Mt.Sinai/Dahab, Part 1 of 10

So finally a little bit about our most recent foray into the wide world of Egypt.

Quick itinerary:

Sunday: Bus from Cairo to St. Catherine's Monastery, 7 hours.
Monday: Begin hiking Mt. Sinai early, see sunrise from atop the mountain. Take van to Dahab on the Red Sea coast, 1.5 hours.
Tuesday: A wonderful and lazy day snorkeling and lying around in Dahab.
Wednesday: Took a bus a little after noon back to Cairo, 9 hours.

We've decided to talk about our trip in a series of posts to break things up a little bit. This first one will be about our methods of travel (and observed methods of travel) through the trip. (Don't worry, there won't actually be 10 posts filled with trip description, I was exaggerating a little bit.)

We left Cairo on Sunday morning by bus. A colleague of ours at CEOSS had offered to buy the tickets ahead of time for us, for which we were grateful. So, tickets in hand, we arrived at the bus station by taxi. As we were there about an hour early (certainly Nate's influence, as I'm notoriously bad about arriving early anywhere), we waited. (Left: Waiting at the bus station.)

Buses were arriving every 5 minutes or so, accompanied by shouts that indicated the destination of the bus. Luckily, "St. Catherine" is called that in both English and Arabic, so we didn't have too much trouble finding the right one. And luckily we had tickets, as the bus was very, very full. In addition to all the seats being filled (sometimes with more than one person), there were about 10 people who stood/sat in the aisle, and a little boy who slept on the dashboard. Almost half of the passengers were military men, dressed in their worn fatigues. (On a side note, it seems like most methods of transportation -- buses, taxis, the metro -- are filled with men. Do the women just stay home all the time?)

During our 7 hour trip, the bus stopped a number of times. A couple times it stopped at rest areas owned by the bus company, where vendors were selling chips and little girls were collected 1 LE notes for providing a scrap of toilet paper for the restroom. (I had my own tissue paper and yet, the little charge was levied.) Once we stopped because a number of passengers in nearby cars were waving and pointing frantically at us ... apparently some sort of problem that the mechanic, who rode with us, was able to fix by crawling under the bus with a piece of twine. (Picture: The engine of the bus. I think we drove with it open like that for some of the way.) And four times we stopped so that our passports could be checked. Now mind you, we never left Egypt ... so, perhaps a bit excessive? On the way back to Cairo from Dahab, a 9 hour trip, we were probably stopped 6 times. I'm not really sure what they were checking for. And once, when Nate and I were sitting in separate sections of the bus, the guard didn't check my passport, only his, apparently because I look Egyptian. So secure.

As we hiked Mt. Sinai, many people were taking camels up the mountain. Near the base, there were hundreds of camels sitting around, their owners peddling rides to the top. It was startling to come upon them, as we were hiking in the dark and their backs blended in with the rocky terrain. Anyway, to the left is a picture of one in the daylight.

After finishing St. Catherine's, our plan was to take a bus to Dahab. We were trying to negotiate a taxi from the monastery to the little village where buses departed from (the first man we asked suggested we pay 20 LE for the 5 minute trip -- we refused, but he found other tourists who agreed, so there was no negotiating to be done). While doing this, we happened upon a man already heading to Dahab with a van full of German and English tourists. He agreed to let us ride up in front. 1.5 hours and 55 LE later, we were at the beach.

The last form of transportation came in the form of a pick-up. Apparently, in Dahab, most of the taxis are not cars, but trucks. Here's a picture of Nate, as we're on the way to the bus station from our hotel.

Alright, more to come on the actual trip itself. Stay tuned.