When travelling in some Arabic cities (and other places also of course) you need to be well informed or to be awake all the time, not to get tricked. This is sadly also the case in Sharm El Sheikh when you want to go to Dahab. It starts when you arrive at the airport (if you fly there) and the taxi drivers try to rip you off with high tourist prices. Also for me they tried to tell me that there is no bus to Dahab before 7 o’clock in the next morning and want to drive you all the way to Dahab instead (which will cost you about 150 EGP = 18 euro if you are good at bargaining). Later, when you arrive to the bus station in Sharm El Sheikh there are also what looks like official guards outside the station, because of how they are dressed. These people will ask you if you are on your way to Dahab, and then again tell you that there is no more bus for today and try to take you to their taxi friends instead. Most of the economics here (and way of thinking) is based on bringing people and favors to each other, which I will tell more about in a later post.

Here are some prices and information to help you on your way from Sharm El Sheikh to Dahab:

• Taxi from airport to Sharm El Sheikh bus station:  45 EGP = 4,5 euro (for the whole taxi)
• Bus from Sharm El Sheikh to Dahab:  15-20 EGP = 2 euro (per person)
• Minitaxi (back of a pickup truck) from Dahab bus station to central Dahab:  5 EGP = 70 cent (per destination)

Travel time:  taxi about 20 minutes, bus 1 hour, minitaxi 5-10 minutes

Bus schedule / timetable for Sharm El Sheikh to Dahab:
6:00, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 14:30, 17:00, 20:30

The bus can be delayed about one hour and you can only buy the ticket from the ticket office at the bus station when the bus have arrived. Be aware of pick pockets, specially when in “cue” to buy the ticket!

The pickup truck minitaxi you can also use when staying in Dahab. To do this, you can stop almost any pickup truck you see on the street and ask them to drive you to your destination. ONLY pay 5 EGP (or more if you want to give a tip) regardless of destination and wait with the payment until you arrive at your goal.