Egypt: a photo journal

October 9, 1997 Gebel Musa: Climbing Mt. Sinai
We're staying in a little complex called Daniela Village at the outskirts of St. Catherine, built on tourism to Mt. Sinai, locally known as Gebel Musa (Mount Moses). There are barren, brown mountains all around here. Beyond my windows, I can see one of the local peaks turning gold in the late afternoon sun.

This morning, most of us got up at 2:00 AM to hike to the top of Gebel Musa and watch the sunrise. I've never hiked in the dark or with a really full pack before, and rather quickly fell behind our group, though I was constantly surrounded by other hikers.

This early in the morning in the middle of the desert, it's very dark and impressively clear. Everyone had flashlights and lanterns, and in the darkness, you could see a gittering intermittant trail of lights up into the hills. On the way up, we were escorted (or, rather, plagued) by camels and their purveyors. You can ride to the top for 35 English pounds. I perferred to be able to say I walked the whole way--and I did!

The sun rose at about 5:30 AM. All the way up the dusty, pebbly trail, I watched these nine tiny Korean nuns march upward in their soft, Japanese slippers, wondering how their feet could stand the abuse. When the sun broke across the distant mountains, these little women lifted their voices and sang as if it had been no work at all to get to the top. Their voices sounded like chimes. The light on the clouds sparkled as if someone sprinkled gold dust across the sky. The rocks turned orange-gold. I've never seen anything like it.

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