Mt Sinai and time for a bit of religion!!

3am....just me, the mountain...and 700 camels
see all photos »

(Nicks Story).

A quick two hour bus ride from Dahab to St Katherines and we were ready for a climb up Mt Sinai.  We stayed in St Katherines on the first night but booked in to the Monastery Guest House for the night of the climb which added to the whole experience.

Thou shall not...

So, we were up at 2:30am to do the 4000 ft climb under a full moon and stars.  It was a fantastic start to be leaving the monastery and walking the path.  About 400 yards in the distance we saw our first miracle....the boulders were moving, hundreds of them.....wow!  But as we got closer we realised that there were hundreds of camels sitting and waiting to carry the people up the mountain.  In fact, as we walked, we were asked every hundred yards "Camel? , you want a camel?  good price!!"  It did get a bit tedious after a while because all we wanted was silence to enjoy the walk.

"If you don't want to ride me, I'll just sit down"
see all photos »

The walk was not too hard, sometimes we used our torch (a great gift from Mr and Mrs O'Donovan), sometimes just used the stars and moon (a gift from...well, most people on the walk would say God).  After about an hour and a half we got to the final bit, the 750+ stairs to the top.  All the camels had to stop here and there was a bit of work getting past them on the path...only one wanted to spit at Ronnie.

The stairs were a bit of work, especially in the dark but we made it to the (almost) top and stopped in a little shack for a cup of coffee and to keep warm.  Now, as you all know, I am devoutely unreligious but I was really looking forward to getting to the top, seeing the people, listening to a few hymns, watching the sunrise and contemplating the meaning of it all.  So up we went the final hundred steps and to the top of Mt Sinai, God, Moses, ten Commandments, burning bush (well it was at the bottom) and the place where, arguably, our 'morality' began.....and it was AWFUL, truely AWFUL.....an UN-WOW moment.  There were hundreds of people, trash everywhere, people had used the ruins as a toilet...it smelled awful.  If there is a God, he must be pretty upset right now...particularly as I think I read somewhere that 'God' had said that noone could climb the mountain anyway! I think he would add an 11th comandment, "Thou shalt not use this mountain as a toilet"

Make a circle, hold hands and sing Hallelujah....in French
see all photos »

I hated it...so I just sat there for an hour until everyone had gone....then it was great. The views were fantastic, the sun was up and I had my time to contemplate the whole 'life' thing...with just a few Egyptian salesman selling some stuff but not really bothering me.

The walk down was as good as the walk up.  We were almost alone, except for the camels and again, the views were good and we had time to think.  We got to the bottom at about 9am, had a well earned shower and breakfast and a quick visit to the St Katherines Monastery.  St Katherine was put on a spiked wheel and beheaded for her Christian beliefs, but luckily for her, just after she lost her head, an angel came down and took her body to safe place...therefore, St Katherines Monastery.  I just wanted to see the Burning Bush, one of only two places that God has ever appeared....so a pretty amazing bush.  And it was quite good,no fire, no appearance but good non the less.

It was cold at the top
see all photos »

An interesting experience, I'm really pleased that I have done it for the walk and the views at the top and to have a moment or two looking out from such a high point and thinking about how this world has 'evolved'.