Chasing Moses

After 6 hours by car, 7 hours of layovers, and 3 hours of flying, I arrived at my hotel in Cairo to begin my vacation. The start seemed somewhat dubious after I couldn't get any of my ATM cards to work, leaving me to get through all of Egypt on $100. On the plus side, I saved money and my cards are now working. Katie Travel Tip #1: Always bring some cash!

I'm traveling with 8 other people plus our tour leader, and it is a good mix representing Canada, Australia, England, Scotland, and Singapore. Our first day on the road, we climbed up the 3,750 "Steps of Repentence" up Mt. Sinai, where Moses is said to have received the 10 Commandments. The highlight was supposed to be the sunset at the top, but I thought the climb was the best part because of the great terrain. We came down in the dark but skipping most of the steps, for a total trip of about 5 hours.


The next day we saw nearby St. Katherine's, a Greek Orthodox Monastery marking where Moses saw the burning bush. The big story that morning though were the mosquito bites that nearly everyone had all over their faces, including yours truly. For most of the last week, it's looked like I have the chicken pox. The bumps have largely receded now, but we were overjoyed to have mosquito nets at our next stop, the Red Sea.


At our Red Sea beach camp, each of us had our own bungalow. There are pictures of this and more up on Picasa. I greatly enjoyed sitting in the shady lounge area reading and dining oceanside. The downside of talking with my fellow travelers is that now my to-see list is even longer. We all get along well and it is nice to be with a mature group that is responsible about the departure times and whatnot. After the Red Sea, we took a ferry to Jordan and I'll write a dispatch on Jordan, my 35th country, soon. P.S. Sorry about any typos, Blogger thinks that I am writing in Arabic, so spell check isn't functional.