Saturday, December 17, 2005

In the footsteps of Moses


From Cairo it was off to the Sinai, crossing under the Suez Canal and traveling down the resort-covered Red Sea coast. Our final destination was Mount Sinai, which we boldly climbed the following morning to watch the sunrise. By the time we pulled up outside our hotel, we'd covered more than 450km, and had been traveling for most of the day.


Our route took us through the Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel.  Sadly, sighting the Suez Canal was an all too brief experience. Security restrictions on both sides of the tunnel meant that our bus wasn't able to stop at any point. However, as we approached the tunnel, we caught a brief glimpse of a container ship gliding by.  Watching a partially hidden sea-going vessel move through the desert sand was rather surreal.  

The open pyramid-topped tomb of the Unknown Soldier was also a memorable sight as we drove out of Cairo. Above is a photo I took from the bus as we passed by.  It was constructed after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Anwar Sadat's tomb was subsequently installed here after his assassination in 1981. 

Our tour group stayed overnight at a simple hotel in St Catherine, a tourist village located a few kilometres from its famous namesake, the Saint Catherine's Monastery. I later learned that this is the world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery. It opened in the year 530 which means its 1500th anniversary is fast approaching. According to tradition, it sits on the site where Moses saw his biblical burning bush. 



We set off from this isolated Byzantine outpost at 3:00am. Although, if truth be told, we actually hired camels to take us most of the way before dawn. Riding up the mountainside in the early twilight proved our least touristy trek in the Middle East.

While I'm not one for walking in the dark at 3:00am, at least another 500 people were happy to do so, singing hymns and Christian ditties until dawn. Again, the cellphone signal was solid on the summit. If only Moses had had such an option. The Lord could have just phoned in the Ten Commandments rather than carving them in stone.


While Mount Sinai was unforgettable, my strongest memories remain those of the stark, red, and purple-hued desert valleys we drove through. These hillsides grew all the more spectacular as the sun began to set. Perhaps the most magical moment though, was a brief stop in a date palm oasis sitting quietly in the middle of nowhere.


From Sinai, we headed to the coast to catch the Hydrofoil in Nuweiba. The descent to the harbour was an experience in itself. The road literally drops from more than 1200 metres to sea level in just a few short kilometres. The brakes on our bus overheated as our driver struggled to negotiate the steep incline. I've never been so happy to see a sturdy boat in all my life. The rest of our journey to Jordan was rather uneventful.

One final comment. You may have noticed that many of the images in this post are a little blurry. That's the legacy of my unfortunate spill in Alexandria. I had my camera lens extended on full zoom at the time and the knock it received threw its focus out of alignment. This seemed to mainly affect scenes shot with the zoom lens. It took me several days to realise this and adjust my photography to compensate.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, loved the trip down memory lane. Soldier was spelt wrong, but at least you spelt my name with an 'i'. lol
Somewhere I have a picture of the two of you covered in Dead Sea mud.