Sun and Fun

I spent the past 5 days in Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort "city" in the Sinai on the Red Sea. I say "city" because no one actually lives here besides the people who work at the hotels and restaurants. Bascically, the entire town consists of hotels, one after another, on the beach, with desert and mountains behind. It's packed - you can barely see the sand because it's covered in beach chairs, restaurants, volleyball courts, etc.

Despite that, it's beautiful - the water is crystal clear and there are reefs right off the beach with huge, colorful fish swimming around, the mountains in the back are fantastic, and the weather is perfect every day. I can see why it's such a tourist destination!

My first day in Sharm I went snorkeling, and unfortunately forgot to bring my camera. The water was perfect and the scenery - views of Sharm and the mountains - was beautiful. But of course, the best was underwater. The reefs themselves were probably the best I've seen, but that's not saying much as I've mostly seen dead coral. But the fish were out of this world - thousands of fish, all different shapes and sizes, and some of the most vivid colors I've ever seen. Really unbelievable.

Although I spent most of the rest of my time in Sharm delirious in bed (apparently Egyptian food isn't so good for me), I did make it out to climb Mt. Sinai. The Sinai trip begins at 11pm, for a 3 hour drive to the foot of the mountain. Still sick, this wasn't so pleasant - especially since the driver (typical for Egypt) decided that 100 km/hr (fast for Egypt) through the desert "roads" wasn't fast enough for him.

At the foot of the mountain, we were met by a Bedouin guide and given two options - the 7km hike, or riding a camel almost to the top. Perhaps it was the fever talking, but I decided that on this spiritual journey I had to walk up myself, even though I couldn't really stand up straight. Ah well. It was about a 3 hour walk up, and I was joined by the guide and a man from Spain who's lived all over the world and spent the walk telling interesting stories.

I love sunrise hikes - the walk at night is an adventure and all the sudden when the sun comes up, you see a whole world you didn't realize was there. I watched the sunrise from a landing slightly short of the top (the hardest part is at the end, and I thought it in my best interest to stay below), which was actually a better decision as the top was packed with people and tour groups and my landing was very uncrowded. I was joined only by an Irish middle aged couple, who were hilarious and my kind of travelers - always looking for the next adventure (they booked tickets for Thailand after I told them about riding elephants).

The Sinai desert is spectacular to see, especially at sunrise. The entire penisula is covered by mountains the turn red at sunrise, and there's no vegetation for miles. It's beautiful, and my pictures only tell half the story. If anyone is inspired to go to Sinai for the beautiful beaches, I urge you to take a side trip into the desert.

The hike down was mostly uneventful, but with more amazing views. At the bottom, we ate breakfast and then toured the Monastery of St. Katherine, built around the "burning bush" and at the foot of Mt. Sinai. The monastery was interesting to see as a piece of architecture. It was built in the 4th century and the structure is interesting... check out my pictures! I spent a lot of time speaking with a Kuwaiti couple (also in our group) about pretty much everything - religion, politics (American and otherwise), women's rights, trafficking, the rentier economy. It was a really interesting conversation, and it was a shame that we didn't have much time to talk. As it turns out, her best friend graduated from Georgetown the same year as me and is currently living in Cairo, so I'm hoping we can get together before I leave.