mt sinai

kylie and i are now in dahab on the red sea coast and planning on heading to jerusalem just before christmas. we just got in from the sinai desert where we stayed at a fantastic bedouin camp and climbed gebel mose aka mount moses aka mount sinai.
the mountain can be pretty busy, especially in the morning b/c many people climb it early to watch the sunrise. we decided to climb it in the afternoon and had the peak to ourselves for over an hour.

it was not an isolated wilderness peak like we are used to in the rockies, as someone had built a chapel at the top, but the views were spectacular nonetheless. the whole moses getting the 10 commandments thing, as well as the burning bush didnt really seem real and was difficult to grasp. i did however get a feel for the israelites complaining as they had to wander around this desolate landscape for 40 years.

we left the peak before sunset, which was too bad b/c when we were almost down the mountain, the sky turned into this:

in the evening we were entertained by our bedouin hosts telling riddles and stories and teaching us various dances.

finally a note about cats in egypt: they are everywhere! they are also a bit different than the typical canadian cat... their ears are longer and their eyes are somehow a bit deeper. it is every cat for himself, and today in dahab a cat snatched a piece of pizza out of kylie's hand. i got a picture of this beautiful cat by holding my camera at knee level beside a newspaper stand. total fluke that it framed so well and that this guy's brother was posed in the background.

oh, one more thing. we just got an email confirming that the package we mailed home with our new bedspread has arrived in lethbride!!! wow. 4 days. 3 cheers for egypt express! now i wish that we had shipped home some lamps as well.