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Published: June 27th 2006
St. Kathrines Monestary
The monestary is at the foot of Mt. Sinai and I had to climb a little bit to get this pictureI woke up early to catch the sunrise at the beach camp. We had a nice breakfast and then we went on a 2 hour van ride to Saint Kathrines Monestary at the base of Mt. Sinai. I took a look around the Monestary and got a view of the Burning Bush located within. I then climbed up some rocks so I could get a great picture of St. Kathrines Monestary.
After the monestary we headed to our hotel to check-in, have lunch, and take a nap before we would climb up Mt. Sinai for the sunset. He headed back to St. Kathrines Monestary were we met our guide Musa to take us up the mountain. Actually Musa guided the other guy in our group up the easy camel path while I choose to do the Stairs of Repentence with my tour guide. I have been training in the gym for 6 months before I came in order to do these stairs which consist of 3750 step. Some of the steps are 6 inches tall while alot of them are 2 feet tall. Luckily the Stair of Repentence are in the shade because we started our ascent at 4:30 pm
The Half Way Point
This was the half way point up Mt. Sinai's stairs during the hottest part of the day. We steadily climbed the steps taking a few breaks for water and pictures. Some parts of the stairs were not so bad while others seem to go almost vertically up the mountain. It was hard going all the way up. My calves started to burn when we reached a stone arch which signified the end of 3000 steps but there were still 750 left to go. By now the altitude was starting to effect me and each step became harder and more difficult. After the 3000 steps we followed a path up hill go past bedouin selling refreshments and souvenirs before we started the last 750 step. We started going up the last 750 and my body was telling I can't do this but I pushed through the pain and tired muscels telling myself I could do it. It took 2 hours and 15 minutes from the bottom of the mountain to the summit of Mt. Sinai. I could have taken the easy camel path up but I would have regreted the rest of my life. We reached the top which has two small monestaries on top and bedouin selling more refreshments and
The Stone Arch
The Stone Arch meant that the 3000 steps were almost over but there were still a few more and a trail to the last 750 souvenirs. Since we had done the mountain to watch the sunset we were the only foreigners on the mountain. The only other people were a few bedouins napping and waiting for the mass of crowds that would climb in the early morning and watch the sunrise. We met some two nice bedouin kids who took our picture at the top. It was a wonderful sunset after such a hard time to get to the top. Now here comes the hard part, once you go up you must come down. We went down the 750 steps before the light disappeared. This time instead of going down the 3000 steps I went the rest of the way down the camel path. It took about 1.5 hours to hike down the camel path dodging rocks and camel poop along the way. The great thing was that the stars were as clear as can be and we could even see the milky way. We reached the end of the trail and I ran the last 100 yards to the parking lot singing "We are the Champions". The climb up the steps of Mt. Sinai was one of the hardest things I have ever done
but it was worth it. Afterwards I had a light dinner and then I fell fast asleep.
Today (June 27) we headed back to Cairo via a mini bus. It was an eight hour trip back to Cairo but we were the only three on the mini bus and it was nicely air conditioned. So I sit here tonight in an internet cafe in Cairo with sore legs and enjoying the city. Tomorrow June 28 we are going to vist the Mohammed Ali Mosque and then head to the biggest bazaar in Egypt called Khan al Khalli. So I say Good Night and Good Bye from Cairo.
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Brenda
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You the Man
Oh my God I couldn't never climb those stairs but I am very proud of you and I laughed out loud when you said that you ran to the parking lost and yell "We are the Champions" I would have done the same thing if I was able to climb all those staris Ha. Once again more awesome pictures. Can't wait for next journal.