Cairo to Istanbul: Overland - Mount Sinai
March 16th 2009 04:10
This post is part of the series "Cairo to Istanbul, Overland (with Intrepid)" & the first post can be found here: Really Long Link
Day 2: Mount Sinai and St Catherine's Monastery
We got up very early from Cairo on our way to Mount Sinai & St. Catherine's Monastery, a pleasant 9 hour drive through desert landscape of the Sinai Peninsula. The minibus Intrepid used was modern, clean, air conditioned and spacious, this was the case throughout the tour, but in some cases only because our tour wasn't quite full, if it had been full the minibus on several days would have been downright cramped (one seat per person with bench seats). But most of the time, there was room to spare.
We checked into Daniela Village at the foot of Mount Sinai: Really Long Link
The hot & cold buffet at Daniela Village was extremely cheap (I want to say less than $10) and amayyyyzing. Tabouleh to die for. Hummus that tastes like heaven. Yummy hot dishes with exotic and tasty sauces. Highly recommended, even if you are staying somewhere else. But don't do what I did and tuck in to a big lunch just before climbing the mountain for sunset - big mistake!
The rooms at Daniela Village were basic, with air con & recently refurbished bathroom in the ones we were in. The staff were very happy, welcoming and friendly.
We climbed (2285m.) Mt Sinai after lunch: half way by camel - well worth the cost for the view and experience and conversation with the camel drivers who walk alongside you - and the rest you need to walk. When I say walk, I mean walk/stagger/crawl... and it ain't no walk in the park for a gal used to sea level and allergic to exercise. I had visions of myself skipping up the mountain pausing every so often to admire the view, but I swear I nearly DIED and at least very nearly passed out a couple of times. It was not fun. And the term "steps" in "Steps of Repentance" is very loosely used - sometimes they were more like footholds! Luckily for me we had the best sherpa in the whole wide mountain who took me by the hand and literally dragged me to the Summit for the most breathtaking scene...
Completely worth the agony to get there. The Summit can be verrrry chilly, especially on sundown - take your layers, gloves, scarf and a beanie! And then, after sunset, we came back down again in the dark, ten torches glowing in a row, surreal and spiritual and kind of dangerous, but worth it with the canopy of stars overhead and chatting amongst the group. The alternative is to go up & back completely on the 3750 "Steps of Repentance", and several crazy people in our group actually did it... and beat us to the peak if you can believe that!
We were so tired when we got back, but thrilled by the day's activities. It felt like we had been on holidays for weeks already. Day 1 was amazing - enough of an experience to be the highlight of any trip. Little did we know we had days of unbelievable highlights in store for us - in the early morning it was onwards to the Sawa Camp on the shore of the Red Sea for the next fantastic experience!
St Catherine's Monastery
This Greek Orthodox Monastery (see abovemost picture) at the foot of Mt Sinai was very crowded with tourists. Worth a look if you are there, this is the oldest working monastery in the world. And it is crazy to see what is claimed to be the descendant bush of the original burning bush in the middle of the monestary, so huge & high it was more like a tree if you ask me. People and pilgrims would reach up to the bush/tree with reverent faces and then almost always yell 'ouch' because it was thorny. Over and over again.. reach/ouch! reach/ouch!... it was great.
The fire extinguisher next to the bush was absolutely classic... but not, I don't think, meant to be a joke?!
Nothing else really stands out for me from this monastery, except a couple of really gorgeous doors and great photo opportunities... perhaps because it was so very crowded... but there were some slinky monastery cats hanging out that caught my eye. In fact, now that I think about it everywhere in Egypt there were cats running loose...
Now... more about that awesome Red Sea beach camp...
Day 2: Mount Sinai and St Catherine's Monastery
We checked into Daniela Village at the foot of Mount Sinai: Really Long Link
The hot & cold buffet at Daniela Village was extremely cheap (I want to say less than $10) and amayyyyzing. Tabouleh to die for. Hummus that tastes like heaven. Yummy hot dishes with exotic and tasty sauces. Highly recommended, even if you are staying somewhere else. But don't do what I did and tuck in to a big lunch just before climbing the mountain for sunset - big mistake!
Dining Room at Daniela Village
The rooms at Daniela Village were basic, with air con & recently refurbished bathroom in the ones we were in. The staff were very happy, welcoming and friendly.
View from the Dianela Village dining room
We climbed (2285m.) Mt Sinai after lunch: half way by camel - well worth the cost for the view and experience and conversation with the camel drivers who walk alongside you - and the rest you need to walk. When I say walk, I mean walk/stagger/crawl... and it ain't no walk in the park for a gal used to sea level and allergic to exercise. I had visions of myself skipping up the mountain pausing every so often to admire the view, but I swear I nearly DIED and at least very nearly passed out a couple of times. It was not fun. And the term "steps" in "Steps of Repentance" is very loosely used - sometimes they were more like footholds! Luckily for me we had the best sherpa in the whole wide mountain who took me by the hand and literally dragged me to the Summit for the most breathtaking scene...
Sunset from the peak of Mt Sinai
Completely worth the agony to get there. The Summit can be verrrry chilly, especially on sundown - take your layers, gloves, scarf and a beanie! And then, after sunset, we came back down again in the dark, ten torches glowing in a row, surreal and spiritual and kind of dangerous, but worth it with the canopy of stars overhead and chatting amongst the group. The alternative is to go up & back completely on the 3750 "Steps of Repentance", and several crazy people in our group actually did it... and beat us to the peak if you can believe that!
We were so tired when we got back, but thrilled by the day's activities. It felt like we had been on holidays for weeks already. Day 1 was amazing - enough of an experience to be the highlight of any trip. Little did we know we had days of unbelievable highlights in store for us - in the early morning it was onwards to the Sawa Camp on the shore of the Red Sea for the next fantastic experience!
St Catherine's Monastery
This Greek Orthodox Monastery (see abovemost picture) at the foot of Mt Sinai was very crowded with tourists. Worth a look if you are there, this is the oldest working monastery in the world. And it is crazy to see what is claimed to be the descendant bush of the original burning bush in the middle of the monestary, so huge & high it was more like a tree if you ask me. People and pilgrims would reach up to the bush/tree with reverent faces and then almost always yell 'ouch' because it was thorny. Over and over again.. reach/ouch! reach/ouch!... it was great.
The fire extinguisher next to the bush was absolutely classic... but not, I don't think, meant to be a joke?!Nothing else really stands out for me from this monastery, except a couple of really gorgeous doors and great photo opportunities... perhaps because it was so very crowded... but there were some slinky monastery cats hanging out that caught my eye. In fact, now that I think about it everywhere in Egypt there were cats running loose...
Cat at St Catherines
Now... more about that awesome Red Sea beach camp...
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