A little taste of Dahab

Hanging out in Dahab I understand why some people stop by here on a long holiday and end up scrapping the rest of the plans to just lounge around on the beach. Once you get the need to actually be doing something out of your system being content in Dahab feels so natural.
Take for example a typical dining experience:
After a day of scuba diving, reading, walking about, general nothingness we head to the Funny Mummy Restaurant, right on the water. As we walk through the hotel's open plaza area, Omar, the owner greets us with a handshake and fist bump, he walks with us with his muddled Egyptian/English accent, telling about the three German girls that just arrived. On the way to the beach front we get a bunch of "Hey Buddies" "How you doin man?"and high fives from the other staff. Its after sunset, but still very warm, but theres a cool breeze coming off the water. Jimmy, the owner of the Funny Mummy sees us coming and points over to a table right next to the lapping waves. The seating here is different, very Arabian--really more lounging. The tables are only about a foot tall, and you sit basically on the floor, which is covered in Persian carpets, slightly raised around the tables. Each seating area is surround by large pillows propped up against palm tree trunks. Everything is dimly lit, candles or covered lamps, with the stars out over the Red sea. Across the water you can see a couple towns lit up in Saudi Arabia, maybe only 30 miles away.
The whole atmosphere encourages relaxation, dim lighting, the background music a mix of fusion, trance, and jazz with Arabic influences. We sit down and order mint tea before any food, and sit back to take in the night's smells; spices from dishes at the other tables, a little salt in the air from the sea, sweet smells from neighbors smoking flavored Egyptian tobacco. The mint tea has a cooling effect despite being hot. Menu options range from pizzas, burgers, and normal western food to kebabs, hummus, and Arabic stews. Overall the whole dining process takes three hours, with a lot of just lying back and taking it all in. I imagine if I had something to do it may feel boring, or too drawn out, but you just inhale the different smells, look up at the stars and listen to the sounds of the waves and just forget about any plans for the future.
Every once in a while one of the locals we met stops by just to chat, talking about snorkeling, windsurfing or just beach life. It may be a gimmick, but you feel very welcome here, instead of them wanting something from you, they just want to hang out. We have a lot of Egypt to see, all the history, the temples and pyramids, but right now theres no rush to do anything. The Sphinx was built over 3000 years ago, it can wait a couple more days.