Blogs from Egypt, Africa - page 296

This entry wraps up my time in the Sinai, with the exception of the ride back to Cairo, which probably deserves its own special entry. But I'm getting ahead of myself.... Sunrise in the Sinai The Dutch guy and I awoke at 3am to watch the sunrise from a nearby mountain (actually, he awoke; I hadn't slept a wink the entire night). We walked through the silent village with planets and stars shining brightly overhead, and climbed one of Mt. Sinai's subpeaks to avoid the hordes of tourists. As expected, we had the peak to ourselves, with the exception of a deserted Coptic Christian chapel standing silent guard at the top. In the valley I could see Bedouin campfires burning, and the moonlight cast an ethereal glow over everything. Shooting stars streaked across the sky. It ... read more

St. Katherine's Monastery The morning dawned crystal clear, and it was a nice change of pace to inhale clean, fresh air in contrast to Cairo's noxious fumes. It was also blissfully quiet. Really, the village was everything that Cairo isn't -- calm, peaceful, and rejuvenating. The village is only about 2km away from St. Katherine's monastery, so the Dutch guy and I hiked over. St. Katherine lived in Alexandria, converting people to Christianity until she was martyred in a very brutal way (tortured and pulled apart on a spiked wheel, hence the term "Catherine Wheels"). Her supposed remains are kept in the monastery; I say "supposed" because no one is really sure if they are the real thing. The monastery also contains the descendant of the Burning Bush, i.e., the bush that caught flame and spoke ... read more

(Note: I'm currently in Cairo and classes have started, but I have some major catching up to do on this travelogue. Hopefully over the next few days I'll be able to get up to speed). Elevation On Wednesday, November 23 I left Cairo for the Sinai. There were a few moments when I was unsure if I would ever actually get out of Cairo, though. Leaving my hotel, three of us crammed into an elevator, went to the ground floor... and the door wouldn't open. Apparently there was too much weight (i.e., us), so the carriage wasn't flush with the door and wouldn't open. The three of us looked at each other for a bit, banged on the door, tried to force the door open -- no dice. Then we went up a floor and back ... read more

Cairo -- also known as Umm ad-Dunya, "Mother of the World." There is the idealized Cairo of my mind -- pyramids and palm trees, and then there is the Cairo around me -- incessantly honking cars, dirty air, beautiful mosques, and too many other impressions to list. It's like when I went to Tokyo and was overwhelmed, only this time it's magnified by a factor of 10. I have made it safely here to Cairo; all of my flights went off without a hitch. Also needless to say, I am jet-lagged out of my mind. My doctor gave me sleeping pills, but I didn't use them on the plane. I did take one last night when I finally got here and to my hotel, but I only slept for four hours or so. In sha' Allah ... read more

Ooops we did it again,,,, Yip, we missed the bloody ferry to Sharm El Shreik on the Sinai Peninsula. This was due to the fact that we had enough booze in our systems to take out a small elephant. We went to this awesome beach club, whose name evades me but we danced the night away until 5am when the sun was up and the club was closing. It was a bit disappointing but there is always next time. We spent the next day either sitting or laying down wondering why nothing in our surroundings would keep still. The next day we went scuba diving by these two incredible coral reefs in the Red Sea. I have never seen anything quite like it in all my life. The marine life was superb. The colours of the ... read more