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Published: October 6th 2008
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View from the bus on the way to the Sinai Peninsula. Hi all! So I'm back in Cairo after my 5 day camping adventure to the Sinai Peninsula, and it was AMAZING!! It was so nice to get out of the city and relax and not worry about the crazy mess that is AUC! Plus, the air was actually breathable and we had no near-death experiences with cars...a huge change from Cairo! Hmm, where to begin? Well, maybe I'll shake it up, and just do a chronological entry of the week:
Leading up to Tuesday: I really should start with this, because we went to buy bus tickets 3 times and failed before we actually succeed Monday night. I'm still confused as to why it didn't work the first 3 times, but its Egypt, what can you expect?
Tuesday: I woke up at 8 am to actually pack before going to the Hilton to cash travelers checks so that I would have money for this holiday. After having a minor fight with an ATM and chowing down on chocolate biscuits and water, we got on our bus to St. Katherine's. It was about 7 1/2 hrs to the monastery from Cairo, and before you ask, no we never stopped for
Pre-Dawn Light
On the top of Mt. Sinai. the bathroom. But the ticket only cost 40 pounds (in other words 8 US dollars) so I wasn't complaining!
We got to St. Katherine's around 7:30 and had to find a place to stay. After consulting our trusty guide (ie Lonely Planet...its amazing how much faith we put in that little book!) we set off in search on one of the camp sites it mentioned. While asking for directions a fellow AUC student recommended Camp Fox, so we went there. Is was awesome! For 10 pounds a night we slept under this canopy thing and for 25 pounds you could get a huge meal. We made friends with the owner, and ended up paying 100 pounds (20 US dollars) for the whole week, including all the food we ate, the water we took, the firewood we used, the coffee and tea we drank, ect. That's less money than I spend in Cairo in a week and I've already paid for housing here!!
We went to sleep (more like took a nap) because we did the ascent up Mt. Sinai at 2 am...
Wednesday: We woke up at 2 am to go to Mt. Sinai to hike up in order
Sunrise
Sunrise on Mt. Sinai. It was incredible! to see sunrise. Technically you are supposed to have a guide whenever you hike anywhere in the Sinai Peninsula (it is there main source of income here...) but the camp owner frantically yelled after us while we were leaving not to get one. We some how managed to get passed the tourist police without a guide (we were honest, we told them we didn't have one...they didn't seem to care too much) and save 100 pounds by not hiring a guide. We really didn't need one. It would have been impossible to miss the mass amount of people going up the mountain! After about a 2 hour hike we were at the top, which was FREEZING but so worth it! It was awesome to see all around the peninsula, and the sun rise was gorgeous. There were a ton of people there, which was actually not annoying but rather cool. When the sun rose over the horizon some people burst out cheering and others broke out into various hymns in different languages. It was amazing.
After the sun finished rising, we went and hung out on this ledge for awhile. We were kind of napping when this Bedouin guide stuck
his head over the ledge and announce "All the tourists are gone!" We were slightly confused, but sure enough when we looked around the place had totally emptied out. It was weird. We weren't up there that long (maybe a half hour after the sun finished rising) and everyone had gone! It made coming down the mountain easy though, because we didn't get stuck behind anyone. Well, I should clarify. We didn't get stuck behind any people. Camels, on the other had, are a totally different story. This guy was taking his 5 camels down at about the same time as us, and we keep almost running into them/Vicki and I kept almost getting run over by them.
After we got down we went and visited the monastery, which was interesting. They sold beer, and wine, in the cafeteria. Later in the week someone told us that the beer there cost 30 pounds for a can. That is ridiculously expensive!! I guess they have to make money somehow though, right? We walked around and saw the relics, as well as what is the "cousin" of the burning bush...I'm not entirely sure what that means. How does one determine the genealogy
Karl and Vicki
At the monastery... of a bush? It was cool looking though!
We then went back to camp, where Vicki packed up to meet some other AUC kids to go to Dahab. That's what most people did; go to Sinai for the night to hike up the mountain, and then go down to Dahab which is a resort/beach town. Karl, Holly and I had decided to just hang out in Sinai however, which turned out to be really, really fun 😊.
Later in the afternoon we went exploring behind our camp and while wandering through the hills/rocks, the song from Beauty and the Beast was running through my head. It really was like being on an adventure in the great wide somewhere! It was awesome! That night we ate at this cafeteria in town and met up with the AUC student who had originally recommended Fox Camp to us. They were nice, and it turns out they are climbers (like, actual rock climber, with ropes and harnesses and stuff) which was pretty cool! Another girl, Shannon, and another guy Jamie, ended up coming to the camp and meeting up with them.
Thursday: That brings me to Thursday. In the morning we followed Nick,
Camp Fire
Hanging out around the fire in the area where Karl, Holly and I slept. We really wanted marshmallows, but couldn't find any...oh well, you win some, loose some, right? David, and Shannon to where they were starting their climb, and we split off and explored the valley around it. We scampered about the rocks for awhile (I'm turning into a mountain goat!) before finding a big rock to eat our lunch on. After lunch this Bedouin from the village we were near came over and invited us for tea. So we went to the village and had tea with these 3 Bedouins and 3 French women who one of the Bedouins was guiding. He ended up pointing us in the direction of our camp so that we didn't have to retrace our steps and go the long way.
Back at camp there were a ton more people then the previous 2 nights. There were these 3 New Zelanders, who where really, really nice. Karl ended up talking with them a ton, and it turns out that the couple (it was a husband and wife and their friend) are living in Televiv until the end of December and if we go to Israel they said to stop in and say hi. There was also this crazy Egyptian family that became slightly obsessed with Holly. No really, they really, really wanted
Holly and I
On the top of Mt. Katherine, reading the summit book. her to marry the son. The mom tried to convert her to Islam at one point. It was interesting. Thankfully she did not accidentally convert or end up engaged, so she made it through ok 😊.
Friday: We ended up sleeping in late and just hanging around camp for most of the day. I read and relaxed and just chilled out. At one point we went into town, and sat in a park next to the Mosque and heard the afternoon prayer. Back at camp I ended up helping Gabelli (the camp owner) with dinner preparation. In other words, I washed chicken and did dishes. Karl and Holly had gone for another wander, but I was at a good point in my book and hadn't wanted to leave, so I ended up hanging around camp. At some point everyone came back, and Jamie and Nick said they would take us and show us how to rock climb. The 5 of us set off in search of a spot that would be suitable (well, Nick and Jamie lead the way while Holly, Karl and I followed!) and we ended up next to the monastery. I got to rock climb for
Tea with the Bedouins
In the outside part of the Bedouin house we had tea at. the first time next to St. Katherine's monastery in the Sinai peninsula...it was awesome!!! It was also a ton of fun! I can understand why people get addicted! We went back to camp only to commandeer the kitchen and cook our own food, which actually turned out really well. Holly and I helped Gabelli serve food to the other campers in return, and we did our own clean-up afterward as a trade off. We hung out around the camp fire that night (there was a group of like 50 + Philipino tourists as well as a random spattering of other tourists). Later that night Gabelli came and shared stories with Holly, Karl and I (the others had all gone to sleep). For someone who's native language is not English, he is a very good story teller!
Saturday: This was the last day we were spending in Sinai, and we decided to hike Mt. Katherine, the tallest mountain (not only in the peninsula, but in all of Egypt). Justin came with us, and after a slight detour to ask for directions in the Bedouin village, we set off up the mountain. It was not an easy hike, to say the
Rock Climbing!
Nick coming down...it was so much fun to actually rock climb! They were awesome to take us out...thanks guys! least! Talk about proving how out of shape I am!! It was brutal, but so worth it! It took us about 3 1/2 to get to the top, but the view was fantastic! At a certain point in the hike it reminded me a ton of the scenes from the Lord of the Rings when Sam, Frodo and Golem are going to destroy the Ring (I know, I'm a dork, I can't help it though!). Even though it was a bit hazy we were still able to see all the way to the Red Sea, and could make out what we are pretty sure is Saudi Arabia. There was a summitt book at the top too, which was pretty cool to read through.
The climb down took a lot less time (we basically slide most of the way!) and we went into town and bought some ice cream as a reward. We went back to camp to find Nick and David making dinner (sweet!) which turned out really good (I keep being amazed at how well people can cook). Jamie and Shannon had gone on their own climb, and didn't get back til later, but the rest of us hung
Holly
At the monastery after climbing Mt. Sinai. out for the rest of the night, and just relaxed. We had to wake up really early to catch the bus back to Cairo (it left town at 6 am) so we were all asleep by 12. Nick and Jamie stayed behind to do one more climb on Sunday, but the rest of us left in the morning. (Actually, Shannon almost missed the bus, but she made it okay!).
Now I'm back in Cairo, and can't believe how awesome a trip it was! It was SOOOO nice to get out of the city for awhile; we could actually see the stars! The entire trip ended up costing very little too, so it worked out well. Today is the last day of vacation, so its back to dealing with AUC again tomorrow, but the time off has been great. I hope everyone is doing well, and keep in touch! I love hearing from everyone!!
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madeline
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I want to go!! It looks very beautiful.