Thursday, April 3

I Saw the Sinai

A map of the main points we hit on the Sinai trip.

Hello, hello, hello everybody. So now that things have sort of settled down a little bit, I can tell you about our last weekend.

We got back from Europe late last Wednesday night, and then Thursday night at 11 PM we met with a bunch of AUC kids to head to the Sinai Peninsula! Peter and I managed to get an in with the event because the girl who was heading everything off, Alison, is in my linguistics class. There were thirteen of us in all, six of whom were from George Washington University, so that was the foundation of the group. Besides Peter and me, every one knew each other and it seemed to be a group that hangs out pretty regularly. It was a little weird just inserting ourselves in, but it worked out really well. Everyone was really nice and fun, and we had a great time, as I'm about to describe to you more fully.

Sunrise from the place we ate breakfast. That's Saudi Arabia in the background.
So at 11 PM, we all met outside the McDonald's near campus and piled into a microbus. I say microbus, but this was defi- nitely the biggest micro- bus I've ever seen, and prob- ably the nicest as well. There were just enough seats for all thirteen of us, plus the driver, and while it wasn't the comfiest ride of my life by any stretch, it was better than a lot of microbuses I've been on since I've been here. Our driver was named Osama, and group opinion toward him varied from being pleased by his friendliness to awed by his ability to make good time to aggravated by his inability to meet up to the standards we had for a paid driver. Alison put a lot of effort into arranging the whole trip and hiring Osama, so she was in charge of directions and communications with him.
I gotta admit, I was a little peeved to find that I couldn't bring my camel to the beach.
As soon as we started to head out, he claimed that, since we now had thirteen people instead of twelve, he wanted to raise the total price from 1900 pounds to 2000 pounds. I thought that seemed rea- sonable e- nough, but apparently when Alison had originally dealt with him, they had set the price based on distance, not on number of people, so she perceived this increase as a breach in the deal. They argued about it for a little while before we finally agreed that an extra one hundred pounds split thirteen ways wouldn't be that bad. I don't really know if Osama was trying to rip us off, but it didn't matter that much to me.

Dahab.
So the bus got on its way. There was some talking and excitement for the trip ahead and getting to know one another, and then slow- ly we all started trying to fall asleep. It was tough, as some of us (like Peter and me) had almost no leg room, but I got a little bit of sleep in. It was crazy to open my eyes every now and then and see nothing but... well, nothing, out the window. Until we crossed the Suez Canal, and for a little while afterwards, it was just flat desert through which we were traveling. And yet the ride was very bumpy. When we'd manage to fall asleep, we'd soon be woken up by a checkpoint. At like three or four points during the trip, we'd all have to get out our passports and hand them over to the authorities so they could make sure that we didn't have malicious intentions for the canal or the peninsula or God knows what. Anyway, as we neared our destination, the desert began to rise into mountains, which looked very ominous against the slowly brightening night. We rolled into Dahab around 5:30 AM, very good
Me trying to examine my sunburns. The camera could never fully capture the extremeness of the pain.
time actually. It's usually a ten or eleven hour drive. Anyway, the sun had just risen and we went to hang out on the roof of a restaurant (hilariously named "The Funny Mum- my") and wait until the chef showed up. It was breathtak- ing. The sun had been up for maybe half an hour or so and it was already unbearably hot and bright. You couldn't even look near it, let alone at it. But it was really beautiful. We could see the mountains of Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea (actually it was some little offshoot of the Red Sea... I don't remember the name), and the mountains of Egypt were pretty amazing behind us as well. The town itself was very cute, but I got this impression that the whole thing was temporary, that within a day they could just take the whole thing apart and put it on trucks and move it to a new place. We all chilled out, some of us slept, then we ate, then we walked down the boardwalk to a new place to eat and sleep and chill out, and swim a little, and that's pretty much what we did the rest of the day. Oh, and get sunburned. I got really really sunburned. Everyone did, some worse than others. I think I was one of the worst, for sure. I've never been burned so badly in my life! My legs were atrocious, but my face and shoulders and chest were pretty bad as well. I've spent all week moisturizing my face and thinking all was well and then hopping into the bathroom only to discover that skin is peeling all over my face. Pretty gross.

Yeah ATVs!
So anyway, we laid on the beach and swam and had food brought to us, and even though it was all wicked cheap, it still was really crazy to be in that sort of atmosphere. I've never been to a resort before, and I have to admit, it was pretty nice. Who wouldn't like that? After we became so absurdly burned that we knew we had to do something else, four of us decided to rent ATVs. That's right, ATVs! It was so nutty. I've never done that before either, and it was really fun. We drove all around the mountains and over bumps and around corners and then we went to a Bedouin village in the middle of this valley. It was pretty incredible to walk around that place in the middle of the desert where those guys just live and sleep and chill all day. We did that until nightfall and then rejoined the others, covered in sand and dust. It was dinnertime, and we all wanted to relax a little (believe it or not), so we went down the beach to this little fish restaurant where
The gang at dinner in Dahab.
some of the girls had worked out a great deal: a five-course dinner for only thirty-five pounds, or seven dollars. The waiter was one of the most ridiculous, friendly guys I've ever en- countered. The food was pretty good too, and it was a great place to chill out until we got back on the bus at 11:30 PM. It was right on the beach, so there was a cool evening ocean breeze soothing our burns. There was an entire section with just cushions and pillows to lay on. Some of us took naps, but I just sat around and talked, and then picked up some aloe and painkiller for my sunburn. It was really starting to hurt. I was not pleased to think that I'd be climbing Mount Sinai in a few hours when the simple movement of my pants moving against my legs hurt. The painkiller helped though, so all was going to be okay.

Sunrise from the summit.
The ride to Mount Sinai took a couple hours, which wasn't enough for those of us who were ex- hausted. I was so reluctant to get out of the bus and climb a seven thou- sand plus foot mountain, but once I did, I woke up pretty quickly. There was some confusion and discussion about whether or not we should get a guide. We finally decided to, and then had to wait around about half an hour for the guy to get ready. We ran into our friend Hannah though, totally out of the blue. When our guide finally showed up, we started walking, but he soon ran back, saying he had to get something. We didn't wait and just went on from there. The trail was amazing. It was 3 AM, and yet there were probably a thousand people making their way along it to the top. Most had a flashlight, and it was pretty powerful to see that thin line of white light snaking up to the summit. While I'm
Sweet sailor guy taking a picture near the top of Sinai.
hardly a Christian, and even aside from that there's still a lot of doubt as to whether this Mount Sinai, or Gebel Musa as the Egyptians call it (it means Moses' Moun- tain), is the Biblical Mount Sinai, but just the fact that a thousand peo- ple would turn out a few nights every week, would screw up their sleep schedules and spend three our four hours hiking a huge mountain, it was pretty powerful. The atmosphere was really interesting as well. There were a ton of people, but no one was being very loud. Conversations were kind of hushed. Every now and then you'd pass a Bedouin with a camel or two, calling out to try to sell a ride to the top. About five or six times on the way to the top, we passed a little shack that sold, get this, soda and chocolate and candy. It was pretty silly, but somehow they didn't really take away from the experience.

Peter and I at the top.
The hike was long, but it wasn't that tough, and I surprisingly felt very awake all the way to the top. Our timing was perfect as well. We made it to the summit just as the sun started to rise. But it was frigid up there. I'd been told it was going to be cold, but I was thinking, "Oh yeah... Egypt cold. Ha!" It was freezing. The whole way up we were working hard so we didn't feel the wind, plus the mountain blocked a lot of it. But as soon as we hit the top and sat down, I got the coldest I've been since our Dutch bike ride. That probably doesn't sound like much since that was only a week prior, but trust me, I was very cold. We hung out up there and watched the sunrise. The summit was covered with people, and for good reason. The view was amazing. But I could only take the cold for so long and then I had to go down. After everyone had made it and we were satisfied with the view, we headed down a level to the nearest
Heroic, I know.
coffee shack. In we went just to sit around and warm up a little, but the climbers emp- tied off the mountain a lot faster than I expected, and before long we were some of the only ones left. Tired as we were, people just started spreading out on the cush- ions in the coffee shack to have some rest. I felt a little awkward about it, but the Bedouin selling coffee didn't seem to mind. Eventually I gave in and started to get people blankets, but I still felt bad, so I turned to the Bedouin and said, "Mish mushkela?" which means a lot of things, but here it meant "Is this a problem?" "La la la la la," he said, "mashi," which means "no, no, it's okay." He then motioned to some better blankets and just sat around drinking coffee and chatting quietly with the other Bedouins while we napped. It was incredible. I love how nice people are here. I could never see that happening in a cafe in America, let alone one at the top of a mountain. That was the other thing: it was really cool to take a nap on a beautiful morning at the top of Mount Sinai! I wonder how many people can say that?

So after a while we headed down, got a little lost and took a different path this time. It was nothing but steps... thousands and thousands of steps. Apparently some wicked pious monk spent some absurd portion of his life making this path, which takes only about half the time but would probably destroy your legs if you went up it. Even going down was tough, constantly having to stop yourself as you fall to
Sleeping in the Bedouin coffee shack... and proud of it!
the next step, especially with the sunburns. It was worth it though, as the steep descent made for beautiful scenery. Prob- ably three quarters of the descent was just in this huge steep cliff-like valley, and we could see St. Catherine's Monastery most of the way. St. Cath- erine's is one of the oldest mon- asteries in the world, and I believe it's the oldest continuously inhabited monastery in the world. It was ordered to be built in the sixth century by Justinian, then emperor of the Byzantine Empire. It's Greek Orthodox, and it's really beautiful. When we got down the mountain, we went in and explored it for a little while. It contains the well where Moses allegedly met his wife, as well as a supposed descendent of the original burning bush. Unlikely as that may seem, apparently it is the only bush of it's type in the Sinai Peninsula, and attempts to root sections of the plant elsewhere have failed. Pretty weird, huh?

After St. Catherine's, it was finally time to go home. As bad as my burns hurt, the ride back was pretty painless, mostly since I was so exhausted that I slept the whole way. We got back to Cairo in the mid-afternoon and headed straight back to the apartment to have a very relaxed night. The last week has basically been recovery from our vacations, both physically in terms of sunburns and academically in terms of work we missed and got backed up on. I have a bunch of reading to do, but it's okay... I enjoy it at least. It's just a question of getting myself into the groove, which admittedly can be tough with such fun-loving flatmates.

St. Catherine's seen while coming down the mountain.
The other big happening of the week is the cementing of our Spring Break plans. I don't know if you guys re- member, but earlier we were planning some sort of a trip through the Middle East. We were going to fly to Istanbul and take trains and buses back, hitting Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel along the way, and meet my mom in Israel. But the escalating situation in Beirut made us decide it'd be better to play it safe and avoid Lebanon. That also freed up a couple days, so we started thinking about whether we just wanted to stretch out our stays in other places or try to hit somewhere new. Originally I was only considering stopping at other spots along the way, but then it occurred to me that we could go somewhere from Istanbul in the other direction, or even fly somewhere else and then continue on our way to Istanbul. One of our big goal's while here has been to meet up with Peter's roommate back home, Kasia. Kasia's currently studying in Thessaloniki, Greece's second largest city. We realized that, for an even cheaper flight than the one to Istanbul, we could fly to Athens, hang out there for a day, take a train to Thessaloniki, which is on the way, and hang out with Kasia for a couple days, and then take a sleeper to Istanbul to continue our vacation as planned, minus Lebanon. The trains between Athens and Istanbul cost about as much as we're saving by flying to Athens instead, so it all works out very nicely, and we get to see more! I've been to Athens once before, but I loved it so I'm very excited to go back, and I never hit the northern part of the country, so that'll be sweet. Then we'll do Istanbul for a couple days, which should be awesome as well. Once again, I've been there once, but it was very brief and I loved it, so I'm pumped.
The burning bush, allegedly.
Peter's never been. After that we'll take a ferry across the Sea of Marmara to get to a train south to Izmir, Turkey's third largest city, and Ephesus, the site of some of the best preserved Ro- man ruins in the world. I've been to Eph- esus once as well, and it was incredibly cool. I've never seen Izmir, though. From Izmir we'll take a sleeper to Ankara, the nation's capital, which I don't believe is supposed to be that incredible, so we'll only stay the day there before heading southeast to Cappadocia. I don't know that much definitively about the region, but I've heard it's phenomenally beautiful, both in terms of landscape and culture. After a night or two there, we'll try for Syria. It can take a while to get a visa at the Syrian border, but the majority of people with ten or twelve hours to spare get in. I think it'll be a bitch, but also a really good story. And we have a sweet backup plan in case we don't make it. There are cheap ferries from the south of Turkey to Cyprus. We can do Cyprus for a few days, and then take a ferry or a plane to Israel to pick up our trip there. Assuming we get in to Syria, though, insha'allah, we'll do Aleppo the first few nights and then head south to Damascus. I'm really excited for Syria. Aleppo and Damascus are two of the oldest, most culturally rich cities in the world, the people are supposed to make Egyptians seem rude, and we'll be back into the amazingly cheap part of the world. Most transportation between the Syrian border and our entrance into Israel will be below
Mount Sinai.
ten dollars, and that's a big area to cover! After Damas- cus, we'll cross the border into Jordan, where we'll head for Amman first. Prunie Brox, an acquaintance of mine from Oberlin, is studying there, and hopefully we're gonna get to meet up with her so she can show us around. Unfortunately, we won't get to see her for long because then we'll have to keep heading south to Petra. Petra is supposed to be amazing. I should probably stop saying that since everything on this trip is supposed to be amazing, but Petra might be even more so. It's an ancient temple built right into a cliff face. I'm very excited. Finally, we'll head to Jerusalem to see my old Obie pal Sari Gardner and her boyfriend Casey, both of whom are studying there right now. We'll stay with them for only a night or two, though, because then my mom flies into Tel Aviv, and we'll stay with her in a hotel. We'll explore Israel and try to see as much as we can until Sunday, May 4, when it'll be time to take the bus back to Cairo. This ridiculous 2200 mile plus trip will happen in the seventeen or so days between April 17 and May 4. It's gonna be breakneck, but also very awesome. Oh, and just recently our flatmate Matt decided to come with us, so now it's gonna be even krazier! That's right, krazier with a k!

Anyway, I'm wicked excited. It's gonna be sweet. And I can't believe how soon it's coming up! We just bought our tickets to Athens last night, and we'll be there in two weeks! WOW! I hope all is well back in Amrika, and drop us a line to let us know what's up.


The route of our Spring Break trip. The red will be our flight; the blue will be overland.

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