Sinai

We stayed in Dahab, a Bedouin (desert tribe that are the traditional inhabitants of the Sinai peninsula) fishing village that has turned into a European and Arab resort town on the Red Sea. It was incredibly beautiful and relaxing. We spent a lot of time snorkeling in the coral reef in front of our hotel and saw the most unbelievable marine life. I've never seen anything like the fish and the colors - there are apparantly more types of tropical fish in the Red Sea than anywhere else in the world. So that was a real highlight.

We then took a short bus to the middle of the peninsula to the small Bedouin village at the base of Mt. Sinai. It is the most striking landscape - sooo bare and stark and craggy, but incredibly beautiful. We read the Exodus story before leaving and had such a vivid picture of Moses leading his reluctant people through the desert. No wonder they were complaining! It is so harsh with the bare rock and sand and blinding sun.

The way the Bedouin people still live as nomads, surviving off of such a harsh land, in caves and stone huts, is unbelievable. It's as though nothing has changed in thousands of years. Staying in the village was great - we didn't see a single other tourist while we were there. We stayed at a camp run by a local Bedouin Sheikh and it was a really wonderful experience, although i must admit we were thrilled to check into our nice hotel in cairo and get a hot shower, air conditioning and our own bathroom!

The real highlights of our trip were visiting St. Katherine's Monastery, the monastery at the base of Mt. Sinai (which is locally called Mt. Moses), and climbing the mountain itself. The monastery has been a practicing monastic community since 500 AD, and is the oldest active monastery in the world. They have an incredible collection of iconic art and christian manuscripts that have been passed down throughout the centuries. It was a very spiritually enriching visit.

And then we hiked up the mountain, which was grueling. It's a high mountain to begin with, with some very steep parts, but it was really the incredible heat with the sun beating down with no shade in sight that made it tough on us. But it was a moving pilgrimage for both of us. We read some psalms at the top while watching the sunset, and then hiked down by moonlight (which was tricky, as i of course forgot to pack the flashlight.)