Witnessing Remarkable Acts of Faith atop Mount Sinai, Egypt

Stats:

Destination: Mt. Sinai

Number of Days Spent:  1 glorious night turned into morning

Where we stayed:  On the ledge of a mountain top

Best restaurant:   Leftover aish with laughing cow cheese from our backpack & a bag of cookies

Best of:  A beautiful sunrise!

Worst of:  Camel hair blankets smell really bad.  Tracy was also nearly knocked on the head by a camel coming through the path. 

Most Memorable:   The church ladies of Cyprus - a remarkable testament of just how much faith one can have (read below).

Useful Tip:   It's cheap to book a tour from Dahab (180-200 EP - less than $20) though as always make sure you get the details (type of van, number of people, whether or not there will be AC in the van for the way back, etc).  We booked ours through the Bishy Bishy and were very happy.  Don't forget your head lamp, even if your tour operator tells you that you don't need one.  Trust us, you do.

"...And the Lord came down Upon Mount Sinai...and called Moses up to the top of the mount...And God spoke all these words, saying, I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."  ~ Exodus 19

Mount Sinai has long been a site of pilgrimage and revered by both early Christians and Muslims alike.  As early as the 3rd century A.D., persecuted Christians were seeking refuge here living as hermits.  During the 5th century, Emperor Justinian founded Saint Catherine's Monastery at the base of this mountain, in essence, calling this particular mountain, the mountain that God, in the form of a burning bush, spoke to Moses.  Pilgrims have been coming ever since to this harsh and unrelenting environment to worship.  Our journey was less daunting than what those early pilgrims faced, but an overnight journey in the dark up a rocky hill for sunrise was challenging enough for us.

We left Dahab at 11:30 pm, only half an hour late which is excellent by Egyptian standards!  Driving like a deranged madman our driver had us at the foot of the mountain in record time and we started hiking around 1:30 am.  For most of the first part of the climb, you are forced to stumble in the dark past the hundreds of camels and their owners trying to sell you a ride up the mountain.  Thirty minutes of staring at a seemingly endless train of camel asses and incessantly hearing "Camel Ride?" almost wants to make you cave in and say ok!  After the first couple of checkpoints however, we cleared the fray and it was smooth sailing to the top...aside from the steep climb that is.  While not that technical of a climb, it's still a mountain complete with steep steps and sharp rocks.

The start of our hike:

 

While we were climbing the mountain we crossed paths with 5-10 Cyprus pilgrims coming DOWN the mountain at 3 am!  They were intrigued by us as we were by them.  We were going for the sunrise, and they were on a spiritual journey caring not to stick around at the top for the scenery.  These pilgrims were 80++ years old and dressed in their finest church clothes complete with flat dress shoes for the ladies.  Physically they were each accompanied by a guide to help them up and down the mountain but their faith was the real motivator.  In the presence of such enduring faith gives one a definition to what it really means to believe in something so profoundly and without equivocation. 

Our arrival at the top was met by a couple more Bedouin who make a living out of renting out "camel" blankets - dubbed that for the smell and not the material.  We had brought our own (blanket that is, but not a camel one), and trust us, after sweating your way to the top, you are going to need one as your body temp cools back down & the sweat on your back chills you to the bone.  We found us a quiet space and laid down on the craggy rocks, a vain attempt to catch a few winks.  After a hour and half had passed and with no one joining us on our side of the hill, we discovered we were facing the wrong way for sunrise...!  So much for getting there early to get a good spot.  Fortunately, there were still a couple of spaces left on some steps so we settled in and waited for the magic!   

Arrival at dark but then dawn breaks:

The sun rises to reveal the uneven terrain.  Quite a magical moment.

 

Just before climbing down, we paused to ring the small church bell.

 

The aptly named Steps of Repentance number 3750 in total leading from the top to the back door of St. Katherine's Monastery.  While much quicker than the camel trail we took going up, the uneven and all rock steps are taxing on the knees and joints.  The reward, however, are a couple of rock arches and a great bird's eye view of the Monastery.   

 

 

The foundations of St. Katherine's Monastery date all the way back to the 3rd century serving as one of the oldest continually functioning monasteries in the world.  The bush inside is said to be a direct descendent of the burning bush that the voice of God was said to take the form of.  How one determines such things is beyond my comprehension, but millions of pilgrims believe it, and seeing as how there is little else alive out here in this barren wasteland there are not that many bushes to choose from to begin with.

    

After heading back to Dahab and relaxing for a couple more days, we packed our bags and headed for the border.   Next stop:  The holiest of holy cities on Earth - Jerusalem, Israel.

To see more photos of Mt. Sinai click here!

In the footsteps of Jacques Cousteau: Thistlegorm & Ros Mohammed - Egypt

Stats:

Destination:  Thistlegorm Wreck & Ros Mohammed National Park

Number of Days Spent:  1 day

Where we stayed:  Dahab

Best restaurant:   The ship provided a very tasty breakfast & lunch.

Best of:   Thistlegorm was definitely our best wreck dive to date....very cool!

Worst of:  I can't decide if it was the "advanced" PADI diver that was so bad he hit everything and everyone within range or the dive master that had his fill of him and screamed complaints when he wasn't in earshot.  Now that I think about it, it was probably the fact that we missed seeing dolphins under the water during our dive of Ros Mohammed.  The group right behind us saw them :-(

Most Memorable:   I don't think we'll ever forget entering the wreck for the first time & seeing the unexploded bombs, crates of motorcycles & other random items from the ship. 

Useful Tip:   Most dive companies in Dahab insist on using the Dahab based trip for Thistlegorm that leaves at midnight and sets out for Thistlegorm in the early morning hours using a slower boat.  However if you ask around there are a few companies that offer the Sharm based trip on a nicer boat and leaving the morning (very early) of the dive for the same price.  We didn't want to spend the night on a dive boat so we opted to do this.  The drawback is that they don't always go to Ros Mohammed.  The two tank dive to the Thistlegorm is part of the packaged tours that most people visiting Sharm are on and the boat tries to "up sell" the third dive at Ros Mohammed.  We had to help strum up enough interest to make the third dive.   

As most of you know by now, we really enjoy diving.  The world is a vast place and with over half of it covered in water, we figured no tour of the world was complete without checking out a few of the treasures that lie underneath.  Following in the footsteps of one of the greatest explores of our time, Jacques Cousteau, a diving trip to the Red Sea is not complete without a visit to the Thistlegorm wreck.  Cousteau introduced the ship to the diving world in the 60's but kept its location a secret.  It was not until the 80's that the ship was rediscovered and is now one of the most visited wreck dives.  It is so visited in fact that the wreck generates more revenue than the famous pyramids of Giza!  With all that money coming in, the government seems to lack the restraint needed to protect this treasure.  As long as you have an Advanced Certification, you can dive the site no matter how many dives you have done or how long it has been since your last dive.  All divers follow a specific path - first dive is a tour around the outside with the second dive heading inside to the cabins and holds.  A couple of people in our group had only dove around a dozen times.  The result is a lot of knocking around, banging on the walls, stirring up sand, etc. that not only endangers the structure, but suffocates any coral or life that is trying to make the Thistlegorm home.      

Considered one of the best wreck dives in the world, the Thistlegorm was a WWII cargo ship on her way to Egypt to resupply allied troops.  While waiting to go through the Suez canal, German planes spotted the ship anchored and sent it to the bottom of the ocean along with its unique collection of cargo.  Unexploded ammunition spills out one of the holes created by the bombs.  Two locomotives went flying in the air and landed on the ocean floor remarkably facing right side up.   Inside the remaining cargo hold sits several motorcycles, boxes of boots, jeeps and even a couple of tanks.  The first dive takes you around the outside of the wreck and the second dive penetrates the wreck - weaving in and out of rooms and cargo holds. 

     

   

After our rough first two dives we talked a few more people into a 3rd dive at Ros Mohammed National Park.  It was simply beautiful!  And yes, those are toilets in the second picture, a ship hauling bathroom fixtures (there are a few tubs scattered about as well) was tossed about in a storm and dropped a couple of cargo boxes. 

 

 

To see more photos of Thistlegorm click here!
To see more photos of Ros Mohammed click here!

Under the Sea, the Red Sea - Dahab, Egypt

Destination: Dahab, Egypt
Number of Days Spent:  7 days
Where we stayed:   We stayed at Seventh Heaven for one night (40 Egyptian pounds - $8) but moved because the fan in our non-AC room was way too weak to compete with the Egyptian heat.  We spent the next six nights at Penguin Village which had excellent AC but very salty water (60 Egyptian pounds - $13).  We weren't really impressed with the staff either, they were pretty lazy and non-responsive.  There was a good Thai restaurant right next to Seven Heaven though, don't miss it if you are missing spicy Thai food & in the area (good curry, medium pad thai). 
Who we dove with:  Big Blue Diving - We would dive with them again.  The equipment was in good condition & the dive master was professional.  We paid around $30 per dive with all equipment including a trip to Ros Mohammed & Thistlegorm (with transport to Sharm).   While we enjoyed our dives here, in particularly the Canyon, there is a lot of damage to the reefs near town so check around before deciding which sites to go to.   
Best restaurant:   El Asseel (just behind the New Sphinx Hotel) had the BEST falafel we have had yet.  The sandwiches included fresh bread, tasty falafel, Arabic salad and spicy tahini for 3 pounds ($.65).  One was a great snack and two a filling meal.  The Sea Bride Restaurant had excellent fresh calamari & shrimp for bargain prices.  Recommended by a local it wasn't on the beach but what it lacked in atmosphere it made up for with excellent food.  The prices were excellent with a 1/4 kilo of grilled or fried calamari for 30 Egyptian pounds ($6) or a 1/4 kilo of shrimp for 55 Egyptian pounds ($11).  All dinners included fish soup, a huge plate of Arabic salad, tahini, baba ghanoush (sp?), a spicy sauce for the seafood, rice & pita bread. Other honorable mentions go to Penguin or Funny Mummy for a great seaside atmosphere complete with pillows, terrific milkshakes (for Tracy it was banana and for Jason chocolate - a whopping 15 pounds each - $3) & sheesha (5 Egyptian - $1), Nirvana Indian restaurant for channa masala, King Chicken for their 1/2 chicken meal big enough for two (23 pounds including 1/2 a roasted chicken, Arabic salad, tahini & bread) & the Thai place with no name (look for the signs and go up the steps) near Seventh Heaven for curries (sadly the pad thai was missing cilantro & bean sprouts but would have been excellent if that was included).  Yeah, we ate a lot in Dahab.  We could practically feel our waistlines expanding once again :-)
Best of:  Big fluffy pillows, endless hookah, cool ocean breezes, good diving and snorkeling at the infamous Blue Hole & Canyon.  The atmosphere here is so relaxed and a stroll along the boardwalk is relatively stress free compared to other tourist hot spots in Egypt.
Worst of:  The tap water in Dahab is really salty.  All of the hotels have the same problem but I think that ours was definitely one of the worst...soap refused to lather and after stepping out of the shower it felt like a film covered your body).  As much as we hated to leave we really started to look forward to a proper shower with fresh water.
Most Memorable:   Night diving in the Canyon watching the phosphoresce all aglow like twinkling little stars, only at 30 meters (nearly 100 feet) down. 

Useful Tip:   All the restaurants along the water are overpriced and quite similar in offerings and price.  With so many restaurants and so few tourists, negotiating your meal is possible.  For example, what if I bring a couple of people along, can we get free appetizers?  How about dessert?  Free apple Hookah?  Nearly all will offer some sort of "hook" to keep you coming back or give them a try in the first place.  Of course, walking one block away from the ocean will bring the prices down drastically and the afore mentioned couple of restaurants served up much better fare than what we had on the strip.
Take a deep breath.  1, 2, 3.  Ok now exhale.  That's it...let it all out.  One more time.  And again.  Now imagine some ocean waves lapping gently up against the rocks.  Can you hear it?  Good.  Are you in a comfy place?  A couple of soft, fluffy pillows perhaps?  Perfectly relaxed?  Good.  Now let's begin.
We arrived from Luxor after 22 grueling hours on a bus.  Not what we had in mind when we boarded (it was advertised as a 14 hour ride).  Four passport checks at government checkpoints and inexplicably five ticket checks (One would think that checking the ticket once you boarded would be good enough) prevented us from having a decent nights sleep.  Deep breath. 1, 2, 3.
Good thing we stepped off the bus in Dahab and not Cairo.  This somewhat sleepy town has been a backpacker refuge for several decades is now attracting independent travelers to its relaxed and pleasant atmosphere.  While Sharm el-Sheikh has become a package tourist destination complete with hundreds of high rises vying for every square inch of waterfront property, Dahab has somehow managed to avoid most of the commercialization (sparing a few hotels just outside of town).  We were hoping for exactly this type of atmosphere when we decided to save Dahab for last on our tour of Egypt.     
The Nile may have its Pyramids and Temples, but the Sinai Peninsula attracts its fair share of tourists as well.  But it's not what is on land that draws most of the attention, but what lies in the water just off shore.  The area has long been considered one of the top dive and snorkeling centers in the world.  With an abundance of natural corals, unique underwater formations and scores of ship wrecks, the area has a little something for everyone.    Without further ado here are some of our photos from our week of diving (sans Ros Mohammed & Thistlegorm which are on another post):

 

In addition to diving, we spent our evenings hanging out with friends, eating tons of falafel & seafood, enjoying the fluffy pillows at the seaside restaurants and partaking in our fair share of apple sheesha.  Relaxing...yes...healthy...certainly not.  Good thing it only lasted a week! 
  
To see more photos of Dahab click here!

Raiding King's Tombs and snacking on Falafel stuffed Aish: Luxor, Egypt

Destination: Luxor, Egypt
Number of Days Spent:  3 days
Where we stayed:  Oasis Hotel (50 EP/$8), not to be confused with the Nubian Oasis Hotel across the street.  Helpful owners, huge private room w/ A/C, reasonably clean for the price.  Only drawback are the multiple flights of stairs you have to take to get to your room and then to the rooftop patio.  Consider it your morning workout.
Best restaurant:    The falafel stand across the street from Luxor temple near McDonalds was an excellent choice for a cheap meal (2EP/$.25 per sandwich), they will try and take advantage of you on the price, just point at the Arabic sign and say "2 pound".     
Best of:  Reading like a who's who of Egyptian greats - the Valley of Kings, Queens and Nobles housed the likes of Ramses II, King Tut and several other greats.  Karnak Temple is the largest religious structure ever to be built and is awe inspiring even til this day.
Worst of:   The light show is overpriced for what it is.
Most Memorable:    Our hotel gave us directions to the Aish bakery (bread).  For mere pennies we got piping hot pita bread fresh from the hole in the wall bakery...literally a hole in the wall.  Something about lining up with the locals that makes you feel like you hit a jackpot.

Useful Tip:   Avoid the taxis & carriages and take the microbus whenever possible.  They circle around town all day long and are numerous.  Hail one down and ask if they will take you to your destination i.e. Karnak.  Travel across town for $.25!  Remember to confirm the price before getting in.  Ask at your hotel so you know how much it should cost and then insist on that price or wait for the next one.  NOTE - they will honor this price even at night when the taxi touts are circling.  You just have to know what you're looking for and what the price should be. 
Luxor, or ancient Thebes, is arguably the best collection of Egyptian history in one spot.  No where else is there such a vast collection of tombs, temples and royal palaces.  Like modern day Paris or New York, Thebes represented THE place to live and die.  Pharaohs would have their eternal resting places constructed on the western bank while constructing and expanding temples on the eastern bank of the Nile.  The greatest of pharaohs like Ramses II and Hatshepsut (one of the rare female pharaohs) to name a couple, would have temples built and dedicated in their honor immortalizing themselves as gods.  The results of their efforts have mostly been preserved thanks to the shifting sands of the Saharan Desert.  Covered under layers upon layers of sand and time, many of these "eternal homes" have been unearthed in recent years revealing hoards of jeweled treasures...most notably the famous King Tut.  Perhaps the best is yet to come however as this area is still scattered with scores of teams of archeologists scouring the earth, looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack and the next big score.
We started our time in Luxor on the living side, the East bank with the Temple Complex of Karnak.  Covering over 2 square kilometers, this complex was worked on, destroyed, rebuilt and expanded over the course of 1500 years.  During the New Kingdom era (around 1500-1000 B.C.E.) the temple reached its zenith.  The capital was relocated from Memphis (near Modern Cairo) to Thebes and the temple became the most important in all of Egypt.  With Egypt expanding its borders and wealth flowing in, the pharaohs would add more and more to the temple.  Records on the walls indicate that over 81,000 people worked and lived on and for the temple.  Because nearly all the pharaohs would add to the complex, wandering through the temple is like taking a crash course in Egyptian architectural style of the New Kingdom Era.  The deeper you venture, the older the temple gets. 
The "youngest" part of the temple are the row of Sphinxes just outside the main entrance dating to around 500 B.C.E.  At one time, these statues stretched in a row from Karnak all the way to Luxor temple, three kilometers away.  The path was used as part of a ceremony to honor the gods during harvest time.  Today, there are few of these statues left between the two great temples but the governor of Luxor has grandioso plans and is attempting to clean out and restore the path to its original glory. 

Near the center of the complex stands one of the greatest religious monuments ever constructed - the Great Hypostyle Hall.  Consisting of 134 massive concrete pillars, the hall is large enough to fit the two largest churches in existence today combined.  Each pillar is intricately carved and topped with papyrus shaped caps.  Much like the lotus pedal is to Buddhism, the Egyptians believed that the mound of life sprang from the waters of the Nile surrounded by a swamp of papyrus reeds.  Most of the columns were erected by none other than the great Ramses II, finishing off where his father, Seti I had left off.
 
Beyond the Hypostyle Hall lies another highlight of the complex, the Obelisk of Hatshepsut.  In a country with what would seemingly be hundreds of Obelisks, the Obelisk of Hatshepsut is the largest of them all.  Not sure if that includes all of the obelisks that have been hauled off to other countries, but as far as we know, it's the largest in Egypt anyway's.

 
After careful deliberation, we decided that we would spring for one night show while in Egypt.  All the major temples have some sort of show at night.  When we read in Lonely Planet that the one at Karnak was something akin to a Hollywood spectacle, we could not resist the temptation.  At $20 a pop, the ultra kitsch show lacked in show stopping special effects one would expect.  The hour and a half "show" was more like a narrated walk through the temple at night.  The only saving grace is that you get a chance to see the temple lit up at night giving it an eerie feeling.  Perhaps they can take the extra money and hire Steven Spielberg to spiff it up a bit.  At the very least they could take the money and pay the guards a decent wage so they wouldn't have to resort to asking for "baksheesh."  


Back in town and just up the bank from the Nile lies Luxor Temple.  The temple was built as somewhat of a "summer" home for the gods normally residing at Karnak.  During the annual floods, the shrines to the gods would be loaded up on barges and either carried by priests or floated up the Nile to reside here for a couple of weeks.  The temple itself was largely built by Amenhotep III (King Tut's grandpa) and Ramses II (who else).  Over the centuries since its completion, the temple has taken on many forms.  The Romans would turn it into a fort which would also be used as such by the Arabs.  During the 14th century, a mosque was built here and is still in use today.  Not nearly as large or sprawling as it's neighbor to the north, Luxor temple still is an impressive structure, particularly as the sun sets. 

 
 
As the suns rays brought life to the west side of the Nile, the east side represented the sun setting and snuffing out life.  Temples and monuments to life and religion dominate the east bank.  Tombs, monuments, and shrines to death scatter the barren desert plains of the west bank.  The Valley of the Kings & Queens along with the Valley of the Nobles house hundreds of tombs.  At first glance, there is not much to see.  Standing in the unforgiving heat and staring out into the hills of white sand will give one an understanding as to how so many of these tombs are still left to be uncovered.  It all adds to the mystique and amazement when you first walk down into the tombs.  Covered from top to bottom, brightly painted murals stand much as they did when they were first painted on those walls some 3500 years earlier.  The pigments of color were preserved thanks to no sunlight and outside interference.  Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take photos inside the tombs due to careless flash photography. 
 
Aside from the tombs, there are also several memorial monuments, or individual shrines, dedicated to the most famous of pharaohs.  We visited Deir al-Bahri, or as it is better known as Hatshepsut's (loosely pronounced "Hot Chicken Soup") Temple.  This place is listed as one of the hottest places on earth and visiting here in the middle of August was probably not our smartest move.  Hatshepsut was one of the few female pharaohs and went to great lengths to prove that she was just as great as any male pharaoh.  After seizing the throne from her dead brother/husband (have to keep the blood line going I suppose) she ruled for about 15 years.  During that time she built the afore mentioned Obelisk at Karnak and this magnificent burial shrine.  Built directly into the hillside, the temple has become one of the most iconic images of ancient Egypt.  Built on three levels, the temple has multiple columns and a massive central ramp leading to the top tiers.  On the second level, each pillar is fronted by what appears to be statues of a male pharaoh, but they are none other than Hatshepsut herself.  The Female pharaoh went to great lengths to prove she was just as strong as any man, even wearing the trademark "beard". 

  

Our last stop on our tour of the east bank was at the Colossi of Memnon.  Pretty much a quick obligatory stop as you have to pass them to get to virtually anywhere on the east bank, these statues are all that remain of a once great temple.  Proving that building a temple out of mud and sand near a annually flooding river is never a good idea, these twin statues once stood guard for the largest temple ever built in Egypt.  Today they stand guard for a large field and several souvenir stalls. 

We spent our last day in town strolling along the market, stocking up on enough food to last through our 22 hour bus ride to Dahab & enjoying free Internet & A/C with a view of Luxor temple at the local McDonald's.  McDonald's you say?  Well, sometimes an ice cream cone (with AC) hits the spot!

To see more photos of Luxor click here!