Mt Sinai
After resting, eating a nice lunch and resting a bit more we went to St Katherine’s Monastery to start the hike up. We decided to watch the sunset rather than sunrise so leaving at 2:00 PM put us on top of the mountain around 5:00 PM. The walk up was a nice path until the top when it joins the Stairway of Repentance trail (3000 steps up the mountain built by a monk) and another 750 steps run steeply to the top where a chapel can be found. The views during daylight are stunning all the way from our hotel, past the monastery and to the top. We noticed a number of chapels or monasteries on the way up and there were hermit “huts” as well. During the way up I thought about Moses taking this same general path on his way up. Actually, I thought about Charlton Heston doing that since most of the images I have of Moses and the Exodus are from the Ten Commandments movie! I suppose that the Exodus started in Thebes so this is all quite good for us. I believe I am going to the church in Ethiopia where they say they have the real Ark of the Covenant. I like the idea of seeing where the Exodus started, where the tablets were handed to Moses, where he probably broke them (wadi area below monastery which is suppose to have been the site of the golden calf) and where the container that supposedly has the broken tablets resides (later in trip). I like the story of Moses as well as the rest of the Old Testament because Christianity, Judaism and Islam have at least something in agreement 🙂
I can’t say that it was a spectacular sunset, but the location sure did feel amazing. Regardless of the religion or spiritual belief, it is always wonderful to be at a place where people have believed in something for centuries. I wondered about the monk who built the 3750 steps and about who else had made this climb. Last night, there was a large group of church people on top preparing to stay the night. A herd had broken loose and climbed a mountain! We have witnessed some really bad tourist behavior in Egypt brought on by large herd mentality disease, over-crowding and baksheesh. Even one of the most sacred places for the Big 3, Mt Sinai, was not to be sacred enough. First, people littered the whole way up. Blatant littering like cramming a plastic bottle between two rocks. Also, no one is suppose to sleep on top (they are suppose to sleep at Elijah’s Basin 750 steps below the top) yet the big group and others were doing just that with guides supplying blankets and mattresses. A bathroom is halfway down the steps… I wonder if they went that far in the middle of the night or if they instead used the top of the mountain?
While coming up the mountain, a 150 kilo man had to stop his camel ride because the stick in front of the saddle was right in his gut. He said he would sleep down there for the night and told us we were brave to walk it. Most people took camels. Later he came up the mountain on foot. At the top as we watched the sunset, he thanked Peggy and I for the inspiration. In the meantime, the rest of the people on top were singing, talking, laughing and basically having a good time enjoying life. Another guy told us about his experience eating camel that was said to be lamb and its aftermath. We were laughing at his story when a woman suddenly told us we had to be quiet. The boom of everyone having a fun time still continued and I wondered if she belonged to the Cult of Isis, maybe a Moses Cult or maybe she had just a membership in the boo-hoo club.
The walk down in the dark was not as much fun, but the overall experience was truly special. The next morning we were back at the monastery for the only three hours they are open five days a week. The crowds were intense with a lot of bus groups grazing about. We lined up at the entrance to the fortified 6th century monastery which contains the burning bush descendant, an ancient basilica, a mosque, monks’ residential quarters, a museum and a library of ancient texts as well as other buildings required by any monastery of stature. We soon found ourselves in the middle of a lot of people and we opted out. We decided to wait until the crowd went in. A half hour later I found myself at the end of the line trying again. Halfway to the door and another herd moved in and I was once again getting pushed and crowded. Everyone was funneling to a small, medieval door wide enough for one person at a time yet the incoming folks were many people wide. Groups were cutting around with help from their guide making it an even bigger mess. Someone affiliated with the monastery was asking the crowd why they were cutting the “line”, why they were so disorganized when they are more organized at home (I doubt that for many of these people), why they were acting so poorly right outside the sanctuary and asking if they were going to do the same inside. It was a horrible scene and I was wondering if this was worth it.
At the top of the stairs leading down to the small door imbedded in the fortified outer wall, two guys behind me that were in such a hurry nearly pushed me down the stairs. I had to brace against the shoulder of a person in front of me and luckily they were able to keep standing. I really hate seeing humans turned into such animals just because they are in a crowd. There are cultures that only know about pushing and cutting lines in order to get what they have come for. Russians and Eastern Europeans of which there were many at St Katherine’s (orthodox christians) seem to do this a lot and I have to imagine it goes back to rationed goods and if you didn’t cheat your way to the front then you didn’t get. All very sad.
The basilica made it all worth while. It is one of the greatest if not the greatest churches that I have ever been in. The artwork including paintings, furniture, metalworks and other decor as well as building itself (carved stone cornices on top of large columns looked like they were from the 6th century) were incredible sights. I especially liked the very ornate and eclectic candle chandeliers that hung throughout the center nave and the altar which had the mother-of-pearl inlay work that I see throughout Moorish and Arab furniture. In fact, there was a lot of melding of Christian iconic art with the Islamic geometric art. Unfortunately, even in the basilica the visitors were acting up. People were trying to get into areas roped off, others were taking photos, most were talking (I was hoping a monastery would be silent!), some were dressed inappropriately per the rules of the monastery and they were asked to leave. But then there was the woman from Russia that went really far. She came in and a commotion started behind me. I turned around to see a woman wearing the shortest of shorts and a t-shirt tied up right under her breasts. The man in charge of the crowds asked her to leave. She refused. Two big Russian men were telling the man to leave her alone. Their guide also tried to have him ignore her. The guy in charge was livid and told her that she shouldn’t dress that way for a cafeteria let alone a church and had her removed. The Russians continued complaining until he told him they were next. Oh, and lest I forget, there was another Russian woman who tried to pay one of the crowd controlers some baksheesh to allow her to photograph something. His eyes popped out of his head and in an angry tone told her absolutely not. Just another case of tourist-inspired baksheesh and I have to wonder how corrupt is the Russian culture to allow someone to come up with bribing an official in a church! By this point I was sure someone was going to try and light up a cigarette in the church!
I looked at the burning bush and spent the rest of my time in a fantastic museum/library of ancient art and writings. I looked at a book that was from the 4th century. There’s a lot of issues in the world revolving around the rich countries possessing ancient items and the country from which the object originated is mad and demanding their return. The most disgusting case I have heard so far is from St Katherine’s. They had a book called the Sinai Codex from the 4th century or thereabouts. A scholar was lent the book many years ago so that he could get it copied and do good things with it. He did not return it and instead gave it to a Russian Czar or other part of the government. They have since sold it to the British Library. The British Library refuses to acknowledge that they are possessing a stolen piece of property and return it to the monastery. If I was British, I would be sending a letter to the prime minister asking about this one.
I was excited about coming to Mt Sinai, but I did not realize it would be one of the best parts of the Egypt trip. We have met a number of very friendly, sincere and honest Egyptians here and that is of great relief. I have a bit more respect for the people of this amazing country although I am sure that respect will get lost as soon as we get back to Cairo. I’m sure someone is there ready to curse me once again 🙂 Although it is difficult to see people act so horribly at a place where it should be last to have that behavior, I do have to be thankful that I was raised by parents that taught me differently and I grew up in a culture where most of this behavior is not acceptable. Back to Cairo tomorrow… Off to Madagascar later this week…
Tags: Africa, egypt, Travel
vagabondrick
At last something wonderful out of the sea of the human animal! I am glad that you and Peggy perservered and got to see and experience Mt Sinai0