Mount Sinai

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We headed out to the foothills of Mt Sinai at 3 pm for a 6 mile trek to the summit. We joined our local Bedouin guide, Musa, at yet another security check point and started our walk. Not far past St Katherine's monastery, we had the option of hiring a camel for 85 EGP that could take us most of the way to the top. Not being the type to wimp out of the challenge, Rae and I declined the offers from the camel guides and trudged on up the path. Mt Sinai is 2285 m above sea level with the last portion of this being 750 steps to the summit. We made it to the steps without too much physical stress and sat at a little vending shop there for a rest and a cup of tea. The locals encouraged me to feed our banana skins to a camel that was waiting nearby.

The steps to the summit were made using solid rocks and concrete to place others into place where required. The air was starting to thin out a little as we ascended, but this didn't deter us as the scenery was amazing and the little vending stores that were scattered amoungst the rocks, along the winding path, took our minds off the pain growing in our lungs and legs. The final steps brought us to a little church built apon the rocks at the summit. The view from here was specatcular and dramatic. It was something of beauty that is not comparable to other mountains that we have ascended, like the French or Swiss alps or the Colorado rockies, but a rugged beauty of its own.

We hung out up there, entertaining ourselves jumping around on the rocks and taking pictures, waiting for the sun to set before we started our descent.

We made the bottom of the stairs before the sun totally disappeared, but then had to take on the switchbacks using our torches, which at times proved a little challenging, because of the loose and sandy surface of the trail. Musa was wandering down ahead of us only using the natural light that the canopy of stars produced to guide him. I had a chance to chat with him as we walked. He said that he is part of a Bedouin tribe that has settled in this area at the time of his parents. Sometimes during the summer, when it is too hot for tourists, they will head out into the desert with their tents and livestock, like some Bedouin tribes are still doing today.

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Photos

Suez canal
We drove under the Suez Canal on the way to Mt Sinai.