2006.05.27_Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai

The Burning Bush

We arrived at Saint Catherine's Monastery at around 08:00. The Saint Catherine's is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world. It is still occupied by monks from Orthodox Christians. Nowadays, it also serves as a pilgrimage spot for tourists and believers from all sectors of Christianity. Within the heavy fortified walls stands a large shrub that is claimed to be the spot of the original Burning Bush mentioned in the Book of Exodus, where God revealed himself to Moses and appointed him as leader of the Israelites.

We waited outside the monastery for about an hour until 09:00. Inside, only the main church, small museum and exterior courtyard where the Burning Bush stands are opened to the public. The courtyard was very crowded. Everyone was trying to take pictures of themselves with the Burning Bush. HC and I toured around a little and slowly walked back to the Mount Sinai parking lot. We were sleepy and tired by the time we reached Bishibishi. At the hotel we grabbed a quick bite, packed our backpacks, and met up with AK in the courtyard.

We took the 14:30 bus leaving for Cairo. It was a long bus ride, passing by the Suez Canal at sunset, and reached Cairo after 8.5 hours. At the bus station in Cairo, we took a taxi to Midan Talaat Harb, a star-shaped plaza at the centre of a shopping district, where our guesthouse was located. It was 23:30 already, but it seemed like 20:00 to me since most of the shops and restaurants were still opened.

2006.05.27_Mount Sinai

Inscription on Mount Sinai


Sunrise at Mount Sinai


Pilgrims and tourists at Mount Sinai


HC and me


The 2-hour descend

We left Dahab at 23:00 to embark on the journey to Mount Sinai. An organized bus ride took HC and me and a group of tourists from Dahab onto the desert highway. On the road, it was pitch black with only occasional street lamp at road intersections. We had no idea where we were going. At 01:30 we finally arrived at the parking lot of Mount Sinai. Despite in the middle of the night, the place was crowded with tourists and pilgrims all came for the climb up to the summit to view the spectacular sunrise.

HC and I and our bus group followed a local guide towards a path that I supposed would lead us up. The guide walked extremely fast, while there were many local Bedouins and camel vendors blocking our way and persuading us to rent a camel. A German tourist in our group showed some interest of the camel ride, but he thought it was too expensive. The camel vendors followed our group, and even used their camels to block our way. Our guide couldn't get rid of the camel vendor, but luckily a tourist police appeared from nowhere, stopped the vendor, and let us through.

The hike was not easy, perhaps because it was just too dark. Between the two of us we shared a small flashlight. It took us a little over two hours to reach the end of the path. Along the way we stopped four times for rest. At the end of the winding path there came the steep stone steps, around 700 steps that led us to the top. It took us a great deal of effort to climb to the summit. We reached the top at 04:30.

On the summit there is a small chapel, and a few vendors renting out blankets and mattresses. It was quite chilly up there, but we didn't bother to rent a blanket. At first we stood in front of the chapel waiting for the sunrise. I soon discovered a piece of rock with an unbeatable view towards the east. The rock surface was a little slippery, and if we fell over it could be fatal. The sky turned white at around 05:30, and the sun finally came out at 06:00. I felt so much warmer just by witnessing the rising of the sun behind the ragged mountains. Not until the sun was out that I could realize how crowded the spot actually was. Tourists and pilgrims and their sleeping bags were everywhere: on top of the chapel, on the roof of some distant mud houses, on the path, on stone terraces, on the other side of the chapel, altogether there must be over 200 people.

Under the golden light, the scenery of Mount Sinai and its surrounding was spectacular, arid, rocky, without a single tree in front of the horizon. This is the legendary spot where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.

At around 06:15 we began the 2-hour descend to St. Catherine's Monastery.