.jpg)
∙ WHAT WE DID/SAW/EXPERIENCED ∙ It’s a 2.5-hour drive to Mt. Sinai (which the Egyptians call “Moses Mount”). Due to the religious holiday, we were told St. Catherine’s Monastery was only open from 10 to 11 a.m. So we had to get off the ship at 7 a.m. sharp to make it there there in time. Wouldn’t you know it, this was a tender port, meaning we needed to take a small tender boat from the ship to get to the dock. Not only that, but there were two other large ships in port, and immigration officials were busy stamping them out of the country. That put them about an hour behind in boarding our ship to stamp us in. Crystal, the lead officer at the ship’s front desk, whizzed around all over the ship to get our passports stamped right away. In fact, she arranged for us to have the first tender off the ship – wow. Thanks, Crystal!
∙ Just outside the dock gate, we found our guide (Ramses Tours again), along with a driver and a “tourism police” officer. All three men joined us on the long drive through the Sinai Desert to St. Catherine’s and Mt. Sinai. We saw more of Egypt’s amazing mountains as we made our way through numerous police (in black uniforms) and military (in green uniforms) check-points. We were told that, while most Bedouins are good and peaceful people, there are a few who have made trouble (such as the incident not long ago in which they attempted to kidnap some American tourists going to visit St. Catherine’s). Police accompany visitors from certain countries (including Americans), to make sure we feel safe and that we are safe. Convoys are also used for security. We never felt unsafe, and the people (men – since we saw almost no women) remained friendly – at least until Dahab, which I explain below.
∙ By some bizarre twist of fate, our late arrival worked beautifully, because St. Catherine’s Monastery was actually open from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. Egypt’s tourism has slumped so much since last year that we were among only a handful of people there. The Monastery lies between St. Catherine’s Mount and Mt. Sinai. It’s the oldest working Christian monastery in the world and of Orthodox Greek origin, meaning they weren’t celebrating Good Friday, per se. Yet, most Egyptians are Muslim (with a Christian minority), and Fridays are Muslims' holy days. Within the Monastery's walls lies a 6th Century church reputed to lie directly on the site of the Burning Bush, along with the well where Moses was reputed to have met the sheep girl that he eventually married! Photography was prohibited within the citadel itself, except one “quick” shot I was allowed (without flash). It was pretty special to visit this place on Good Friday, of all days.
∙ Mount Sinai itself was quite large and would take several hours (which we did not have) to climb. I did climb up a bit on one side, so I can truthfully say that I “climbed Mt. Sinai”! But we never got to the other side, and the “big climb” would take a half day – done early or late in the day to minimize the heat!
∙ After that, we headed to Dahab, the "Flower Power City" on the Red Sea. There, we ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the beautiful bay and beach (the restaurant was gorgeous, but the food was just “okay”). After this, the girls wanted to do some shopping (my favorite?). There was this cute pink dress, and I was curious how much it cost, so one lady asked. The man put it over his shoulder as if he’d already made the sale. I learned it was a pantsuit, not a dress, so I wasn’t interested. This man became angry and said, “you’re typical Americans. You just shop and ask questions and waste my time.” He gave me a dirty look, and the men in the nearby shops joined in, agreeing with him. I was a bit shocked and turned to leave. Our guide was angry at his rude behavior and wanted to smack the guy, but our guard wasn’t with us. We just left. If you’re visiting Sinai, skip Dahab!! These guys like our money, but they sure don’t like us!
∙ We were two hours late returning to our hotel, but eventually checked in at the “Renaissance Sharm El Sheikh Golden View Beach Resort” - long name, huh? It’s a 5-star Marriott hotel, which looked really cool in the promotional pictures:
∙ It was just as nice in person! I wish there was more time to hang out here!
∙ Tonight, we left the “city” of Sharm to "live as the Bedouins do" on a guided camel ride through a nearby part of the Desert at sunset! This was incredibly fun. First, the camel ride – what a hoot! Then, they took us into a tented area, where we sat on cushions along with several other people and drank their Bedouin tea (Habak) – which I’m convinced was packed with more than tea leaves! Then, we had a “real Bedouin dinner”, i.e., some yummy rice, potatoes and chicken – with some not so yummy other stuff. “The brochure said” it’d be “by candle light”, but the Bedouins have apparently discovered electricity since they had light-bulbs (ha). It didn’t matter, because the full moon over the mountains, combined with the unique atmosphere of this Bedouin village, set its own scene. As we sat and ate, a belly dancer came out and shook her stuff in an amazing set of dances. A male dancer followed, doing repeated turns with various costume changes for what had to be about 15-20 minutes! Wow.
∙ THOUGHTS/IMPRESSIONS
∙ This was another nice day in Egypt! The foursome all got along and were in good spirits all day. The Egyptians were largely kind and welcoming – with those “bad eggs” in Dahab. They did so much to make us feel safe and comfortable! Come to Sharm – skip Dahab!! Just hire a good tour operator, like Ramses Tours, to avoid unnecessary risks.
∙ Let’s hope for another peaceful and fun day in Cairo tomorrow!
MORE SHARM “FLAVOR”
No comments:
Post a Comment