Nuweiba to Dahab

We arrived in the Sinai peninsula on 22nd December after a one hour ferry trip from Aqaba in Jordan.
On arrival at Nuweiba around 1.00pm, the "foreigners" were herded into a small compartment at the front of the ferry and told to wait there until the cars had disembarked. Then we proceeded downstairs - without our passports. (These had been handed to immigration officials whilst on the ferry from Aqaba in Jordan - see this under the Jordan section). Apparently, these would be handed to us on shore when we had obtained the relevant Visa Stamps.
Yes, again, officialdom had triumphed. The immigration officials on board the ferry were able to take our passports, issue and receive completed immigration forms but were not permitted to issue Visa Stamps or stamp our passports with an entry visa. Good one!
So we followed a tourist policeman to a building where we paid US$15 each for our visa stamp (cash only and only US dollars, thank you very much). We then carried our precious stamp (much like a postage stamp) to another building where an Immigration Official came out with a handful of passports. It was on for young and old - literally "Select a passport here" - as we grabbed at a passing passport and hoped nobody was grabbing ours. We licked and stamped our visa stamp into place and were then free to go.
Go where? For some strange reason, we were not allowed out of the gates of the port. Those passengers going by bus to Cairo were directed to the bus within the gates but half a dozen of us were intent on going into Nuweiba itself and this took some time. Every time we tried to leave, the police at the gates refused and told us to wait. Well, we did! We waited until the policeman at the gate was holding up a group of French tourists and made a run for it, accompanied by a Japanese guy and a Kiwi named Dane. Strangely, the policeman didn't even seem to care once we had got through the gate. Out of his control perhaps?
"Taxi to Dahab?" we were immediately approached by a local tout. Now the LP had said EP12 (egyptian pounds) from Nuweiba to Dahab but these guys wanted EP20 each and they were not budging. We sat for a while at a nearby cafe and had a coffee and something to eat whilst we haggled. But we couldn't get them to lower their price beyond EP35 per couple and that only if we found one more couple to complete the six persons necessary to fill the taxi. We persuaded a French couple to join us and set off for Dahab.

The journey to Dahab showed us scenery much the same as from Wadi Rum to Aqaba, deep gulleys through high jagged mountain ranges with everything in monotones of grey and beige. However, the road was excellent and we made the trip in a little over an hour, pulling in to Assalah (the backpackers part of Dahab) around 4pm. We piled out of the Peugeot and smiled at each other - this looked like a great place to spend Christmas. People of all nationalities were wandering through the main street and hotel signs abounded. Time to find a place to stay!!!