On my own but not alone

Place: on the ferry from Nuweiba to Aqana in Jordan
Time: 18:29 July 14th
Salam everyone! I’m finally on my own after I said goodbye to Norman and the rest of the group from my tour. After not heading back to Cairo when we stop at Hurghada, Norman and I decided to stay with the half of the group who was going to Dahab as part of extension of the tour. Norman came up with the idea cuz heading back to Cairo would be just a waste of time since he was heading to Sharm el Sheik which is 1 hour from Dahab and I would going be going to Nuweiba which is also an hour way from Dahab.
So we talk to Hany our tour leader if would be okay to stay in Hurghada with the rest of the group and then go together to Dahab where we would be in our own. The plan turned out to be perfect. We got to climb the Mount Sinai to see the sunrise and chill a couple of days in the beach resort Dahab.
Today I was woken by the furious wind breaking the window open a couple of times i my room. 10h30 my bus to Nuweiba would leave and at 9:45 Norman had to be at the Al Capone restaurant to be picked up by Hany to go Scuba Diving with the rest of the group. We packed our things, went to the reception to see if he could get keep the room for a cheaper price since I was leaving and he was not going to go to Sharm el Sheik anymore. After the bargain we head to market to get some breakfast, I said go bye to him and went to bank to get some US dollars since the ferry in Nuweiba only accept dollar as told in my guide book. It was around 9:45 and I still need to find my way to the Bus station, I ended up getting 500 Egyptian pounds only to the cashier telling my he didn’t have any US dollars. I didn’t have much time so I decided to go to the bus station anyway, it didn’t take long until I was hailed by a pick-up taxi in the main avenue. For 10 pounds I hopped in the back and after 10 minutes in the cool breeze I was at the bus station with half an hour to spare but no US dollars in my pocket.
I found a place to wait for my bus next to this girl with a backpack next to her. I didn’t say hello but we exchanged respectful fellow backpackers look. But on the bus I stroked up a conversation it turned out she was a Dutch girl travelling by herself named Marielle, she was on the bus cuz her bike had broken and her plan was to travel all around by bike, which I considered an insane idea when your backpack weighs 20kgs and you have an freaking hot sun above your head the whole day.
After an hour on the bus we got to Nuweiba and found the ticket office without any problem, in there we found some others backpackers, 2 American girls, 2 Canadian, a Danish couple and another British. The guy accepted my Egyptian pounds just as well. It was around half past one and the ferry was supposed to leave at 15h30 ( at this very moment I’m on my seat and its 7 o’clock I we still haven’t moved an inch). We got our ticket head to the port and a deva ju scene of the airport on my arrival came up. The absence of a queue or any form of organization and consideration to the others were driving me crazy. Everyone trying to get through the immigration before everyone else. From the lobby we had to take a bus all the way to the ferry and face another conglomeration of people so the guard could check our ticket and passport. We got into the ferry, dropped our back where all the cars were parking and went to another “ I want to see your passport and ticket “ checkpoint so we could go up to the sitting area. A funny thing that happened was that when everybody got off the bus and sprinted to the Ferry where the guard was waiting when the guard saw the Danish couple he made everyone wait and waive them through and the same happened with me and Marielle. VIP treating nice!! But at the same time I felt that was and discrimination to the Middle Easterners, but when we got our seats ( by the nice the ferry was really nice something that resembles the executive class of most of the air companies) we, the tourists, were all spread along the ferry, and somehow we all ended up sitting in the last room of the ferry, the room with no windows, cuz we were told by the ferry crew that would be better for us to sit in the back, cuz it would be nicer. BULLSHIT that was the shittiest room in the ferry and the Egyptians got the best seats, the reason for that I still don’t know. Well, now we are heading to Aqaba, Marielle decided to go with me to Wadi Rum, the desert where part of Lawrence of Arabia was shot, the place its supposed to be one of the most beautiful and safe desert scenery to visit, crib of the Bedouins famous for their hospitality..

Later I tell you how this shambolic ferry trip ended.

Salamaleico!