We traveled by bus this morning from Sharm to Mt. Sinai. 2.5 hours through serious desert. Nothing but craggy cliffs and sand as far as you can see. At any cross road there would be a police/security block and they would check us all out, then we could proceed. We also have an Egyptian police officer with us on the bus and a police escort (all are armed) whenever we leave the ship. They are very serious about terrorism, not just becuase we are Americans but for everyone.
St. Katharine's is nestled behind Mt. Sinai (you can't see the mountain from there) and is where the burning bush that spoke to MOses is spposed to be. FAirly uneventful.
After the monastary, we followed a trail behind it to mount some camels that will be taking us a third of the way up the hike to the summit of Mt. Sinai. What a blast. Can't go into detail about how they negotiated the camels with the local guys and what it was like riding 1/5 hours up the mountains on that thing. Worth the trip if I never made it to the summit. ONly 16 of us were willing to make the ascent to the summit. Only 1 did not make it all the way up.
Ater getting off the camels the hike is 750 steps to the summit where Moses was said to have received the ten commandments. THe way up is so steep withonly steps etched into the rocky cliffs a thousand years ago. My heart was beating so hard I had to stop often to rest.
At the top, there is a chapel as well as a mosque. Mt. Sinai is a sacred spot to all three religions (Christians, Jews and Muslims). The view is not exactly extraordinary, but spiritually it is astounding. All I could think was this is the place. Why not that crag over there? And how did he find this mountain top anyway?
Took 2 knee breaking hours to descend. And then another 2.5 hour ride through the desert home.
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