trip to sharm el sheikh - november 2004

8/3/2019 Trip to Sharm El Sheikh - November 2004

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Dear Family and Friends,

This recent Eid vacation, the nine days at end of Ramadan, Aletta and I went to Sharm El-Sheikh,the Red Sea diving resort in Egypt. The trip started on Sunday when we were told to be at theairport for 12PM. This was a charter flight, so rather than leaving from the usual terminals we leftfrom the Private Aviation Terminal (though we would have preferred to leave from the RoyalTerminal, the terminal used by the Royal Family).

Having been told that the flight would leave at 3PM we eventually left after 11PM. We wereinformed that they had forgotten to book the charter flight, and as a result they had to arrange a

plane specifically from Egypt. This delay did allow me some free time to do my Arabic homeworkthat I would have had to do in Sharm El-Sheikh, so I was not too upset by the delay.

We eventually arrived in Egypt in the early hours of the morning. Fortunately it was a direct flight(i.e. not via Jeddah or Cairo), otherwise we would have arrived later.

Monday morning was spent going through the program and deciding exactly what we wanted to do,before walking around the Hotel taking photo's.

On Monday afternoon we went camel riding in the desert. That was good fun, despite the seat itself being rather uncomfortable. The camels were not as dirty as I had expected, and we enjoyed thesunset in the desert. After the camel ride we were invited to have mint tea with the bedouins that

live in the desert, before making our way back to the Hotel.

(One of the friendly camels) (Aletta’s camel)

We then caught the free shuttle bus into the town of Sharm El-Sheikh (we were based at theMovenpick Hotel on the outskirts of town), where we had dinner along the main street, followed bysome quality time spent in the local casino. I set myself a US$50 limit, and managed to spend a netamount of US$14, not bad for an evening’s entertainment.



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Tuesday saw us rise early to catch the boat to go snorkeling. It was a long boat ride before weeventually arrived at Ras Mohammed, supposedly one of the best diving and snorkeling areas inthe world. We only spent 20 minutes at that dive site, and despite its reputation we were notimpressed. It was then off to the second snorkeling site of the day. This reef was much moreattractive and we saw many different fish. We spent around one hour at that site, most of which Ispent in the water admiring the reef and the fish. It certainly was a long swim back to the boatwhen we returned, but I was fortunate to have taken my diving fins so that made the swim a littleeasier.

(At the port prior to departure) (Sunset, upon return from the day’s snorkeling)

Wednesday arrived and it was time to go quad bike riding, something that I have only done oncebefore (that being on the sand dunes in Saudi Arabia). Before venturing into the desert we wererequired to be suitably attired, including long pants and a “face cloth” to keep the sand out of our eyes. Being in the middle of the desert and having your head covered by such a fancy decorationcertainly made it very warm.

(Prior to the adventure) (In the middle of the Sinai mountains)We were on the quad bikes for around two hours, with various stops in the desert during that time.This allowed some time for photo's, as well as stopping to have tea with the bedouins.

Wednesday was a very early night, as we had to be up to meet the tour guide at 10:45PM for our trip to St Catherine’s monastery.

We met the tour guide, and the rest of the people on our tour, and left for the long drive to StCatherine’s Monastery. This monastery is built on the site of the “burning bush” from the Bible, i.e.where God spoke to Moses and told him to lead his people to the Promised Land.



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We arrived at the monastery at 3 in the morning, from where we started our hike. It was very cold,being so high in the mountains, so this again called for some innovative head attire. Aletta and Isoon fell way behind the rest of the people on the tour. It was really hard going, but we wanted tomake it to the top of Mt Sinai (the mountain on which Moses is believed to have received the TenCommandments from God) before sunrise at 5:40AM. Many times along the way we were offeredcamels to take us to (almost) the top, but we refused, preferring to battle on. In hindsight takingcamels would have been a much better option given the amount of strain that we took getting to thetop.

There are six rest stops along the route to the top where you can stop and buy tea, etc… The reststops are also where the camel leaders gather so it was quite busy at times. Also with so manycamels on the path (in the middle of the night) you have to be careful not to be run-over, especiallyas the leaders do not carry torches or any other form of light.

Having made it to the final rest stop we encountered the 750 steps that lead to the top. This is thepoint beyond which camels cannot go. This was going to be a further struggle and by this time weonly had about ½ an hour before sunrise. Somehow we made it to the top just as the sun wasrising (a total hiking time of 2½ hours), and we managed to take some really wonderful photo's of the sunrise.

(Sunrise over Mt Sinai – 1) (Charles and Aletta on top of Mt Sinai)

(Trying to get warm) (Sunrise over Mt Sinai – 2)

Having spent ½ an hour at the top taking many photo's and drinking much tea (most welcome givenhow cold it was and the fact that we did not have gloves with us) we started to make our way downthe mountain. We had to meet the guide at St Catherine’s at 8:30AM so that we could visit themonastery that opens at 9AM.



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(From where we’ve come, and to where we’re going) (Aletta heading to the monastery)

Going down seemed a lot easier, probably because it was a littlie warmer, and we managed to getdown in two hours. Having walked around the monastery, as well as taking photo's from as high anangle as we could, we eventually entered the monastery.

(Outside the monastery, on the way down) (St Catherine’s Monastery)

We got to see the “burning bush”, the one through which God spoke to Moses as described in theBible. Also we saw the well where Moses met his wife, again as described in the Bible. We thenentered the worship area and saw many ancient relics, including a bone of St Catherine lying on asmall alter.

(The “burning bush” from the Bible) (Well where Moses met his wife)



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We were not allowed into the main area of the monastery, this place being reserved for the monks(it is still an active monastery with a collection of manuscripts that is second only to those housed inthe Vatican). This meant that the visit to the monastery was quite short (only about 20 minutes) butvery interesting nonetheless.

If we had traveled all the way from Sharm El-Sheikh and just spent 20 minutes at the monastery Iam sure we would have been very disappointed, but having climbed the mountain and seen one of the most amazing sunrises, the trip was made worthwhile. That afternoon was spent recoveringfrom the hike.

Friday was the last day of our tour. The day was spent around the Hotel and at the pool. Wecertainly did not feel like doing anything strenuous, especially after the major hike of the previousday.

(The Hotel swimming pool – 1) (The Hotel swimming pool – 2)

We eventually arrived at the Sharm El-Sheikh airport in the late afternoon. With the mess havingbeen made of our outward flight we were hoping for more success going back to Riyadh. This wasnot to be. Having boarded the plane on time we were informed that there would be a ten-minutedelay. After an hour we had to leave the plane and return to the terminal. We were informed thatthe Saudi Arabian authorities had granted permission for a different type of plane than we were on.Finally after a two-hour delay, and much cursing by many passengers on the flight, we eventuallyleft Egypt.

Finally I arrived home at 12:45AM, just in time to get five hours of sleep before being back at RiyadBank the next morning.

All in all it was an enjoyable trip, despite the flight arrangements and the difficult hike. Sharm El-Sheikh has some of the most amazing sunsets that I have ever seen, including the sunsets from the

time that we spent in the Maldives last year. We look forward to our 9-day vacation in January. Weare considering Morocco, Nepal and the Seychelles, though we have not yet decided on adestination.

Cheers for now,

trip to sharm el sheikh - november 2004

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