Middle East - Anthony Ham [163]
In Al-Milga there’s a bakery opposite the mosque and a couple of well-stocked supermarkets in the shopping arcade. A few small restaurants are just behind the bakery.
Shopping
Fansina Bedouin Crafts ( 470 155; 10am-3pm Sat-Thu) If you have the time, pop by this great, EU-funded workshop that supports local women by helping to re-establish traditional weaving crafts. The gift shop sells numerous wares, displaying some of the best-quality hand-woven fabrics, clothes and accessories we’ve seen in Egypt.
Getting There & Away
Bus
All buses leave from the East Delta Bus Co office behind the mosque in Al-Milga. A daily bus at 6am travels to Cairo (E£40, seven hours) via Suez (E£26, four hours) and another Cairo service leaves at 1pm. For Dahab (E£20, 2½ hours), where you can change for Nuweiba or Sharm el-Sheikh, there’s a bus at 1pm.
Service Taxi
Service taxis travel in and out of Al-Milga village irregularly and infrequently, although there are plenty available if you are willing to pay for the extra places to fill the vehicle (up to seven people). Per person fares are E£35/50 to Dahab/Sharm el-Sheikh.
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NUWEIBA
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Though endowed with the same natural resources as nearby Dahab, Nuweiba has somehow always found itself somewhere between obscurity and oblivion. The beaches here are golden, the water crystal clear, the desert mountains shimmering pink, and yet for most of the year Nuweiba has the catatonic feel of a post-apocalyptic beach resort. If you want to avoid the scenes at Sharm and Dahab and just relax solo on a tranquil beach, it could well be the place for you. For even more isolation and shush, check out some of the rudimentary beach camps north of Nuweiba, remote getaways where the hippy vibe soldiers on.
Orientation
The town is divided into three parts. To the south is the hectic and ugly port area, with the bus station and several banks. About 8km further north is Nuweiba City, a small but spread-out settlement with a few accommodation options, a small bazaar and several cheap places to eat. About a 10-minute walk further north along the beach is Tarabin, which is a throwback to Dahab’s more rustic backpacker days of yesteryear.
Information
The post and telephone offices are next to the tiny bus station in the Nuweiba Port area. The Banque Misr, Banque du Caire and National Bank of Egypt branches near the bus station have ATMs but will not always supply US dollars, meaning that you should bring these with you if you intend to buy ferry tickets to Aqaba. Neither will they change Jordanian dinars. The Nuweiba branch of the National Bank of Egypt ( 9am-1pm & 7-9pm Sat-Thu, 9-11am Fri) is conveniently located in front of the Nuweiba Village hotel and has an ATM. The Almostakbal Internet Café (per hr E£6; 10am-midnight) is behind Dr Sheesh Kebab in Nuweiba City.
Activities
Apart from lazing on the beach and soaking in the plentiful peace, underwater delights are the feature attraction, with scuba diving and snorkelling keeping many visitors busy. Diving Camp Nuweiba ( 012 399 5828; www.scuba-college.com), in the Nuweiba Village hotel, and Emperor Divers ( 352 0695; www.emperordivers.com), which operates out of the Nuweiba Coral Hilton Resort, have solid reputations.
Nuweiba is the place to organise Jeeps or camel treks to sights such as Coloured Canyon, Khudra Oasis, Ain Umm Ahmed (the largest oasis in eastern Sinai) and Ain al-Furtaga (another palm-filled oasis). Most hotels and beach camps along the coast will be able to organise a trip for you, with all-inclusive camel treks costing around E£300 per day.
Sleeping
Big Duna ( 010 610 8731; huts per person E£15-20) About 2km south of Nuweiba town along an unmarked track between some trees, this secret hideaway hoards a perfectly curving bay all to itself. The accommodation here is little more than crumbling reed huts with mats on the floor, but that doesn’t faze most of the long-haired