From Dahab we took a taxi 2 hours inland to Mt. Sinai in St. Catherines National Park. The scenery there was beautiful. Jagged mountains rose out of the desert everywhere. On the way there we could feel the air getting cooler and more pleasant. It felt like a cool autumn day in the middle of summer. After arriving we toured St. Catherines Monestary. One of the oldest in the world, St. Catherines was quite and peaceful. Inside the monestary is a church dating from 330 A.D., also one of the oldest, along with many other ancient relics. The burning bush where God spoke to Moses is also located within its' walls. When we where done touring we headed to a local restaraunt to fuel up for our 3 hour hike to the summit. When we where ready to go it was about 4 P.M. so we had to hurry in order to make it for the sunset. The locals insisted that we hire a guide to show us up the mountain. It was funny because there are two routes, one of witch is a camel path and the other is known as the steps of repentance. I don't think you need a guide to show you where the next step is or witch way a large path winds. In Egypt there are not a lot of job opportunities. Tourism is the main source of income for many Egyptians. So this was certainly not the first time we where asked to cough up a few hundred Egyptian Pounds for something that did not seem very neccessary (I.E. my hour long trip around Luxor in a horse and carriage to get nailclippers that ended up being gold and from the shop of the drivers friend....ect...ect...) So Julian, one of the French brothers, and I were adamant about paying him. Another one of the guys in our group insisted he would pay for the guide to be on the safe side. I beat the guide to the top of the mountain and he certainly did not do much guiding for the other members of the group. In fact he disappeared soon after I reached the top. Taking the steps up the mountain was amazing. The steps where laid many years ago by a monk in order to show repentance for his sins. As I was climbing it was really hard to believe that someone had put all 3,750 steps in themselve. On the way up the air was cool and I did not cross a single soul. I seperated myself from the rest of our group and it was just me and the mountain. About 2 hours later I reached the top, legs burning. The view was spectacular. By now the sun was slowly making its way behind the mountains. The sun and the mountains began to play a dance with colors and shadows. About 45 minutes later the rest of my friends made it to the top. Here we rented mats and blankets for our night under the stars. With only 5 or 6 other people at the top, we pretty much had the mountain to ourselves. The sun set, the air cooled, and the stars began to shine. After eating a nice dinner by our candlelight we laid down and watched the sky. There was no light polution so the entire Milky Way sparkled brilliantly. Around 4:30 A.M we were woken by the Muslim prayer calls from the mosque at the top of the mountain. Mt. Sinai is a holy place for all 3 of the worlds major religions. Pilgrims from all over the world flock here everyday to watch the sunrise or just to visit the mountain. The sky changed wild colors until the sun finally peeked out from behind the distant mountains. The warmth from the sun was a huge relief because it was freezing!! I would guess that it was around 45 degrees at its coldest. This is pretty cold when you have been in 95 + for the last two months! After the sun was shining with full force we began our trek down the mountain. This time we opted for the camel path. Somehow we managed to find our way down the path without paying a guide to "show" us the way. Once at the bottom we loaded up and headed to Ayyash Camp back at the coast. Here we ate delicious bannana pancakes, snorkelled, and relaxed. This is one of the camps that I had previously gone to with Kyle about 4 weeks ago. I think that it is one of the only places where you can sit down to eat breakfast, read, take a nap, wake up, eat lunch, read, take a nap, all without ever getting up. Absolutely one of the most quite and relaxing places I have ever been. After three days there we packed up and headed about an hour to the Taba border to enter back into Israel. It felt like I was coming home as I came back into the Jewish State. It was a really nice feeling, although I could have stayed at the camp forever! Now it was back to the harsh reality of everday life. Waiting in lines, waiting for buses, cars, buildings, people! 9 hours after I left the camp I arrived back in Herzliya with my friends from here. Today I am going to go to the beach one last time and then I leave for the airport around 10 PM and arrive in Atlanta around 3 PM tomorrow. I hope you all have enjoyed reading about my trip as much as I have enjoyed being here! One more entry soon to come upon my arrival home : )
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