after climbing mount nemrut in turkey last year to see the sunrise i swore to myself that i would never again climb another bloody mountain with hundreds of people in the freezing cold and blasting icy winds just to see a sunrise that may likely be covered in cloud.
but a couple of days ago i found myself giving a quick yes when mandy asked if i was interested in joining a small group to the top of mount sinai to do yoga.
then i started to dread what i had done. mount sinai is described as one of the most popular hiking destinations on the planet! i had heard others talk about their overnight experience - a two hour drive out to st. katherine's monastery in the dark, a climb in the cold, dark night, jostling with all the others up to the top, and a smelly camel blanket to sleep to await the sunrise on the very cold, windy, rocky summit. i have heard people say that there can be up to 1,000 people waiting for the sunrise... how they all fit up there i can't imagine, but anyway those numbers would be less now given that there still aren't many tourists around.
six of us gathered at the german bakery here in dahab where they have yummy chocolate croissants and other treats. then mady, our guide, who happens to be canadian, arrived with the vehicle and we were off. it was about 4pm so we enjoyed the late afternoon light of the desert on the drive to st. katherine's village. we had a delicious dinner at the bedouin camp/hotel and were all in bed in our warm rooms by 9... so we could be up and walking by 4am. i bundled myself up as best i could with the clothes that i had in anticipation of the cold and wind, but soon i started to loosen things up and removed my head scarf. at a tea stand two thirds of the way up we stopped to enjoy the sunrise... really, does it matter if you are on the summit? it was a beautiful sunrise. we continued a little further up to have our breakfast at the next tea stand. and from there we watched all those who had spent the night on the summit coming down - one guy said to me as he passed "you missed it, the sun is already up". then the final 750 stairs .. et voila, we were on the summit, alone.
very special.
a short way down from the summit is elija's basin, where elija spent 40 days and nights communing with god in a cave. this is where we did yoga together, in a garden - not the cave. to go back down to the monastery i choose the path that allowed me to be completely alone, with nadar, our bedouin guide. we shared a few occasional words, but we were silent for most of the 1.5hr walk down.
very special.
but a couple of days ago i found myself giving a quick yes when mandy asked if i was interested in joining a small group to the top of mount sinai to do yoga.
then i started to dread what i had done. mount sinai is described as one of the most popular hiking destinations on the planet! i had heard others talk about their overnight experience - a two hour drive out to st. katherine's monastery in the dark, a climb in the cold, dark night, jostling with all the others up to the top, and a smelly camel blanket to sleep to await the sunrise on the very cold, windy, rocky summit. i have heard people say that there can be up to 1,000 people waiting for the sunrise... how they all fit up there i can't imagine, but anyway those numbers would be less now given that there still aren't many tourists around.
six of us gathered at the german bakery here in dahab where they have yummy chocolate croissants and other treats. then mady, our guide, who happens to be canadian, arrived with the vehicle and we were off. it was about 4pm so we enjoyed the late afternoon light of the desert on the drive to st. katherine's village. we had a delicious dinner at the bedouin camp/hotel and were all in bed in our warm rooms by 9... so we could be up and walking by 4am. i bundled myself up as best i could with the clothes that i had in anticipation of the cold and wind, but soon i started to loosen things up and removed my head scarf. at a tea stand two thirds of the way up we stopped to enjoy the sunrise... really, does it matter if you are on the summit? it was a beautiful sunrise. we continued a little further up to have our breakfast at the next tea stand. and from there we watched all those who had spent the night on the summit coming down - one guy said to me as he passed "you missed it, the sun is already up". then the final 750 stairs .. et voila, we were on the summit, alone.
very special.
a short way down from the summit is elija's basin, where elija spent 40 days and nights communing with god in a cave. this is where we did yoga together, in a garden - not the cave. to go back down to the monastery i choose the path that allowed me to be completely alone, with nadar, our bedouin guide. we shared a few occasional words, but we were silent for most of the 1.5hr walk down.
very special.
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