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Heide and Mark Adventuring until the money runs out.... |
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Take A Tablet: The 11th Commandment States: "Thou Shall Feel Pain" For a while now I’ve been quite awestruck by the illumination of the Red Sea by the moon. Honestly it’s incredible. It’s as if some mighty graffiti artist has spray painted an enormous swath of dancing, glistening silver across the dark blue that is the sea at night. It’s absolutely beautiful, especially when it is "accessorized" by a few billion stars. Glorious. I doubted that I’d see anything in Egypt as beautiful. I was almost correct, but as you know "almost correct" actually means "incorrect".
We decided to climb Mt. Sinai at night in order to catch a view of the rising sun from the summit of the 2285 meter (7495 foot) peak. It was on this climb that I realized I’d been wrong. The light reflected by the moon was unparalleled. To make this climb we’d packed a flashlight (ooh we’re so smart aren’t we?) but on this night we needed a light about as much as Joan of Arc did. It was as if the entire mountain radiated an almost eerie silver light, all around us was a specter like glow, it was either spooky or about as close to Chernobyl as I fancy getting. The "climb" (and frankly that term makes the claims of vast reservoirs of WMD’s in Iraq positively seem fairly valid) takes a couple of hours, the last half hour or so of which is up some "steps" which are hewn from the rock. This bit I’ll grant you does give a little burn on the Quadriceps but the rest is a winding camel trail (so called, I’ll bet, because at every turn there is a bloke offering a camel ride up the trail, yep, sometimes I’m so sharp I cut myself!) and a reasonably easy walk. However this doesn’t mean I particularly buy the tale of Moses nipping up top in his sandals and careening back down with a pair of huge slabs under his arms. Now far be it from me to suggest the Good Book (and here I mean the Bible, not Lonely Planet) wasn’t exactly spot on with it’s recording of events but… does anyone really wear open toed shoes where there is snow on the ground???? Exactly! It’s chilly up there. Not that this was an issue for either Heide or me as we had packed our sleeping bags so that we could keep snug at the pinnacle. Again, pretty smart packing eh?
When we reached the summit, frost bitten, exhausted but elated (sorry my imaginary Mount Everest journal popped in there) we found a small area where we could lay down and take in the vast celestial light show that was all around us. Among the trillions of stars blazing in the sky there were also numerous "shooting stars" to enhance the brilliance, and it was all just for our benefit too! Heide decided to take a nap for a couple of hours until the sun would start peeking through. Meanwhile, I decided that I just wanted to wallow in the tranquility that was a lonely mountain top in Egypt. I thought the solitude and silence were spiritually uplifting and should be absorbed for general wellbeing. I also thought that anyone else who’d bothered to make the trip would think so too. After all, serenity is not a state we find easily in busy lives. Again, I was "almost correct". After a couple of hours it seemed that every tour group in Egypt had arrived and there was more noise in the rarified air than at many a major sporting event. I almost wept when I heard the soulful dirge of hymns from a little further down the hill. Frankly when I heard "Koom-by-ya" drifting through the air I thought there was a girl guide jamboree about to start, though I’m being a little harsh. The choir was not from a girl guide troop and they weren’t actually that bad. I guess that a sense of spiritual uplifting comes in different strokes for different folks.
The dawn, when it came, was magical and amusing. Magical, because the rebirth of the day was ushered in with a blaze of colour. We’re talking of shades of red, orange, blue and purple, each so wonderful they probably deserve a special colour classification of their own. Amusing, because as each tone became more pronounced there was a gooey, cooing "ahh!" or, " oooh!", that went up from the crowd. It was like the response you always find at a firework display. Most amusing.
At the foot of Mount Sinai lies St Katherine’s monastery. This 4th century site, now the home to 22 Greek Orthodox monks, lies beside the spot where it is believed that God spoke to Moses from a burning bush. I actually feel really sorry for the guys who have taken up a monastic life here as their doors are pounded by thousands of tourists each day. Many, despite a plethora of signs in multiple languages asking for some simple respect to be shown in a place of active worship and politely requesting no flash photography, treat the place like a playground. Perhaps the monks should indulge in a bit of flagellation, and not of themselves, in order to restore a little order. Of course, if they did, you can almost see the waiting hawkers out side peddling "I got my ass whipped at Sinai" T - Shirts. The monks make a living, and test to the limit, their patience and forgiveness by dealing with these tourists. I’ll bet if they hired Don King as a marketing consultant they could really have their cash registers churning over. Let’s face it, who wouldn’t want a postcard yelling something like "I have Sinai the light" or "I strode the Camel Road"? Ok, that’s more than enough, and nowhere near as inventive as the King.
I found it a much harder trip on the decent than the ascent, but this is entirely my fault. Against better judgement (i.e. Heide’s) I suggested that we take the stairs down to the bottom and the monastery, a mere 3750 steps to be exact. The staircase is known as "Steps of Repentance" but frankly I think that something along the lines of "Patella Pounder" or "Knee Knackerer" would be more appropriate. If the monks had indeed been practicing with the implement of keeping order I suggest they should, I’d have probably asked for a quick flaying myself to take my mind of the throbbing from my knees. As with the climb up, the trip back down took a couple of hours, but at least this way the sun (which was becoming hot by 9 A.M.) was at our backs and we were able to enjoy glorious views of the fortified monastery. After a cup of pretty dire, but certainly welcome, coffee at the bottom we were herded into our minibus and shown what is allegedly the craven image of the cow that Moses’ gang had fashioned. Again my doubts surfaced; this couldn’t have been the false idol as it looked much more like a rabbit than a cow. Subsequently it was back to Dahab and a few hours of sleep to recuperate while dreaming of soaking away the aches and pains in a deluxe hot tub. Next Entry: February 13, 2004 Previous Entry: February 4, 2004 This Page was last update: Friday, March 12, 2004 at 11:25:12 PM This site is using the Adult Contemporary (purple) theme.
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