Trekking: Egypt (Day 5)

4/7/08
Wake-up call was at 12:30am and coffee was served at 1am. At 1:30am we arrived at the base of Mt. Sinai and I hopped on my camel. It was a single hump camel. I rode it in the pitch black for about two or three hours up the mountain. We were supposed to have Bedouin guides, but they rarely checked in on us. Even though the path was about six feet wide, the camels always seemed to walk about six inches from the edge of the path. I was sure it was going to trip and go off the cliff. In the pitch black, they did remarkable well. There seemed to be no way for me to get comfortable in the saddle. Every half mile or so, we would come across small shops selling batteries, tea, coffee, or cokes. As a small amount of sun appeared, the barren landscape became more visible. After riding the camel for quite a ways, I hopped off and began to hike the last 750 steps to the peak. There were some people in front of me in terrible shape. Even though they tried to warn people that it was a tough climb, there were people up there who had no business being there. I had to run around a few people to make it up peak for sunrise, but did make it. There was a little bit of haze but the view was still incredible. The walk down was nice because I could finally see what I was riding by earlier. After a quick breakfast at the hotel we drove up to St. Catherine Monastery, what I was told was the oldest monastery in the world (built somewhere around 300AD). The day before we had been sold tickets to tour the place, but that morning we were informed that in fact they were closed due to the celebration of a feast. Our guides explained that because it was on Greek Orthodox Church territory, they didn’t really have much say in the matter. In the end, the monastery people let us see the courtyards and the burning bush. The tourists loved the bush, but I am not sure that it would have survived the past couple thousand years. We didn’t get to see the chapel. The wilderness in Sinai is incredibly desolate. Maybe I understand a little bit better why the Israelites weren't so content to hang out there. Leaving there we continued on to the Gulf of Aqaba where we boarded a catamaran for a trip across to Aqaba, considered by many to be Ezion Geber, the seaport of King Solomon. Unfortunately, there was so much luggage on board that we couldn’t access the upper deck and therefore had to make the crossing inside. At one point I was able to sneak outside. From the boat, we could see Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. When we arrived, I was able to see some huge tankers and cruise ships. That night I walked down to the Gulf of Aqaba, the northern part of the Red Sea. I walked through the water, but it did not part for me.

In and earlier post you can see me by one of the camels.
Picture 1: Here is one of the camels we rode pat of the way up Mt. Sinai.