In Dahab, my homeboy Owen and I took a vacation from archeological sweatshop photography in Luxor, Egypt. We got away from the temple, from the 16,000 blocks, the bosses, the rules. We hopped a train to Cairo and then rented a microbus and took it all the way to Sinai – the northern part of Egypt that borders Saudi Arabia and Israel. Dahab is a getaway for worldclass diving, with some of the dopest coral reefs known to man. We got a piece of that one day at a place called the Blue Hole.
A nice guy drove us out to the Blue Hole in his jeep, driving like a maniac along the beach, I thought we might flip over on the coast with the camels marching around us.
Owen got this shot:
I should have gotten a picture of the Russian women in bikinis standing next to the Egyptian guys in galabiyas.
But instead we went to the cafe and had some amazing eats.
a special visitor.
good times.
I was fond of the toilet.
Owen took more dope pictures:
Now we’ve had a lot of adventures in Egypt, we’ve been here for 4 months now. But this particular incident really just stands out. After we were done snorkeling and eating at the Blue Hole we decided to wander down the beach with our cameras to get some final shots of the place.
We found a wall with some memorials to all the people who had died at the spot diving – some professionals. some tourists. We rounded the corner and I could make out a man with a huge gnarly beard in the distance, walking around in what seemed to me to be his home. He waved at me. I waved back and decided that was the signal that we could come say hi.
We made our way over in his direction. He reached out his arm, shook my hand and says “Hello, I’m dreaming.” Well, shit. Nice to meet you. I wish I was dreaming, too. This was just the beginning of some of the most interesting minutes of conversation I’ve ever had.
His name was Manfred. He was a German traveler. Slowly his life story began to unravel and we began to realize just how special this guy was. Manfred had been traveling the world for the past 20 years. He was full of stories.
Manfred was big on Zen and Buddhism and healing and all that good stuff.
He didn’t have a lot of possessions. Just enough things to throw into a backpack. Most importantly, a German passport.
The Blue Hole was probably his home for just a couple days.
He had some interesting literature and showed us the benefits of the Aloe plant. I didn’t know you could eat that stuff.
He began to show us many interesting things.
Sometimes I couldn’t understand what he was talking about, but it didn’t matter at all.
My favorite part was when he busted out a pile of old pictures of him all over the world, some of them 20-30 years old.
He kind of reminds me of the Old Man and the Sea.
This is him naked sitting backwards on a horse. I wonder who took that picture for him.
Naked on top of a van driving somewhere?
Not sure where this is but he explained to us that this was a very special and spiritual experience.
Owen took some really good photos of Manfred too:
Homeboy was big on reflexology.
Showing us a picture from a “peace” gathering.
This is him in Indonesia. Homeboy was ripped. The other dudes were drinking, I guess.
He said his eyes were crystals. Out of his mind? Maybe, but in a good way. He was hella lucid.
This is Manfred as a young Man.
We will miss you man. Keep moving. Bless yer heart.