Adventures in Asia: Saint Catherine, Egypt

Last night, after descending Mount Sinai, our driver picked us up at the foot of the mountain and drove us back to the guesthouse. They served us a lovely dinner there, and then we were invited to lounge by the fire and drink tea with the men. The fire is in a permanent structure, but it is made up just like a Bedouin tent would be. 

It was cold overnight, but the room, which is one of the rooms in the photo below, was adequately heated by a portable heater.

I was awake earlier than Diana, so I went out--to our balcony, first of all. 

The houses in this photo are typical of all of those in the town.

Then I decided to go for a walk, and got to experience early morning life, as well as the mountain views. in Saint Catherine. 

I was careful not to photograph the people that were out and about, but there were many of them, heading off to work with lunch pails in hand. I did enjoy the domestic animal noises and activities--chickens, donkeys, and such, including this camel!

Eventually I made my way back to the guesthouse and lounged lazily in this common space while waiting for Diana to get up. 

Diana was awake in time for our 8:00 breakfast, and then we loaded up with the same driver, Mohammad, who had picked us up at the ferry yesterday, and we headed over to visit the Saint Catherine monastery on our way to the Sinai coast. The monastery is through this gate, but you cannot take photographs inside for the most part. 

Although I do not have photos to share, the monastery is really something. Unfortunately, we did not even have a full half hour to visit it, because the police convoy vehicles out of Saint Catherine for security reasons and we needed to make the 10:00 convoy or else we would be stuck until 12:00. So, we visited the incredible chapel and the descendent of Moses's "burning bush" together, and then Diana headed to the gift shop to buy some souvenirs while I was able to rush through the manuscript museum, which was very impressive. Our twenty or so minutes in the monastery really impacted us, and we are both disappointed we did not have much more time to spend there. We pushed our visit to the limit, but managed to make the 10:00 departure time and were soon on our way to Dahab on the Sinai coast.