Ride to Sinai

My daughter requested we see more of Egypt so handsome husband arranged a van to take us to Saint Catherine's Monastery. That was built around the sacred burning bush 1700 years ago...or so they say.

Now here is where the tour guy that took our money and arranged the van failed us. He didn't tell us we were going up 5,128 feet above sea level. So if it is a cool day at the seaside..then going up that far will result in a significant temperature drop. Not mentioned, so we un-informed tourists hopped into the van at 7:30am ready to go to the desert in sandals, t-shirts, and the ladies in short pants; without sweaters, jackets, scarves or hats. (I had a scarf and a cotton serape) At 11 am after a picturesque drive through the desert and mountains we unloaded to find it freezing!!! Yes, very cold. We are now the reluctant owners of 5 very soft Egyptian style shawls. That thankfully partially shielded our bodies from the bitter wind and chill of the air.

We shivered our way up the trail to see the monastery, camels and yes! the not-so-burning bush.
As seen below

The little chapel in the monastery was blessedly warm, though decorated in Eastern Orthodox style. It would have been magnificent if the candles had been lighted. But on this sabbath morning they weren't for some reason. I spotted a holy relic in a wooden box. It didn't say what bone it was or from whom. There was a special room upstairs that contained more holy relics since I was the only one interested in going to see them I was out voted. Therefore I can not report on the amount or significance of their selection.

R and S rode back down the trail to our van on camels. I took photos and videos of their ride and rescued S's fallen shoe.

Because of the cold I did not get to take a close-up shot of the place of the “Golden Oxen.” But shot a stone-something very near the spot as the van sped by. (I aimed too slowly and missed the big sign saying the fenced in area was where the golden Oxen was built or crafted. Sorry I'm sure that is a huge disappointment to you all.)

I am pleasantly surprised at the quality of the many photos I shot from the speeding van through the glass window.

We have now seen a wadi, the river bed that is sometimes dry and sometimes very wet. The road we traveled followed the most likely route of the Israelite s exodus or sojourn. As they would have camped or traveled on the wadi.

The mountains nearest Saint Catherine's shine more than the mountains I shot on the ride there and back because of the amount of crystal in the stone. I was also interested to find that the area around the monastery is rich with geods & crystals. Both of which we declined to buy from the shouting in-your-face sellers at the gates.

It was a fascinating yet tiring trip for our last day in Egypt.