Laura Jean Zito • Magnetic Sinai
really strenuous, and the Egyptians, too,
welcome the extra dollars that tourists
bring to their country. The Israelis can
be vigorous in their inspections and
questioning but this gives one a feeling
of great security rather than a feeling of
stress.
FROM LONDON
You can play it safe and fly to Sharm elSheikh, Egypt, from Gatwick, London,
on a myriad of charter flights (some as
cheap as €35!) and then grab a taxi from
the airport into Na’ama Bay. Spend the
night as you will arrive too late to get
the bus northward to the Sinai towns of
Dahab or Nueba, where you are much
more likely to find Bedouin, and get the
bus the following day. Unless you have
already arranged a transfer, taking a taxi
to Dahab can be expensive ($100.00)
unless you have a few people together
in a group. Once I hitch-hiked from the
highway in front of the airport through
the checkpoint coming out of Sharm on
the road north to Dahab, and I telephoned
a Bedouin I knew to meet me after the
checkpoint and he drove me to Dahab! I
would not recommend this method until
you get to know people!
FROM ISRAEL
For the more adventurous, you can take
a charter flight to Tel Aviv for discounted
fares from just about anywhere; get the
train to the central bus station; and from
there catch the #394 or #390 bus from
the central bus station on HaTemarim
Boulevard to Eilat for about 80 shekels.
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March 2015
You can get the #15 bus to the Israeli/
Egyptian border at Taba if you can reach
the Eilat bus station in time for the last
bus to the border, which leaves at 11:00
PM except for Friday (leaves at 3:00 PM)
and Saturday (at 7:00 PM.) If not, you can
take a taxi to the border which will cost
you about 35 shekels, about $17.00.
You can also find a cheap hotel or hostel,
like the one just behind the bus station,
and get the bus in the morning to the
border. That way you can see where you
are going during the day once you arrive
in Sinai.
AT THE ISRAELI/
EGYPTIAN BORDER
You will need some Israeli shekels to pay
the border tax in Israel as well as Egyptian
pounds to buy the visa ($15.00) if you
didn’t organize one ahead of time. To
get a carriage to transport your luggage
a