Egypt, St. Catherine's Monastery

ST. CATHERINE'S MONASTERY xxxxThe hotel clerk woke me at 3:00 A.M. and within the half hour, I was out into the night and on my way to Israel.xxI came across complications when I went to the subway station and it was closed.x I looked for a bus but ended up with a taxi.xx I very specifically said Tahrir Square, cross the Nile to the Sheridan Hotel.x He said he understood and took off with eight passengers -- in the wrong direction, but I didn't expect to be the first one.xx Well, we pulled up in front of the Sheridan Hierapolis instead of the Cairo Sheridan.xxThe driver wouldn't take me to the right one.x I was so frustrated over the inability to communicate.xxHe didn't have the nerve to ask for his taxi fare.

One man from the Sheridan said the bus left the Cairo to come there at 5:30.xxI calmed down, waiting till 7:30, and then gave up.xxSeveral taxis wanted to give me a lift, but I was in no mood to be ripped off again.xx I took the first bus to come by. xxI had no idea where I was going but it didn't stop me. I'd read in my guidebook that buses left for St. Catherine's monastery at 10:30.x I rearranged my plans, postponed Israel a week, found the bus station, and headed off to the unknown.

When the bus stopped at St. Catherine's, two Egyptians guys also stepped off.x That's when I met Ahmed and Mohab.x They were going to spend the night on top of Mt. Sinai -- I didn't know that was an option.x Later that night, when another group climbed the mountain, I stuffed two blankets in my pack and put on three shirts, very excited about spending the night on top of Mt. Sinai.

I was so struck by the holiness of the place, but the walk was hell!x This was long, steep, hard and cold. I seriously considered stopping to sleep on the way up.x I would never have made it alone.x Eventually the top arrived.x There was no joy -- only exhaustion and relief.x I went to sleep.x Well, I actually did sleep some, but most of the night I was too freezing to sleep.

I had my head covered with the blankets and occasionally peeked out to see if it were still black.x When it finally started to get light, I was too tired to care.xx I had to convince myself to get up for the sunrise.x It was a hard hike, and a long night, but I was so glad that I really spent the night there. xx

Ahmed and Mohab were amazing.x They brought tons of food with them.x For breakfast we had pizza.x The trip up the mountains was a long winding path, but we took the steep steps down that were built by a monk long ago.x We toured the monastery and saw what they claimed was the actual burning bush.

Copyright 2000 by Phillip Martin All rights reserved.	World	Egypt	E-mail

Mount Sinai a frozen sunrise on the mountain top the monastery		ST. CATHERINE'S MONASTERY xxxxThe hotel clerk woke me at 3:00 A.M. and within the half hour, I was out into the night and on my way to Israel.xxI came across complications when I went to the subway station and it was closed.x I looked for a bus but ended up with a taxi.xx I very specifically said Tahrir Square, cross the Nile to the Sheridan Hotel.x He said he understood and took off with eight passengers -- in the wrong direction, but I didn't expect to be the first one.xx Well, we pulled up in front of the Sheridan Hierapolis instead of the Cairo Sheridan.xxThe driver wouldn't take me to the right one.x I was so frustrated over the inability to communicate.xxHe didn't have the nerve to ask for his taxi fare. One man from the Sheridan said the bus left the Cairo to come there at 5:30.xxI calmed down, waiting till 7:30, and then gave up.xxSeveral taxis wanted to give me a lift, but I was in no mood to be ripped off again.xx I took the first bus to come by. xxI had no idea where I was going but it didn't stop me. I'd read in my guidebook that buses left for St. Catherine's monastery at 10:30.x I rearranged my plans, postponed Israel a week, found the bus station, and headed off to the unknown. When the bus stopped at St. Catherine's, two Egyptians guys also stepped off.x That's when I met Ahmed and Mohab.x They were going to spend the night on top of Mt. Sinai -- I didn't know that was an option.x Later that night, when another group climbed the mountain, I stuffed two blankets in my pack and put on three shirts, very excited about spending the night on top of Mt. Sinai. I was so struck by the holiness of the place, but the walk was hell!x This was long, steep, hard and cold. I seriously considered stopping to sleep on the way up.x I would never have made it alone.x Eventually the top arrived.x There was no joy -- only exhaustion and relief.x I went to sleep.x Well, I actually did sleep some, but most of the night I was too freezing to sleep. I had my head covered with the blankets and occasionally peeked out to see if it were still black.x When it finally started to get light, I was too tired to care.xx I had to convince myself to get up for the sunrise.x It was a hard hike, and a long night, but I was so glad that I really spent the night there. xx Ahmed and Mohab were amazing.x They brought tons of food with them.x For breakfast we had pizza.x The trip up the mountains was a long winding path, but we took the steep steps down that were built by a monk long ago.x We toured the monastery and saw what they claimed was the actual burning bush.