A trip out to the Sinai takes about nine hours by bus from the station in Cairo. Jon and I rode out on the overnight to the resort town of Dahab. To give you a little geography, Dahab sits on the eastern coast of the Sinai, right on the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea. If you are sitting on the beach and look across the water, you can wave hello to Saudi Arabia. Anyway, we arrived at about 9 in the morning ready for sleep, hiking, snorkeling, and a good bit of sitting on the beach soaking up the sun.
After checking into our simple room at the Auski Camp (literally two beds and one little end table in a white room with no windows and peeling paint - but at $3 a night, who could refuse?) we hit the sun soaked beach with some snorkel gear. I do believe that the last time I had a snorkel on was between my freshman and sophomore year at Valpo while in Brazil. It certainly showed that it is not an activity that I am normally engaged in. I was continually drinking in little bits of salt water and having to come up for air. In my defense, it was a very windy day and the sea was quite choppy. It was a good time though. There were a lot of people out exploring the reef which lies just off the coast, and it was beautiful to be literally swimming with the fishes.
After a very good nights sleep, Jon and I were up earlier than we had been in a while to get on the shuttle taking us out to hike Mt. Sinai! This is one of the few things that I knew I wanted to do in Egypt before leaving, and I was thrilled to finally get to cross it off my list. The trip takes about 2 hours from Dahab to the base of the mountain. Part of the length is due to the number of security checkpoints that all the traffic has to go through as a result of the terrorism in the Sinai a few years back (don't worry, nothing happened the day that we were there). At the base of the mountain lies St. Catherine's Monastery. It looks like a fortress from the outside, and I hear they used to be attacked from time to time. St. Catherine's also claims to house the actual bush that God set ablaze to talk to Moses. Sorry to say, but I'm not buying it. But it is a beautiful place with a lot of history.
To hike the mountain you have to take a "guide" with you, which is a complete joke. Our guide did nothing but slow us down, make us take frequent breaks, and walk in front of us on a trail that Larry King could follow with his glasses off. However, it is good for job creation for the Bedouin people who live in the area, so I can support it for that reason. And part of the reason it felt like we were standing still at times was because Jon and a I were used to busting out the miles from out time in Turkey. Being with the group did help me take in the scenery more than I would have on my own. The view from the top really is beautiful. It is also freezing! I was really wishing that I had brought warmer foot gear with me than just sandals. We got down just as the sun was fully over the horizon, and I was glad to sit in a warm cafe at the base for a while, talking politics with a French fellow.
The following day was one to remember. I had signed up two days earlier to get up at 4:30 in the morning and take a full day trip into Jordan to visit Petra. We were to drive North to the ferry which goes across the sea, get off in Jordan, drive into the desert, and see this ancient wonder getting back around midnight. Instead, I got a nice ride up the coast, but that was about it. I was ready to go at 5, and picked up at 5:45, but there seemed to be a bit of confusion as to why I was getting into the shuttle. After talking on the phone briefly with a tour director though, it seemed I was cleared to go. We drove over an hour up the coast to Nuweiba where the ferry was. A man came up to the passenger door and passed around a sheet that had a number by our names we were to put on our customs card. The tour company was supposed to send our passport information several days early so we could get fast-tracked into the country. Well, guess who wasn't on the list?
I checked twice, and then had the driver look for me. Nothing. The man with the sheet just said "If you are not on the list, you can't go" and walked away as if it was no big deal. Well, I got out of the vehicle and followed him asking him if there was another list, to which he said there wasn't. The drive came out and told me to talk to Mohamed in the tourist processing building, so I went looking for him. The only person I found to help was the same guy, who again told me that I could not go. All I could do was go back to Dahab and see what was going on.
Now, to be honest, I had shelled out some serious coin to take this day trip, and my first thoughts were how to go about ensuring that I got it all back. Though I had wanted to go, my alternative for the day was to sit in the 75+ degree weather and relax, which was something I could live with. But if the travel company was going to try to spin it as my fault, I was going to be furious! The driver stopped half way back to eat breakfast and smoke baksheesh, which didn't help to calm me down. I just sat there sipping my tea thinking about how I might really have to stand up for myself once I got back. Well Alhamdulillah (which mean "praise God" in Arabic, and is a phrase seemingly used every-other sentence) because the travel company admitted to me that they had forgotten to send my passport info along and gave me a full refund without any hassle! And thankfully, some of the friends I had made walking up Mt. Sinai were still around, so I was able to sit around talking with them for much of the rest of the day. Some of them had been to Petra before, and said you really need much more time than a three hour tour to experience it, so I guess I'll hit it on my next trip to the Middle East.
My bus to Cairo left the following day at 12:30 in the afternoon. Jon had left mid-morning the day before to get some things in order before heading home shortly after I would. I myself was down to less than 48 hours in the country. Going to Sinai had been the perfect way to cap off the trip!
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