OK-So, after visiting St. Katherine's Monastery the other thing to do in St. Katherine's Village is hike to the top of Mt. Sinai. If you're really cool, you hike up for the sunset, sleep out, and wake up for the sunrise. We're not that cool, but we've got all the time in the world and, that's what we came to Sinai to do. (Actually, it's what I wanted to do since we were passing through and Froody eventually bought into the idea after talking to a few folks who had done it.)
We agreed to let a taxi take us to Nuweiba, so the driver happily drove us around the morning of our hike up the mount, buying some water, chocolate, and koshari to help us make it to the top. Additionally, he saved us about 85LE. He told us that the police check-point will ask us what we were doing and we were to say that we were going to spend the night at the monastery's hotel, because if we said we were going up the mount the police would insist on us taking a guide for 85LE otherwise they wouldn't let you go. At first I thought this was just a bunch of baloney. The guidebook said nothing about this but we went along with it. Later, we learned that everyone else on the summit had to buy a guide, so I guess this is true. I'm not sure why because it's a very easy to follow trail.
Anyway, we started up the camel-path which was a bit long but a nice, steady climb up. We were the only ones up there for a long while, not counting the black cat who conveniently crossed our path! Halfway up we stopped for koshari and were passed by another couple. We passed by many closed little stands and rest huts which was great because it meant no one could harass us into buying anything. About 30 min from the top we found a couple of "cafeterias", really some sturdy 3-sided wooden structures covered in tent material and wool- and camel-hair rugs which sold hot and cold drinks and snacks, and asked about renting some blankets and sleeping mats for the night. (20LE per blanket and 10LE for the mat). We also asked if we could sleep inside his cafeteria, since it was very cold at night and there were long benches hugging the walls. Surprisingly, he said no and that we should really sleep out on the summit. We were flummoxed. No one had ever passed the chance to take our money, and here was a guy who was sending us away! He did explain that at 3am we'd be woken up by 400 Russian tourists, all up in his little shop. !!! Well, we kept on walking (wanting to make it to the top) and , about 5 min from the summit we stopped at another cafeteria and asked the price to rent blankets and mats, were told the same as before, and, again, we asked if we could sleep in his store. Again, we were told that at 3am, 400 Russian tourists would arrive and wake us up, so we should sleep out on the summit.
A few minutes later we were on the summit of Mt. Sinai, the very place where Moses received the 10 Commandments from God. The landscape was beautiful and us and a few other hearty souls enjoyed the quiet sunset together. There were two men selling tea and coffee and with a cuppa in hand, I asked one of them if, really, 400 Russian tourists would be arriving at 3 in the morning? He was thoughtful for a moment and said that during the high season, 400 Russian tourists really do arrive at 3 am for the sunrise on Mount Musa (as it's known in Arabic; Musa = Moses) but since it's so quiet only 200 will show up. That's still a lot of tourists!
Froody and I walked back down to one of the little cafeterias after sunset and decided to sleep out on a flat surface behind the shop (with many benches leading up to it) and joined another couple sleeping out for dinner. Let it be known that if you're planning on sleeping up on Mt. Sinai you really don't need much. The store provided us with a warm, filling dinner. Everywhere up there you can buy water, coffee (turkish or nescafe), sodas, chips, and cookies. We got 3 mats and 7 blankets (for about 110LE), changed into long underwear, and fell asleep underneath a sky full of stars.....
....Until about 3am when I was woken up by 200 Russian tourists! At least! In fact, there were tourists from all over the world who had been driven in from the coast on huge buses at midnight and had climbed up in the dark and were now drinking tea and coffee, eating cookies, talking, and waiting for the sunrise. I managed to doze off and on until 5am when Froody and I decided we couldn't sleep and wanted to find someplace to see the sunrise without 200+ people in the way.
That done, we enjoyed a lovely sunrise with 200 other souls, all of us in awe of the lovely golden ball peeking out above the mountains of Saudi Arabia.
Then, we all got to hike down together. This time, we took the Steps of Repentance. It's much more dramatic than the camelpath.
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