Mt. Sinai & Dahab

The trip last weekend was awesome.  We ended up arriving at Mount Sinai at class to 3AM, which was much later than we planned to because we got a flat tire on the way.  This meant we had to try to hurry up the mountain.  I give props to Moses for scaling this beast without the path that is there today, a Bedouin guide named “Salaama”, and other dudes waiting along the path the whole way up saying, “camel, camel, camel, camel, you want ride camel…”  It definitely isn’t a beginner hike and there were a good amount of people who hike this mountain on a spiritual pilgrimage.  The last section of the mountain is the “Stairs of Penance.”  Some sadistic monk made a stone staircase through the craggy upper portion of the peak with close to 1000 stairs.  I was impressed with some of the older travelers, who were probably in their 70’s, slowly being guided up this difficult section.

 The top had a beautiful view of the dry, rocky Sinai Desert, and we watched the sunrise together with people from many nations. After a brief visit to St. Catherine’s monastery to see the acclaimed burning bush, we went to Dahab.  Still a desert wasteland, the redeeming quality of Dahab lies in the red sea.  It’s right on the Gulf of Aqaba, and you can see the Saudi Arabian coast 12 miles across the water.  The snorkeling was unbelievable there with visibility about 60ft.  Had a great time with everyone taking a break from Cairo and soaking up the sun in this resort town.  Imagine hopping out of the water after a beautiful swim and walking on to the shore where a shaded cushion awaits where you can stretch out and sip fresh mango juice.  That’s Dahab in a nutshell.

More to come, but until then,
مع السلا مة
(That legitimately means goodbye, ma’ is-salaama)