Written on 9/1/10

Been a long couple of days with no internet access or downtime to keep you updated on my travels. However, yesterday afternoon we crossed the Egypt/Israel border at Taba and we are now safely in Eilat, Israel. Before getting into what we're doing not here's a quick update on the last couple of days.

We left Cairo on Monday, 8/30 and took a short 1 hr. flight to Sharm el-Sheikh which is at the southern part of the Sinai Peninsula. Absolutely beautiful blue water after flying over the desert. Apparently some of the best scuba diving in the world is located there but no such luck for us. Upon arrival we met our new tour guide, Ahmed, and our new Uzi armed bodyguard. Ahmed informed us that all American tourists on a group like ours are assigned an armored bodyguard to assure the American government that our citizens will be protected. This is out of an abundance of caution due to the current negative sentiments towards American policy in the Middle East (Note: While we saw numerous tourist groups during our visit in Egypt we never saw another armed guard). Yes, shocking, but the general sentiment we received is that Egyptians like Americans but very much dislike American policy (more on this later). This need for security is further enhanced as tourism makes up 85% of the Egyptian economy (no that's not a typo). Tourism combined with the $400M/month the Egyptian govt. receives from passage through the Suez canal make up a significant majority of their economy. After pondering this for a minute, you realize that there is real no innovation or growth occurring in Egypt. A good majority of the people are employed by the government, own land (purchased from the govt.) and farm their fields along the Nile River. You can't help but be amazed at how much we have accomplished in the US compared to a place that has been inhabited for thousands of years. You also begin to understand the importance of religion in daily life and the focus on good things in the afterlife. We are also here during Ramadan, the holy month where Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, and it is very common to see employees at the museums, checkpoints, and holy sites, sitting and reading the Quaran. You also hear prayers broadcast on loudspeakers at 12 and 6 p.m. which are the most attended of the 5 daily prayers. This is pretty fascinating and eerily cultish at the same time. You cannot help but admire their dedication and belief in one God, Allah, whose last prophet Mohammed created Islam as a religion around 600 AD. But you also can't help but wonder how much religion is used by the government to help control a population that has experienced so much suffering throughout their history and is concerned with keeping them just happy enough to avoid chaos. Islam and religion in general is so much more ingrained in Egypt than in the US it is stunning. While I'm aware of this back home it seems so much more profound and eye-opening witnessing it in person. You can also begin to see why so much focus is put on the afterlife because there isn't much life to live while on earth. The daily focus on survival in a difficult desert climate is aided by a strong faith that all things will be better in paradise. By being a devout Muslim or Christian they are assured of receiving all the great things promised by Allah or God after death which sounds so incredible after such a tough daily existence in the desert. Well I digress from our itinerary so back to that...

After arriving in Sharm el-Sheikh we had a roughly 2 hour drive through the desert to St. Catherine's monastery where Moses saw the burning bush and hiked up Mt. Sinai where he received the 10 commandments. The journey through the desert was truly beautiful with mountains and desert as far as the eyes could see. We stopped once along the way at a small shack that had some snacks and mountain goats just chilling out looking for some free food. Upon arrival at St. Catherine's we went directly to the monastery to hear 4 p.m. vespers/prayers. This monastery is run by Orthodox Christians and is truly an opportunity to take a step back in time. The prayers were said in Latin and at the end they allowed the pilgrims (other Orthodox Christians primarily from Russia) to kiss the skull of St. Catherine (who was beheaded) and pay homage to this Saint. The church was very small and probably only fit about 100 people mostly priests, monks and pilgrims. Our tour guide knew Father Justin who, believe it or not, is from Texas but has been there 40+ years so we got access to what many people don't get to see. After vespers we toured the grounds and outside the chapel saw the burning bush. After this we went back to the hotel for some food, sheesha and lively discussion with our tour guide Ahmed (more on this later) and about an 1 1/2 downtime before re-grouping for our hike up Mt. Sinai at 1 a.m. The hotel here was pretty primitive but considering we were just dropping off our luggage in a room and not really sleeping it was fine. This little town in the middle of the desert set amongst mountains and the beautiful stars was a sight to behold. You couldn't help but feel it looked virtually the same as it did thousands of years ago as the stars and moon lit up the night sky. Needless to say we were all very excited to begin our journey up the mountain.

Ryan