Hookah shopping & Drinking Games

Have just returned to the hostel after a delightful evening eating by candlelight, underneath palm trees and the stars, with the soothing lap-lap of the waves blending in with the music from the nearby cafes and restaurants.

Finally. Finally we ate at my recommendation: The Penguin. Noone had been taking me seriously when I continually suggested we eat there after spending a pleasant hour sipping Cinnamon Tea upon its roof the other day. The general consensus was that as I am (in some peoples opinions) a crazy loon, I would naturally gravitate to a restaurant called The Penguin.

Pah! I can think of many more random names, thank you.

Tonight my eating buddies were Janina, Elina and Jordo, as the others had gone to watch the footie at a bar, and we weren't interested.

The food at The Penguin was sublime, and I fully intend to eat there again. Janina and Elina were tired and left soon after we'd eaten, as they were tired, but Jordo and I stayed, catching up on news, talking about how close to paradise the setting was, and how we wished our friends and family could be there.

*                        *                       *                         *                           *                         *

Yesterday Elina and I sunbathed for the afternoon. After the others returned from the beach further down the coast, I accompanied Janina, Elina and Ben to look at Hookahs. We were given a talk about what to look for when buying a hookah, by a salesman. It was very amusing. Especially when he was trying to demonstrate how putting a rubber base on the bottom of the glass jar of the hookah would protect it from breaking, and as he dropped it on the floor to demonstrate, there was an almighty *CRACK*. We were all biting our lips to keep from laughing. I wanted to stay with the guys longer, but hadn't showered, and I needed to prepare for dinner.

Evening, and the whole group of us ate out at the critically acclaimed Jay's restaurant (critically acclaimed by Let's Go guide, anyway). We sat on cushions, with palm trees as part of the furniture, and squat tables to eat our meal from. The evening was uneventful until Elina spotted a bug and lept up from her place and started screeching! Janina joined in. I tried to hunt it down, but also gave in to leaping up and squealing, as it darted in and out of the shadows in a most sinister fashion! Jason and Jordan mocked us, and finally Jordo squashed it with his flipflop. It was a cockroach.

Janina said the table of German tourists at a table near us were saying we were acting hysterical (a large exaggeration). I said it's better to have a lot of expression than none at all.

Bloody Germans.

After the mealtime, Jordan and Ville left to have their own stoner party, but the rest of us decided to try out Tota's - a large boat themed bar further on down the shore. It turned out to be a gorgeous place! There was even a deck upstairs - fully kitted out, and lots of fun. I downed a shot of ouzo (the shots here are huge!), then we all finally moved to the garden to smoke hookah and play drinking games. After a few drinks we were larking around and having strange conversations. It amuses me how stereotypical the British guys are - in a good way. Their conversations are so, well.. RANDOM and identical to many I have been privy to back in England! I have been banned me from saying Splonge... which obviously made me say it all the more. Jason was referring to everything as 'controversial' no matter what the contex, which I believe was far more irritating!

Hours later and we're back at our huts. We'd already stopped at the 24 hr supermarket to buy snacks, but I returned, as a nice person, to buy nosh for Mark and Ville. Jason came along and we wanted to also buy something random with the money we'd been given. We contemplated a potato peeler or a glue gun, but then concluded that neither of those would be safe to entrust Ville with, so we opted for some strange looking tea to accompany their ice cream and crisps. Jason also tried to steal a palm leaf from a closed restaurant, but then in a moment of conscience (I'm guessing) he called out to the man inside 'Hey! Is it ok if I take this palm leaf?'. The man just looked at him with a puzzled expression and motioned for him to take it. ROCK AND ROLL.

Or something.

Actually I don't think the tea was appreciated. Janina and I went for a walk along the seafront and a girly chat, as we weren't tired, before retiring to bed.

Today we awoke early to have the last breakfast ever with Ben. Bleary eyed, we all sat at Quo Vadis, by the sea, listening to the Eagles and other mellow tunes, waiting the usual LONG TIME for our meals, then munching them amidst the continuous irritation of flies, and rather unexpected conversations from the British guys about what animals you'd kill, and if you'd kill them with a spear or a gun. If it was fair to kill a pig, or if they really didn't have a proper chance. Erm... what other conversations? Something about Lord Of The Rings, and Legolas. I forget. Again I was told off for using the word Splonge.

Hmmmm.... After breakfast, we waved goodbye to Ben... only for him to return a couple of minutes later and for us to be informed that our clocks should have gone forward by an hour, hence why he'd missed the bus (he ended up getting a taxi to the border). Jorgen, Miguel and Angelica from the kibbutz, arrived, and Jordo and I went to look around more hookah shops.

About 10 minutes later and we found ourselves at a specialist hookah shop. The bald headed Egyptian inside ushered us in to see his collection of hookahs. They were all green or blue and not as ornately designed as others we'd seen, but they were geared more towards a good smoke rather than being ornamental. Basically, blue or green glass are the colours to choose. You could go to another shop and buy a really beautiful pink, purple and yellow one, decorated with glittery gold flowers, and chances are, after a few months of usage the colour will have faded and you will be left with a clear glass jar. Blue and Green are natural glass colours, therefore they will never lose their colour. Also the tube you smoke from should be made from certain materials. This guy sold ones made from camel skin, and with plastic nozzle and fixings. The metal from the hookah is also important. Some salespeople try to rip you off by giving you stories of aluminium versus steel. In reality they are just selling you a shinier, heavier metal so they can charge you more money. Or so this gentleman was telling us. He invited us to sit down and sample the pipe. He had obviously been smoking for many years and blew out an enormous amount of smoke. Jordo and I were weaklings, but could tell that it was better quality than any other we had tried.

Jordo wanted to buy his today. I am planning on waiting til the last minute to try and get the best deal. It would be an awesome souvenir of my stay here in the Middle East.

After leaving the store with promises to visit again, we headed back to the hostel, where everyone was getting ready to go snorkelling, and I headed off to bed where I slept off my weariness until dinner. I will go snorkelling before I leave, just give me a few days.

Today and tomorrow I need to reach a decision on going on the Petra trip from the hostel.  It is a 3 day trip and would take in many other sites, including the Dead Sea from Jordan, and obviously the boat trip from here.

Tomorrow, I still have no plans on. I am enjoying taking each day as it comes. Adele says Lachlan (the Aussie we met in Jerusalem who was biking around the world) is back in Jerusalem and will be making his way to Dahab for next week. Adele... Ahhh Adele. She is still in Jerusalem, but handing in her notice tomorrow I believe. And is going to be deported back to the States. Ahh Adele.