We started off from the hotel at 10:30 pm with our guide, and had to drive about 220 kilometers to get to the base of the Sinai, called the monastery of St. Catherine. It was close to 2 am when we reached the base, and the beginning of Day 9 of our vacation! After a hurried cup of tea and a smoke, our tour group began the climb, fully equipped with torches, breakfast boxes, and sturdy shoes. The authorities have tried to maintain the whole scene the way it was all those years ago when Moses climbed the mountain, and there is no electricity or any of the trappings of modern civilization to spoil the effect. In fact, one can almost visualize the scene of Moses' climb all those centuries ago. So, in the dead of night, its only the line of torch lights that line the mountain path, as thousands of people make the slow and winding climb to the summit. A very surreal experience for us city bred folks. Of course, there is a straight track (difficult) and camel track (not as difficult) to choose from. The camel riders were a bit of a bother, going "Camillo! Camillo?" (customized calls to the Italian majority among the tourists) and walking alongside the narrow track with us, together with the camels whose noses were next to our ears. We were told that the Sinai peninsula has geologically ancient mountains, and, even though arid, have a variety of shades of brown due to the different minerals that their soil is composed of.

Although the climb is not as exhausting (the incline is quite gradual) it is difficult to continue without stopping, considering we had to climb all of 7,500 feet. We were one of the more frequent stoppers, and allowed a fair lot of people to overtake us. The last bit consists of 700 steps that are more like big boulders placed on top of each other, and are really excruciating. We finally managed to reach the summit at 5:45 am, in time for sunrise at 6:15 am. There is a chapel on the summit, marking the place that Moses received the Ten Commandments.

It was difficult to believe that it was so early in the morning. The crowd on the summit left barely standing room for us! Through a great stroke of luck, we managed some vantage positions, and drawing our jackets more closely around us to ward off the shivering in the cold, crisp mountain air, we waited with everybody for the sun to break out in the heavens above.

At 6:15 am, God said: "let there be light". As the golden hues of the rising sun rapidly spread across the dark skies like a blot in a painting, it was a completely ethereal feeling, especially its contrast with the craggy ruggedness of the mountains below, and the soft whistle of the sandy mountainous breeze as it swished past our faces. Such are the moments when one feels totally insignificant in the scheme of cosmic creation. Thus, although there were so many of us, jostling for space, views and photo ops, there was this moment of pure and unblemished wonderment for everybody as the sun came out amid a hushed and awestruck audience. Its one of those "once in a lifetime feelings", which people expressed in their own way, mostly through prayer and religious songs in English, Italian, German, French, Yiddish and more. Must confess we felt like singing " I'm on the top of the world looking down on creation...". Within ten minutes, the sun had come out and was shining so strongly that it was time to make a hurried downward retreat to avoid over exposure!

By 8:00 am, we were back at base camp, waiting for St. Catherine's Monastery to open. Now, our opinion is that this can be missed without too many qualms. Although some of its treasures are worth a look, its just not worth the long wait of over 45 minutes for it to open, and then the subsequent rush of people, all of who are interested in getting it over with so that they can have their sleep! Combine this with the sweltering heat, and unless you are a historian, Egyptologist, or crazy, you would do best to omit this part of the trip.

The monastery was originally constructed as a small chapel in AD 330 by the Roman emperor Justinian, and dedicated to St. Catherine. Highlights of the monastery are the chapel of the burning bush where God spoke to Moses disguised as a flaming shrub, hanging lamps and icons in the church. There is a small ossuary behind the church, which is filled with skulls of monks, almost looks like the Cheung Uk killing fields in Cambodia! Apparently, at one time, so many people were dying that the church authorities could not bury them fast enough, and just stored their skulls together in a room. Also, the area is mainly composed of hard rock and no soil whatsoever, making it a little difficult to dig graves. Macabre!

There are various stories and snippets of history associated with the monastery, which our guide patiently tried to explain to us, but the only thing that "sunk" in our minds were his singsong "I sink so, I sink so..." manner of explaining history! Our by then hungry state of mind was unable to take any of these facts in and we don't remember them now. We picked at the more edible breads in our breakfast boxes once we reached our van, and then we were on our way in the hot dry weather, through arid desert, full of sand in our eyes and clothes, headed back to Sharm. As can be imagined, we didn't have any trouble getting to sleep that afternoon through the night (with a short visit to an Italian restaurant in Naama Bay for dinner)!

© Vixabs Vacations Unlimited

May 01 2003