Caught the seven o'clock mini bus down to Aqaba. At one point I noticed a sign saying 40 kilometers to Aqaba and made the mistake of thinking to myself "Wow, we're making good time" - of course a minute later we had a flat tire. It took them (about 8 guys off the bus) thirty minutes to fix the tire - I was just impressed that not only did they have a spare, but the jack and tools to change it. In Aqaba we had an unexciting breakfast then caught a taxi to the port.
The procedure to buy a ferry ticket was every bit as chaotic as I remembered it being: Wait in line to reserve your ticket; Wait in line to go pay for it at the bank; Wait in the first line again to pick up your passports (that you had to leave to reserve the ticket); Wait in a different line to get the ticket verified and listed on the boats roster; Wait in line to pay the departure tax at a different bank; Pick up and fill out an entry (?) card; Wait in line to go through immigration; repeat at customs; and finally walk back to be picked up by a bus to take you to the ferry (never mind that you were closer to the ferry than the bus stop). At least this time we managed to get all the steps the first time and only got yelled at once.
The ferry was unexciting - the water was absolutely glass like (we should have water skied across). At the Egypt side it took half an hour to get everyone off the boat (while something on the deck above started to leak and dripped from the ceiling). Once off the boat I sat around it the scorching heat (way hotter than it was) and waited another half hour for someone to bring off my pack (again never mind that I carried it on, but they wouldn't let me carry it off). Immigration was delightfully quick, as was customs, but then they wouldn't let any passengers out of the port until the government bus to Cairo left, so we waited another forty minutes. During all this waiting we met three other tourists heading to Dahab so when we approached the taxis we were prepared to bargain as a group. Amy and I had paid 50 £E to hire an entire taxi to take us up so that's what we were aiming for the ride back, instead of the 120 they were asking. An Austrian guy who was with us was not helpful as he took the taxi drivers side and told me I was lying about paying fifty - he had been to Dahab and knew that was an impossible price! I stepped out of the bargaining at that point instead of loosing what control all the waiting had left me. In the end we paid 15 £E each or 75 for the car.
In Dahab checked back in to the Auski Camp and collected the baggage we'd left behind. Then it was time for a swim - finally! It was amazing how different I felt once we were back - completely relaxed - it even felt like a completely new day. It was still incredibly hot. There wasn't a breath of wind and the water was a mirror in its stillness. It was beautiful though - the mountains of Saudi Arabia were clearly visible. After a quick dip I wandered down the beach and found a dive class that was starting tomorrow (for Amy). Then we had showers and headed to happy hour, before heading on to the Shark Club for way too much food. At the bar I tried Stella again (the only beer that was available last time I was in Egypt) - it was as bad as I remembered it. After dinner it was back to the room to try and sleep in the still incredible heat.