Dahab and Mt Sinai
Trip Start
Dec 16, 2005
1
5
12
Trip End
Jan 08, 2006
Sinai,
Egypt
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Egyptian restaurateurs and salesmen seem to think the only way to generate business is to continually annoy and pester prospective customers in the submission. I am proud to say that I did not succumb. The sea front of Dahab is packed with tacky restaurants and lots of tiny little shops selling crap goods to naive tourists ... however if you look close enough you can find some people with manners in the town, making an honest living ... I chose to walk the sea front until the first restaurant where they did not give me lots of grief only to find the menu was not the same identical crap they sold everywhere else but a much nicer mix of what appears to be authentic food from the region ... This lovely charming little place is aptly called "Carm Inn" serving authentic food from the region in a relaxed atmosphere .
Mt Sinai
. recommended ... I sit a read the English Khoran from their library and sit a pot of tea while smoking a mint Shisha ... I can recommend Dahab if you want to go diving or snorkeling among the marvellous corals of the red sea. If you are not into either then you can live you entire life without seeing Dahab and not be found wanting.
After Dahab ... the Climb !!
Well I have to say I was pretty much s**ting myself on the truck as we drove through the freezing cold evening to the base of Mt Sinai. Gradually putting on layers to keep myself warm as we crossed through checkpoint after checkpoint of smiling armed soldiers. We had chosen to begin our climb at 10pm taking 2 and a half hours in the freezing cold night to reach to top ... only to find lots of tiny little shacks selling crappy souvenirs and welcome cups of hot Bedouin tea, served with a bounty bar ... the people running these places have a very good welcoming nature and it was nice to sit with them to rest our weary cold bodies them amongst tiny half cave / half shack rooms filled with blankets and mattresses.
Having reached the top we gladly paid 20 Egyptian pound to rent these dusty blankets that have not seen a wash in perhaps 30 years and lie on matressess with the stains of 10,000 weary bones
St Catherine Monastery
. Glad I carted my sleeping bag up the mountain at least I know where most of the stains on it came from !!! and it must be -5C!!We were led by our guide Mohammed (you will hear this name a lot) to a good spot a set up to sleep until dawn's early light ... it was about 3 hours later when we realised why we had set out so early when we were rudely awoken to the noise of 100's of other tourists arriving amongst cries of "mattress, blanket" from the bedouin businessmen ... At least we got some sleep ...
The dawn was something of a disappointment punctuated by a loud American accent saying lots of stupid things such as how she gets a "better view from her moms place..." ... as my Indian travelling companion Latha whispers "some people do not know when to be quiet" ... I can't help but wonder: why? oh why??!! is it not legal in these parts to push loud Americans off cliffs ??? ... there are plenty around !!!
The climb is a very much recommended experience, not as hard as it first seems. The view is pretty good on the other side of the mountain as the suns rays spread across the land and the cloud in the valleys are visible far below ... perhaps equally incredible is the view of over 300 tired but eager faces as the sun rises.
Better still is the view of St Catherine's monastery as you hike down infeasibly steep steps built by some monk in penance for what must have been a major set of sins ... we are talking all ten commandments here !!!
