nuweiba… which is the best place to hire a camel…he told me that a Bedouin village nearby might come in handy to get a good bargain.
I took a bus from Turgoman gate and was accompanied by a very good friend Xavier, a Spanish journalist- learning Arabic with me… he was going towards Gaza Strip. And as those days, Rafah Crossing was closed… he planned to go to Taba, enter Israel and then somehow find his way to the Gaza Strip. We took a night bus. The bus went to Taba, firstly and we bid adieu to each other at 4 am at Taba… the bus then turned towards Nuweiba… by 5 am, I was standing before the Mangana Beach Resort…
When I arrived Mangana, I realized that the resort was closed due to an off season… amidst the beach huts…I felt as if I was in a ghost town… Nearby, there was another beach resort… I walked towards it… and saw some Human activity…
The name of the Beach Resort was Rock Sea.
I realized that it is one of the toughest things to write a travelogue where human interactions are minimal… humans provide a narrative… which nature may not be able to. It is not to say, however, that nature is devoid of any narrative… it takes a very keen eye and a very expressive mind to narrate the narrative of nature… which I do not have, though am trying to acquire.
All my journeys have had a stimulus… like my Konkan trek was done on the stimulus of reaching Goa… I did not reach Goa, but saw some most wonderful places on the way. My Lahaul-Spiti journey was done on the stimulus of reaching Leh by road… I did not reach Leh, but saw the most scenic places in India. The Western Desert journey was on the stimulus of seeing the White Desert… I saw it, yet I reserve special place for a place called Al Qasr. Sinai was high on my agenda and yet I needed a stimulus to go there.
One day while reading Al Ahram Weekly, I found out about Basata eco-lodge, located between Taba and Nuweiba on the Red Sea coast… Basata eco-lodge has been constructed by an Egyptian ecologist Sharif Al Ghamrawy… this place is a self sustaining unit… with its own de-salination plant, organic farm, solar water heaters and voltaic cells, the entire complex is devoid of any source of electricity. After reading about the eco-lodge, I decided to go there and relax for three-four days… I took leave from the office and university and was all set to go- when a day before leaving for the place, I realized that I haven’t done any booking for myself in the eco-lodge… my friends who had been there told me that Basata is often over-booked and it might be very difficult to get a place at such a short notice. Frantically, I gave a call to Basata…to find it overbooked, as expected.
I was at my wit's end… now what to do… My leaves were approved… I had a ticket to Nuweiba in my hand and my backpack was brimming with a hope of seeing a new place. I told myself… lets see another place, may be Taba or Nuweiba or even Dahab. The problem was that when I googled Taba and Nuweiba, I didn’t like the idea of the two places… I was about to zero at Dahab-when I stumbled upon some information on a place called Coloured Canyons…
Coloured Canyons was described as a natural narrow gorge, whose walls comprise of coloured stone layers… and therefore standing amidst the place, one can see a riot of colours all around. It sounded interesting. To reach the place, I realized that I had to take a 4-wheel drive from either Nuweiba or Dahab, and that it would be a half day jeep safari. The minimum amount quoted for the jeep safari was 400 Egyptian Pound… (About 3000 rupees)… If I was a part of a group then off course this amount would have got divided and I had to pay only say 1/5th of the abovementioned amount… but as I was alone, I was expected to hire an entire vehicle by myself and travel alone… didn’t sound nice.
I called up a friend of mine, an American called Richard. He suggest me something very sensible… if I had to see the Canyons, I had to see the Canyons. And if I had to spend 400 Egyptian Pound seeing it, then I might as well pay a 100 more to do a four-five day camel trek to the place… He said that Jeep Safaris are too artificial… and that the Coloured Canyons may not seem all that magical if seen in isolation… the process of reaching there often holds the key of enjoying the place.
He was right; even I maintain that. Sightseeing is not traveling… traveling is a holistic package of planning, reading about a place and trying to reach there… you wouldn’t enjoy a Taj, if you don’t wander in the streets of Agra, if you give a slip to Sikandra or Agra Fort… Sightseeing is soulless without the process of traveling.
Richard told me about a place called Mangana Beach resort, further ahead of Basata towards Nuweiba… which is the best place to hire a camel…he told me that a Bedouin village nearby might come in handy to get a good bargain.
I took a bus from Turgoman gate and was accompanied by a very good friend Xavier, a Spanish journalist- learning Arabic with me… he was going towards Gaza Strip. And as those days, Rafah Crossing was closed… he planned to go to Taba, enter Israel and then somehow find his way to the Gaza Strip. We took a night bus. The bus went to Taba, firstly and we bid adieu to each other at 4 am at Taba… the bus then turned towards Nuweiba… by 5 am, I was standing before the Mangana Beach Resort…
When I arrived Mangana, I realized that the resort was closed due to an off season… amidst the beach huts…I felt as if I was in a ghost town… Nearby, there was another beach resort… I walked towards it… and saw some Human activity…
The name of the Beach Resort was Rock Sea.
2 comments:
Reading about Coloured Canyons reminds me of a waterfall near Kahjuraho called Rane Fall.This fall is not only famous for the water stream but the coloured rock layers.Like most of the beautiful and unusual waterfalls in Madhya Pradesh, this waterfall also cuts the rocks and falls into a deep gorge.
What is fascinating about Rane Falls is the layers of colured rocks(Red,White,Black,Grey stones) glittering under bright sun.This is a photographer's delight...
I went there early morning and enjoyed this place more than Khajuraho..
I surely envy you... next time I am in Khajuraho... I will definitely go to Rane Falls
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