Cairo, Mt. Sinai, and Newaba

Days 71-73, September 25-28, 2008

From Luxor, we took another overnight train back to Cairo. Everyone was beat from the early mornings and long days so it was an early bedtime all around.

When we got back to Cairo, we started our day by touring the largest mosque in Cairo named the Mohammad Ali Mosque. Apparently, this is named after the Egyptian King that built the mosque and not the boxer.

The afternoon was spent exploring a large market and at night, a few of us went to the sound and light show at the pyramids which blew away the one at Karnak. Seeing the pyramids during the day is impressive enough but seeing them lit up at night with stars as the backdrop is absolutely amazing.

Early the next morning, we departed for Mt. Sinai which is located at the modern day Egyptian town of St. Catherine. It really isn’t much of a town but rather a small collection of hotels set-up to cater to pilgrims and tourists. The monastery of St. Catherine is also at the bottom of Mt. Sinai and is said to be the location that Moses spoke to God through the burning bush.

Driving through the Sinai is one hell of an experience: Hell because it's hot and an experience because of the security. They have had several terrorist bombings at resorts here over the last 10 years so security is very tight. It’s even tighter now since the tourists got kidnapped in southwestern Egypt. Every 50 kilometers or so, there are roadblock checkpoints staffed by the army. Sometimes, they check everyone’s passports and other times, you have someone armed from the army or tourist police ride along in the bus for a while. It is a little unnerving at first but it quickly becomes just part of the routine.

Once we got to St. Catherine, we decided as a group that we were going to hike up Mt. Sinai to watch the sun set and then hike back down in the dark. We started to ascend at about 2:30 or so local time and it took me a little over 2 hours to hike to the top. It was difficult, steep climb to begin with and even more difficult with a broken foot.

However, it was all worth it at the top when, much like Moses, I received two tablets directly from God.

The following are the new 10 Commandments (as handed down from on high by God into the hands of the new prophet, me, on September 26, 2008:

1. Thou shall not mix whiskey and beer
2. Thou shall not be a Michigan Wolverine fan
3. Thou shall spend money you don’t have and worry about it later
4. Thou shall not exercise to the point of perspiration
5. Thou shall not watch “The Hills”
6. Thou shall enjoy unemployment to its fullest
7. Thou shall try any new food which is offered twice but may pass on cow brains
8. Thou shall remember that being single equals being happy
9. Thou shall drink to excess whenever thou pleases except in the case of Tequila which should be drank in moderation occasionally.
10. That shall always tailgate like it will be your last

Besides becoming a modern day prophet, the rest of the climb was also well worth it. The view from the top was amazing. You can see forever and it was an amazingly colorful sunset. Also, on the climb down in the dark (which, at times, was more difficult than the way up), I don’t think that I’ve ever seen so many stars.

My last day in Egypt was spent in the resort town of Newaba on the Red Sea. It was a good way to finish the Egyptian part of my trip. We did some snorkeling in the Red Sea, laid on the beach, and had a little beach party at night from which most of the group stumbled back to their rooms. I was impressed with the endurance of the group because the next morning we had a 5:30 wake-up call to depart for our next stop, Jordan.