Blogs from Sinai, Egypt, Africa - page 27

March 25th, 2006, Day 79 of our cruise of 105 Transit of the Suez Canal and towards Alexandria, Egypt Day started at 5:30 am Convoy of many ships going one way only, formed to complete the transit in 10 hours Desert on both sides most of the time with soldiers, Egyptian and United Nations every 100 metres Balmy weather Very pleasant Tomorrow Alexandra at 6am, Bus to Cairo at 7 am and Pyramids and the Sphynx- a 12 hour trip Hello my children, hello granny. -news pls Ttys, love to all ... read more

So just a quick word about climbing Mount Sinai. It was up at 3am to climb the mountain in time for sunrise and avoid the heat of course. On the way up the moon lit the entire valley, it was very spooky as you never really know how much light the moon gives off in England. And so after about 2 hours of climbing, sunrise came. People around us were singing hymns making for a fantastic atmosphere. The sunrise was amazing. it was almost like standing on top of the world! Take a peek at the pics! Then climbing down was very good as well, as you could see more of the Sinai region and the fantastic landscape! And that was it for Egypt! Drove to Cairo that evening and plane the next day. Fab place, ... read more

After a chaotic departure, I arrived at St Catherine's monastery and was dropped off amongst many tour busses and told my driver would be back to pick me up around 7pm. I wasn't totally prepared for the day, so wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to see and do here at the monastary! I made my way along with other tourists, and wandered around the outside of the monastary. I wasn't sure what the official protocol was as to entering and since I only had american dollars, I bypassed the monastary and started my climb up Mt. Sinai. (I had about 8 hours to kill before my driver would be back!) So I began my climb, about half a dozen bedouin men and boys asked me if I needed a camel to help with my ... read more

1 of early Christianities only surviving churches named after the “legendary” martyr, St Kat! Kat was tortured on a spiked wheel for her Christianity & beheaded. But angels took her body up to the highest peak in Egypt! Bit of trivia for ya. Me n Pete did a day trip out to the monastery. We got there in the morn after a 2 hr drive through the barren, rocky Sinai dessert. We checked out the Byzantine church, Moses’s well (which if you drink from provides u with marital bliss!) & the burning bush . Then we began the pilgrimage up the 2285m of Mt Sinai to have a word with the big fella up stairs! @ the top there is a tiny church which is meant to be the sight that god came down to Moses ... read more

The last week has been all about relaxation and has kind of felt like a vacation from the vacation. Sharm El Sheikh - Hilton Style From Luxor, we had pre-booked a flight to Sharm El Sheikh on the Sinai peninsula. This way we avoided taking a ferry across the Red Sea. You might remember a couple of months ago, hearing about that ferry that sank in the Red Sea. Sharm El Sheikh is a resort town for Europeans and Brits (kind of like a Caribbean island) and we were treating ourselves to 4 nights at the Hilton Fayrouz Village Resort in Na'ama Bay on Paul's reward points (yes, that means a 5 star resort absolutely free!). We checked in and were treated like royalty due to Paul's Hilton HHonors Diamond status - receiving a free upgrade ... read more