Egypt Part II

From August:
On the second day we flew in the early morning from Cairo to Sharm El Sheik at the tip of the Sinai Peninsula. While most of Egypt is in the African continent, the Sinai is in the Asian continent. Anna flew by herself from Alexandria to Sharm El Sheik and we were reunited at the Sharm airport. What followed was an incredible off-roading experience, as we took 4-wheel drives through rough valleys and canyons at speeds of 80 kilometers per hour. After a half an hour drive, we entered a Bedouin community, and the young people were waiting for us with camels. We went on a camel caravan through a “wadi” (a dry bed that becomes a watercourse during the rainy season). It was like a scene from “Lawrence of Arabia.” I can’t describe to you the incredible feeling of being in this desert landscape flanked on each side by gorgeous stone mountains and the wide blue sky above.

On the third day, we went snorkeling at Ras Mohammed (“Head of Mohammed) National Park. The park was like no park that I have ever visited. There were remnants of lookouts, tanks, and trenches from the Egypt-Israel War of the early 1970s, and areas that were off-limits due to the presence of Israeli-planted land mines. The highlight of the visit was the beautiful inlets, meeting points between the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. We stopped by a peaceful bay called “Baraka” (“Blessing”), off limits because the coral was being allowed to grow, a place called the “Magic Lake,” and then snorkeling in the coral reefs of Ras Mohammed. I got tired from following the long snorkeling route. I felt my life pass before me, but luckily one of the students was a great swimmer and helped me get back to shore. I was so enthralled by the motley goldfish and the thick coral that I had lost track of how far I had swam.

On the fourth day, we took a three-hour drive through the Sinai desert to St. Katherine’s Monastery, on the foot of Gebel Musa (“Moses’ Mountain,” or more commonly known as “Mt. Sinai”). The last remaining Byzantine-era icons of Jesus, St. Peter, and Mary were there – the rest had been destroyed by one of the popes because he feared that they had become objects of worship in themselves. We visited a spot known as Jethro’s Well, Jethro being Moses’ eventual father-in-law. Near it was the “Burning Bush,” where Moses was supposed to have spoken to God. We took pictures of Mt. Sinai, at the top of which there is a marker where tradition has indicated that Moses received the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments. We also stopped by a natural stone structure where Moses was supposed to have found the Israelites worshipping the Golden Calf and in anger had hurled it at the mountain – today this structure resembles that of a calf.

From Anna:
St. Katherine’s also held a great surprise for us. We were the only group to be allowed to go to the monastery’s monks quarters and into the library. The library houses the largest collections of religious works (in latin and greek I believe) outside of the Vatican. The head librarian who is one of the 25 monks at the monastery is from Texas. He was so great! We hope to keep in touch with him. The semester at sea participants just loved this part of the trip. We then went to a wonderful place (another resort time town) for lunch..it was just as beautiful as Sharm and we hope to visit there again on a next Egypt visit. That hotel had the best food and awesome never ending pools surrounding wrapped around it. It was also famous for windsurfing as well and the hotel itself was about 5 minutes walk to the sea. After that, we had free time (again) yay! And we once again went around Sharm.

On a final note – evenings at Sharm were so much fun! We walked all over the place..it was kinda weird…something like being in Nice or even Laguna Beach but people just had a little bit more clothes on…One of the restaurants I loved was called Ali Baba’s Oriental Seafood (my favorite!). It was affordable, yummy, and offered the best views. Students were cracking me up because they kept ordering McDonalds to the hotel just to say that they had it delivered to them from pedi-cabs….I took a picture with a delivery person but did not buy anything…I figured eating at Ali Baba’s was enough for you all to judge me. Sharm itself was a playground for the rich and the tourists. Except for the workers, there were hardly any “everyday” Egyptians there. It was relaxing and magical for us. More importantly, we really enjoyed spending time with our bus – bus 11 rocks! Our habibis and pharaohs bonded. We also really enjoyed our wonderful “mom” – guide. The students and I keep seeing each other on the ship and greet each other either hey bus 11 or habibi habibi. It really was the best sas trip ever J.