the moon saves the day

It always amazes me that the Arabs who run the taxi's for
the hr long trip to Dahab think that i was born in stupid ville.
I got the usual $100 quotes for the joy of a mad taxi dash to
dahab. Of course I laughed and walked off to the next guy.
Eventually I got some guy who told me $30, got the cab, came back
wanted 35 I got out demanded $30 and then got back in. he then stopped
for the next passengers and i got out told him he was a lying cheat where upon he
got back in the car told me $30 and we drove off into the night.That is till we got to
the next gas station where he told me to give him $30 and get into a mini bus.
I told him to go and take the next moray eel up the ass and then bargained with the next guy
who proved much more reliable.

So we are in the Sinai!
it's an amazing place when lit by moonlight.
cold and crenelated it looks like the mars images that you may have seen.
barren and cold. Very cold as we whistled past the wadi's that line the road.
The road has become as good as any western road which is a good and a bad thing.

before, when it was a dirt road folk took a little more care and didn't speed.
Now it's a racing course for all the Young Arabs that live here.
For those of you who have never been to Egypt you wont know
about there custom of blinding everyone when they get near.
In the west we try and dip our full beam before we get near one another
so we don't dazzle each other in the dark. here they do the opposite and blind one another when they
get within spitting distance. I looked at my driver when he was doing this and told him they used to drive by
moonlight on this road. he agreed it was a thing that used to happen and he still does sometimes.
Then promptly turned the lights off and we rattled along for a while till I thought it best if
he put them on as there seemed to be a few idiots on the highway doing the same.

after about 35 Min's we were nearing dahab
and making good speed. coming over a small hill at 80 mph
it was rather novel to see that some fool policeman had put a road block up on our
side of the road and also blocked the other road with his jeep.
Brown pant time for many
but luckily I had a great driver who saw it
swerved off into the desert and managed to hold it as we
smashed off into the sand and dirt that surrounds it.

After we had got back i gave him a pack on the back.
nice one mate. good driving,. If we would have hit that
concrete bolder it would have been game over.
he smiled looked a bit lost and we carried on into the night
as if nothing had happened.

it's those small things in life that can change
so quickly and yet so permanently.

ha ha

you have to laugh
and live.

much more soon

Bo