Pretty exhausted after the long drive back from Luxor I managed about 3 hours sleep before awakening at 5.00am this morning for a 6.10am departure to St Catherine’s Monastery high in the mountains in the northern part of the Egyptian section of the Sinai Peninsular. Described as ‘The Monastery of St Catherine at the God Trodden Mountain’ since it sits below Mount Sinai upon which Moses spoke to God and was handed down the Ten Commandments.
The photo of the monastery, was taken by me, from a little way up the mountain opposite Mount Sinai.
Another three hour trip but on much better roads than yesterday. The ship had moved on overnight from Safaga to the beach and holiday resort of Sharm el Sheikh on the Red Sea at the extreme tip of the Sinai Peninsular. The roads here were constructed by the Israeli’s whilst they occupied this area after the war with Egypt in 1967 until the peace agreement in 1973. I hope those dates are correct. I will need to check them when I get home.
The Egyptians are still very twitchy about the Sinai Peninsular because the Suez Canal passes through its northeastern tip. The familiar ‘Checkpoints’ were again at regular points along this dual carriageway road but all with armed soldiers on guard – automatic weapons at the ready and other hardware were much more in evidence than on the previous day.
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