Sinai

I write this a few days removed from my hike up Mt Sinai ("Jebel Musa" in Arabic - "Mt Moses"). I arrived in Sinai and found the bedouin camp I was looking for without any problems. There I met a German couple who were looking to hike up the mountain and sleep there. The following day we set out at midday and hiked the hard way - up, over, and through the valley and mountains rather than the steps set out from the monestary. It was a great walk on which we were alone - something I appreciated more the next day as we walked down the 'tourist' way and couldn't get away from people trying to sell us everything; anything. We were joined throughout the night by worshippers of Christ praying and singing about the power of God. There were Nigerians, Japanese, Russians, Koreans, French, Germans, and the list goes on. It was intersting - but to difficult to sleep to - to see and hear the parises of God from so many walks of life and languages. The sunset was beautiful, with the entire mountain range being lit up like fire. From our viewpoint the sun rose between two closely situated mountain peaks, creating the image of the sun as a growing piece of pie, slowly creeping and manifesting into a red disk that hovered harmoniously above the desert mountains (Attn Matt: I think this is where "the rosy fingers of dawn" is most applicable). I have never seen the sun rise in such a manner, and unfortuanetly the pictures do not do it justice. The red sun lit up the valley and its grey/red mountains in a fantastic manner that made me feel as if I was on Mars (from the pictures I have seen of Mars, Mt Sinai is the closest I have ever been to its likeness).

After the sunrise I headed to St Katherine's Monestary at the base of the mountain. This monestary is the oldest working monestary in the world - amazing considered it is situated in the middle of a Mulsim country, surrounded by other Muslim countries. This was, and is, possible because the Prophet Muhammed personally gave his protection of the sight in a written document that is on display in the museum located within the monestary grounds. There is also a decree signed by Napolean Bonaparte himself on display that grants similar protection to the grounds and the people worhsipping within them (I am a sucker for writing, and these two documents floored me; the signatures of Napolean and Muhammed? that is some cool shit). Since St Katherine's is protected by the two most destructive forces in the world (monotheistic religion and the West), I don't foresee any problems for it.

From St Katherine's I headed to Dahab, on the coast of the Red Sea. Getting there was an adventure that involved hitching a ride with a local bedouin man (for a small fee) who was stopped at the police check forty kilometers outside of Dahab, leaving me to hitch another ride with two local bedouins in the most rugged car I have been in on this trip. Don't be fooled - I was in more ghetto cars in West Africa (one in particular was started with a crank by the driver's helper, thus literally 'turning over the engine'), and the cars that took us out into the desert in Mali were certainly more capable, but they were not as rugged as the jeep I rode in with these two bedouins (one of which was deaf - it added a whole new element to not understanding what they were 'saying'). I won't go into the specifics of the car for the sake of my mother (an insurance agent who would have had nothing to do with this car - I could just think what Robert would have said if she tried to bring this one in), but the car and the bedouins were great. Unfortunately for me Dahab was not so great - a tourist place that was three times the price of the rest of Egypt and yet felt nothing at all like Egypt. It was too bad, but it gave me a few days to relax and read a few books. The drive from Dahab to the boarder (on a bus) was spectacular however, winding and twisting along the turquoise shore of the Gulf of Aqaba. I would go back to this strip of beach, just not Dahab.

My arrival in Israel was easy and I am currently staying with a few couchsurfers in Tel Aviv. My University friend from Montreal, Stephen, is in Israel for work/vacation and is staying with his cousin about twenty minutes outside of Tel Aviv (and thus too poorly located to stay with). We are planning a few day trips - he has a car at his disposal - and it will be good to hang out with him in Israel. My girlfriend, Julia, arrives on the 6th and then I will be heading to Jordan to see Petra and leaving Tel Aviv for longer than single days.