Today, we climbed Mt. Sinai. I pumped myself up for it all day, trying to convince myself that it wouldn’t suck. Originally, we had two options, a sunrise hike and a sunset hike. The sunrise hike initially sounded more appealing, to avoid climbing in the heat, but it apparently involved a 2am pick up time. So, under much peer pressure and resistance on Michael’s part, the whole group was convinced to do the sunset hike.
We left Cairo at 6am and arrived in the town of St. Katherine’s at 1pm. Our hotel was very nice from the outside, with an enormous swimming pool and views of the mountains. The inside, however, didn’t live up to the external hype, with a barely functioning toilet, cracked walls, and power that went out at least 4 times while we were there. After a quick rest and lunch, we drove to the monastery at the base of the mountain to begin our climb. Michael informed us that he would absolutely not be climbing with us (“Are you climbing the mountain too, Michae?l” “Sure, not” This is funnier in his Arabic accent and due to the fact that he said the not with as much enthusiasm as he normally says sure), so we met our Bedouin tour guide. He kept assuring us the hike would be slow and easy, but there were definitely parts where I begged to differ. The middle half was by far the hardest, morale wise, but the last 750 steps were the hardest, physical activity wise.
Once on the top though, it was definitely worth it. The views were pretty spectacular, and the amazing night sky full of stars on the way down was unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
I’ve also never been so absolutely exhausted in my life. I literally fell asleep within moments of hitting the pillow. Of course, I still woke up 3 hours later but apparently that’s my life now!
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