St. Catherine's Monastary and Mount Sinai
From Waiting in Washington in Sinai, Egypt on Nov 29 '06
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After a beautiful 2 hour drive through the Sinai Desert we arrived at St. Catherine's monastary. I was thankful to have been able to make it without feeling ill on the drive, and I managed to stay awake amazingly as I had very little sleep the night before due to stomach pains. The drive was incredibly scenic and also very secure as we must have passed through at least 5 security checkpoints on the way. I learned that the area is patroled by the U.N. in an agreement between Egypt and Isreal.
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We went directly to the monastary. I have to admit that I am not a religious person at all, but I was impressed with the age of the complex. I've never visited a church that really felt timeless. The priests seemed out of a painting - serious and focused. I touched the burning bush - in case you plan on visiting the burning bush be careful when you touch it, it's quite thorny! There were loads of Russians visiting the monastary, I certainly didn't feel as if I were in Egypt!
After arriving at Hotel Danielle, probably the best bed I've experienced in a while and the most hospitable people, I happily went to sleep. Well, not so happily as I was bummed that I would miss climbing Mt. Sinai to see the sunset with the group but I was not in any physical shape to do a three hour climb. I know my limits, thanks!
At 7:00 we all met at the hotel restaurant for dinner. I was feeling quite hungry and I ate quite a lot of food - cautiously of course! I was excited to get to bed and get some sleep. I don't want to miss out on any other activities!
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