Mt Sinai

(Dustin)

Well the 16 hour bus to Dahab was kind of odd....we would stop for about 2 minutes at places where there was food to eat and a half hour or more in the places where there was nothing and the people just seemed to be messing around. But we finally got it over with and it was great to be back at the beach for a little while. The sun was out the town is alot smaller and quieter than we imagined and we met some old friends from the road again there. The town is pretty cleared out since all the things that happened last month and some of the people still talked about how things are quite different know which we could easily understand.

We wandered around, confused some people at a restaurant somehow by taking them up on their 2 for one deal and mainly just took it easy for our first day. We even jumped into the Red Sea for a little while. The next day we were taken out to the place they call the blue hole. Its just a huge really deep hole in the reef, the reef is about 2 feet deep most of the way along the coast and drops off a ways off shore into the blue but here there is a hole that goes straight down in the reef and is probably 50 plus meters wide. I really don't know how deep it goes but one of the guys said dumb divers always seem to try and push their limits and someone ends up making the big mistake each year by going past their limits. Its amazing though because on the ocean side of the reef circle there is only a 15 foot wide section and on each side it falls away into vertical walls.

Neat place though and good way to spend a relaxing day snorkeling before heading out to Sinai. The Egyptians call it Moses Mountain and loads of people go up it every day by the looks of it. We got there and started hiking at around 1:30 am or something and set out on our own. The guy that was trying to be our guide was really kind of irritating and named our group Ramses and kept calling it out over and over so we decided it was better to have some peace and quiet so thats why we left him. Besides, you aren't supposed to need a guide anyway or so it seemed the guide book and alot of other people along the way seemed to be under the impression of. Also people were wondering if we wanted camels the whole way up but since we were passing them the whole way and they were supposed to be the faster method we just decided to take our chances.

Amazingly enough, the last person we passed on the way to the top was a REALLY old looking dude huffing his way along and all on his own, I was impressed. The very end of the path was really confusing though even with a light and Kev and I really had trouble figuring out where to go and finally some dude sleeping on the ground popped up out of nowhere and simply pointed a flashlight and said "its that way" and fell back asleep and off we went. It actually was pretty cold up there, so after looking at the stars for a while all alone we found a hole to hide out from the wind in so we wouldn't freeze before the sun came up. The view from up there is pretty amazing and its really neat because like at Angkor, as soon as the sun comes up everyone clears out (including our buddy yelling Ramses, thankfully) and you have the mountain top relatively alone again, the pictures turn out better that way.

Cheers,
Dustin


(Kev)
We left for Mt Sinai at 11:00 P.M. three hours later we began our climb. When we first stepped of the bus we were met by our guide. I hadn't anticiapated having a guide so I wasn't to pleased with this, making matters worse was he had the most irritating voice on earth...and i don't like loud noises early in the morning. He diriected everyone in our minivan to wait...and then he proceded to give us the most pointless instructions. We styaed with the group, dubbed team "Ramsies" by our guide as long as we could stand it...and then told him, we will be ok, will se ya at the top. This is when the real experiance began. We passed loads of people, and many camels, and finnally we were in the clear...nothing but the mountain and the clear sky above. I hiked without a light, and the darkness that surounded me created a great effect....

For me climbming a mountain like this increases awareness, I feel alive...and I enjoy my thoughts that come with this solitude, espechially with a moutain as significat as Mt Sinai...thinking Moses climbed this vary place is a neat thought.

Dustin was the first person to reach the top...I eventually found my way there and found him cold, huddled up in his sleep sheet. After sitting there for awhile I too got cold, and we found a sheltered cranny to sheild ourselves from the wind. About a half hour later other people started making it up, and they were singing. Singing is good but not early in the morning. They woke me up out of my cold state though, so I figured I mind as well get up and explore.

Mountains have a really neat pre sunrise look, they look dull, and cold...and the best part about the sunrise is it seems to give them life, that and it makes me warm again. I can't imagine being up there for 40 straight days like Moseus...but my one day was great, and a very worthwhile experiance.

Later
~Kev

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