Climbing Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine's

Friday, December 16, 2011
After our dinner in the tent, we hurried back to our rooms and went to sleep as soon as we could--about 8:30 p.m.  We needed all the sleep we could get before our middle-of-the-night climb up Mt. Sinai.  William and Kate slept in Grandma Hales's room next door since they were not going to make the climb.  We got a wake-up call at 1:00 a.m. and hurried to meet the rest of our group by 1:30.  We took a 10-minute bus ride to the base of the mountain.  It was about 34 degrees.

We walked for about 10 minutes up the path to where we met the camels.  We debated about whether or not to just walk it, since it was an additional cost to ride the camels--and Sarah was very opposed to riding a camel.  But we decided this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and to go for the camels.  In hindsight, it was a very good choice.  This was a brutal climb, and I'm not sure we could have made it if we walked the 4 1/2 miles up that we rode on camels.  It took nearly 2 hours to cover that distance on the camels.  The moon was bright and even though we weren't allowed to use our flashlights, we could see just fine in the moonlight.  We were all bundled up and tried to keep warm.  The camels we rode here on Mt. Sinai were mountain camels, and slightly smaller than the ones we rode by the pyramids.  The saddles were smaller--only one person on each camel--so it was easier to stay on.  They call camels, the "ships of the desert," and after riding one for a couple hours, I can see why.  Unlike a horse where the motion is a rolling front to back, on a camel you sway side to side.  I can see how you might get seasick, but I felt fine and had a good ride. 

The camels didn't all stay together.  David and I took walkie talkies on the trip so we could keep track of each other.  It was reassuring to be able to talk to him when I couldn't see him in the dark.  Ben's camel took off, however, and he got to the end of the trail way ahead of the rest of us.  He didn't even have a guide with him.  He said that his camel just knelt down all by itself, so he climbed off and waited for the rest of us to come. 

When our camels got to the end of the trail, they knelt down, and we climbed off.  I didn't have much feeling left in my legs, so I had to jump around to get the blood flowing again.  After our group was all together we started the climb up the remaining portion of the mountain.  We were told it was 750 steps.  I tried to count them, but it was impossible to know what was considered a step.  It was a steep rocky climb.  We had to stay with our guide, Youseff, so we didn't go too fast.  All along the way were little wooden shack "coffee shops."  They were lit by lanterns and had coffee, water, and candy bars for sale.  We climbed for another hour or so.  At about 4:45 a.m. we reached near the top and waited at the last of the coffee shops.   We ate our sack breakfast that the hotel had provided for us:  rolls, hard boiled eggs, cheese and some sort of sweet bread.  It was nice to rest for a while and get a little shelter from the cold. 

Sarah and I waiting in the coffee shop at the top of Mt. Sinai

We waited in the coffee shop for about an hour.  We were joined by 40-50 other people from all over the world.  Our guide sat and smoked a giant pipe that looked the one the caterpillar smokes in Alice in Wonderland.  He was a huge flirt and asked me if I had any single sisters.  David piped up that I didn't, but told him my mother was single and Youseff offered him 15 camels and 25 sheep for her on the spot.  So funny!  Waiting in this coffee shop on the top of Mt. Sinai was one of the most crazy experiences of the trip--it was definitely something from another culture.

After an hour or so waiting in the coffee shop, we decided to venture out and get a spot on the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise.  We were greeted by a sky that looked like this:

 Even though it was about a half hour before sunrise, there was already a bright orange streak across the sky.  I stepped out of the coffee shop and it took my breath away. 

We clamored up the last set of steps and explored the top of the mountain and looked for a place to watch the sun rise.  There was a church up there, built and still used by the monks.  There were lots of outcroppings of rocks.  We never did pick one place to watch from.  The colors of the sky were constantly changing and we kept moving from place to place to see the sunrise from all different angles. 

The mountain peaks almost looked like islands rising out of the mist.

Looking the other direction away from the sun, we saw the barren mountain peaks glow pink in the near-morning light. 

 The sun peaked over the horizon about 6:20 a.m.  I cannot even begin to describe the wonder and majesty of it.  I've seen other sunrises, but nothing like this. 

 I just kept looking at David and the kids and I was so glad they were there to experience this with me. 

I took tons of pictures, trying to capture the moment, trying to hold on to it, even as the sun was rising and the colors were fading.  We thought about Moses on that mountain, and the children of Israel camped below. 

Eventually, we started back down the mountain.  It was light, so now I could get the pictures that I couldn't take on the way up.

 We saw the coffee shop where we had eaten our breakfast. 

One of our guides

 This sign made us laugh--Star bucks is everywhere!  Even at the top of Mt. Sinai!

 The views were amazing all the way down!

We had the choice to go down the camel trail, or the 3000 stairs "short-cut" carved into the mountain by the monks.  We were told to avoid the stairs if we had bad knees.  Since we were ready for a short cut, we opted for the stairs. 

They were brutal. 

By the end, I think I had bad knees.

 Ben would have run all the way down if we would have let him. 

As the sun warmed the day, and we descended to a lower elevation, we gradually warmed up. 

We found this beautiful archway on the way down.



Sarah showing off her Snickers bar that David bought her at the top of the mountain.  The kids each got one and ate them when they made it back down the mountain.



 Our goal at the bottom:  St. Catherine's Monestery. 



A view of Mt. Sinai from the bottom



We made it down by about 9:00 a.m.  We were so exhausted!  This was definitely one of the most physically demanding things I have done in my life.  It was harder than the 10K. 

But so worth it.

After a quick trip back to the hotel to shower, and pack up our suitcases, we returned to St. Catherine's for a tour.  It is only open to the public on Fridays from 11:00 a.m. to noon.

St. Catherine's is the oldest continuously running monestary in the world.  The church inside was very old, but beautiful.  It was full of candle chandeliers since there is no electricity.  Up until the last century, there was no door in and out.  The monks were lowered in a basket over the wall and through this doorway.



We met up with Kate, William and the grandparents at the hotel before we came back to St. Catherines.  Kate woke up sick and was throwing up all morning.  She is looking pretty peaked in this picture.  But she was a good sport and hung in there even when she wasn't feeling well.

Inside the monestary is the burning bush.  Yep, THE burning bush.  The one Moses saw.  Or so they say.  This same bush has been here since the 1st century.  Like I said in a previous post, plants and trees here live for a ridiculously long time.  So who knows?  Maybe it is the same bush.

Either way, it was fascinating and amazing to think about Moses and the children of Israel in that barren wasteland.