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Published: April 13th 2010
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We finally arrived at the port of Nuweiba in Egypt after a shambled ferry crossing. The port was chaotic, it was really unclear what the hell you were meant to do not to mention where to go. Luckily we had a local guide. We had to hang around for a while for the bank to open where people needed to buy their visas (go figure), before we jumped on the bus to head to Dahab via the most disgusting toilet we have ever seen, the smell and the flies were out of this world and it was right next to the restaurant kitchen.
After all that though Dahab was really cool, with a really laid back and chilled atmosphere and restaurants lining the water. We will definitely try and come back here in a few weeks. After a few weeks on the road it was a great place to stop and relax. The highlight in Dahab was the snorkelling and diving. We headed out to the Lighthouse for a trial dive with a diving company called Big Blue. We had never been diving before so a trial dive was a good way to see if we would like it without
spending too much money. The instructor showed us how to breathe with the tank and clear our masks before taking us down. The instructor swam above as controlling our buoyancy and checking our oxygen. Basically all we had to do was look at the amazing world that suddenly appeared before us. It was awesome, the fish were so colourful and bright and the coral looked amazing. We spent about 45 minutes under the water and went down to 7m.
The snorkelling was just as amazing. We headed to the Blue Hole, one of Egypt’s most infamous dive sites. It is a gaping sinkhole that drops 130m. The fish and coral in this area was also amazing. The water was a beautiful blue and aquamarine colour. Unfortunately, despite being a sheltered bay it was still really choppy and the constant waves were a bit draining. However, the instructors were fantastic and we can’t wait to come back here.
Leaving Dahab at midnight, we headed to Mt Sinai. Mt Sinai is revered by Muslims, Christians and Jews who believe that God delivered the Ten Commandments to Moses at the summit. We arrived at Mt Sinai just after 2.30am along with
hoards of other tourists - there were so many buses. We all had to carry torches for the climb, stopping for tea along the way. We followed the camel track on the way up and came to Camel Central - hundreds of camels sitting on the path waiting to bring people down. By the time we got to the top at 5am it was already light (windy and cold) and it was hard to find anywhere to sit for the sunrise but as it turned out the sunrise was pretty average but there was an amazing view of the surrounding area - barren rugged mountains, plunging valleys and jagged mountain chains.
We took a different path down, the Steps of Repentance, 3750 steps, laid by one monk as a form of penance. It killed the knees but there was a beautiful view of the valley and St Katherine’s Monastery on the way down.
The ancient St Katherine's Monastery traces its history back to about 330 AD when the Roman Empress Helena had a small chapel and a fortified refuge for local hermits built beside what was believed to be the burning bush from which God spoke to Moses.
In the 6th century a fortress was constructed around the original chapel together with a basilica and the monastery to provide a home for the monastic community and a refuge for the Christians of Sinai. St Katherine was a martyr from Alexandria who was tortured and beheaded for her faith. We went into the 6th century Church of the Transfiguration which was beautifully decorated and full of chandeliers and iconostasis.
After breakfast it was a long 8 hour bus ride to Cairo, our next stop and where our tour ends.
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