Sinai and Dahab

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Joined our Kumuka tour group, boarded the 'truck' and left chaotic Cairo. Some interesting aspects of the drive to Mt Sinai include:
* Smashed up tour bus and van - head on collision - not surprising as they drive like absolute maniacs (refer below).
* Drove under the Suez Canal and saw ships floating through the desert (see piccie).
* Stopped for a toilet break. Toilet was a mound of dirt beside the highway - for the girls as well!
* Had a local bus overtake us with an oncoming van only 100 metres away (which had to swerve off the road to avoid the above happening again), only to stop about 1 minute down the road at a bus stop to let a guy off. Crazy.
* Nearly had enough road kill for a mixed grill - had to swerve to miss a camel, donkey and goat.

Anyway, arrived safely at the foot of Mount Sinai and had dinner. This is where it is thought that Moses received the 10 Commandments. Began the 3 hr climb to the top at about 10pm. Kumuka is the only group that climbs up at night, sleeps at the top, and has the optimum viewing spot for sunrise. Glad we did it at night too because if we'd seen how far we were going to have to climb, I don't think some of us would have made it! After a hot chocolate at the top, we climbed into our sleeping bags around 2am. The masses of tourists started arriving at 4am and the sun came up at around 6. It was very beautiful.

Headed down the next morning (without any stone tablets, thankfully). Had a very hearty brekky compliments of our tour leader, Neil. Then we wondered around St Katherine's monestry, the oldest continually inhabbited monestry in the world. It alledgedly contains the burning bush, not quite sure if that is the truth though. It was looking quite prosperous considering it would be over 3000 yrs old.

Headed to Dahab - an oasis in a country of madness! I would even go as far as to say its orderly. It is an amazing beachside town on the Red Sea. We went snorkling off the beach today and the coral and fish were awesome. Sorry Australia but the coral at the Great Barrier Reef doesn't come close to the Blue Hole at Dahab! Scott did an intro scuba dive right off the beach and thought it was fantastic.

The locals here are great. Don't hassle you as near as much as the rest of the country. Also, its much more relaxed so I've been able to wear shorts and singlets - yey!

Heading into Jordan tomorrow via boat (so we don't have to drive through Israel). Apparently this is a long process that can take anywhere between about 4 and 14 hours, so wish us luck! Scott and Joy.

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Photos

Ships in the desert
No, its not a mirage, its the Suez Canal.

Comments

[ringo]

keep up the updates, they're pretty cool. It is another world over there. BDO update: rhcp are not playing, they are doing solo shows in april, tix go on sale Sept 1st. Tool will be headlining BDO, but no acts have been officially announced yet. cheers,

[Dad M]

Desert Driving
The Great Barrier Reef may not match Dahab - but Ben's driving outdoes Egyptian bus drivers! Did you find any extrea commandments on top of Sinai? Keep safe!

[ben]

11th commandment
when u look like scott does.. put as much clothes on to cover up as possible.

[Helsie]

Hi there
These emails are great. Excellent to here of your fun times. Sinai looks fantastic. Been soooo busy at school. Ball on tomorrow night. I'm coming to Brissie long weekend in Nov! Got great flights. See you then and can hear all about the trip. What email are you using - hotmail? I'll write soon. Hels