Sunrise on Mount Sinai

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Day 231
With just a few minutes to wake up and don our thermals, we set off with our Bedioun Guide at about 2.30am up Mt Sinai. With a Swiss couple complaining about the pace we enjoyed a very leisurely stroll up the mountain, with continuous offers of camel rides. Despite the temptation we continued to stagger up amongst the rocks and pot holes. We had plenty of rest stops to refuel and shed a few layers with the thermals doing there job just a little too well. We arrived just short of the top a couple hours later with another couple hundred tourists. We hired a mattress for having come prepared with our four season sleeping bags and set off up the last couple hundred very steep steps. We found ourselves a spot out of the wind and settled down for a couple hours sleep before sunrise.
We woke just in the nick of time, our sleeping bags keeping us a little too warm unlike everyone else who was shivering wrapped in blankets, with fifty people on sharing our ledge and daylight surrounding us (fortunately the sun was yet to show). We fought some others for the perfect viewing spot, Carly yet to shed the sleeping bag whilst Jez practiced his latest hobby as photographer. Thirty minutes later the excitement was over and we staggered down the mountain half asleep.
Whilst waiting for St. Katherines Monastry we enoyed our prepaked breaky of pitta and plastic cheese, and a banana. We entered St. Katherines the home of the "Burning Bush" of Moses (the bush claimed to be the original as its roots continue for metres under the church) and a beautiful old church (photo's prohibited!).
Back on the bus again we headed back to Dahab now sweltering in our thermals of the bus. Back in Dahab we headed straight for the Red sea to cool off and relax on the lounges for some reading and napping.
We spent the afternoon wandering the streets of Dahab, grabbed a mixed grill at "Quickly" for lunch and made some inquiries into the Thistlegrom Wreck Dive. After a couple quiet beers at Toto the ShipPub we said farewell to Sergi who was heading back to Spain. That evening we headed to " King Chicken" for cheap dinner and crashed early keen to catch up on a few hours sleep.

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