Valentine's Day at the Beach - Sharm el Sheik

Sharm el Sheik resides on the southern most tip of Sinai where the Red Sea intersects with the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Aqaba. Based on this location you would imagine it a place very Middle Eastern to say the least.

The truth is however if there were ever a place where the East and West mingled freely Sharm el Sheik would have to be it. You see Arab women dressed in head to toe bathing attire swimming in the ocean along side topless Russian women. Everyone seeming to get along harmoniously.

I believe that you see this co-mingling of people not because we have found a blend of open minded people from around the globe simply sharing the sun together. But that it is a class and socioeconomic relationship. Only the wealthy of the world can afford to go on holiday. So lets assume that all of the Russians are at a minimum, middle class and same with the Arabs. People of similar socioeconomic status will always interact more freely with other people of that same status. It is counterintuitive at first, but how often do you see Warren Buffett actually on the ground in an inner city helping some kid with his math homework. It just doesn't happen, but you do see him on television having an interview with Chinese Bankers or Lunch with Arab real estate moguls. Economics and money trump national allegiances and create alliance not of people with their people but rather with other people with money.

Anyways we had a very wonderful time sitting in the sun and soaking in the ocean for three days in the clean air of the Sinai Coast. It was the perfect vacation from our vacation!

Swimming in the Red Sea

Walking to the beach

The giant Israeli built resort

Sunrise on Sinai

We left Cairo on a bleak rainy afternoon via bus to the small desert town of Saint Catherine in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, bordering Israel and Jordan and surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, and the Red Sea to the south, the Suez Canal to the west and Sea of Arabia to the east. We arrived after seven hours on the bus, where we traveled through the town of Suez, under the Suez Canal and through the Feiran Oasis. We arrived in St. Catherine after dark, around 7 PM and were greeted by a friendly Bedouin man, the owner of the Beduin camp we arranged to stay in for the next two nights, the El Milga Bedouin Camp.

When we arrived at the camp we ate a small dinner and packed our bags for our venture out into the holy land in the middle of the night. We slept for a few hours before hoping into a truck and riding a couple kilometers down the road at 2:00 AM. By 2:30 we had found a guide, required by law due to the military presence in the semi-contested region, and were off into the night. The moon was shining brightly as it was the "Wolf Moon" of 2010, the brightest moon of the year. We could not have asked for a more memorable day for the climb up Mount Sinai (2,285 meters) locally known as Gabal Mousa.

We reached the peak in record time, just under 2 hours. We still had two hours before the sun was due to rise over the mountaintops of the holy land. We spent that time staying warm in a small and cozy Bedouin tent drinking tea and trying to understand the stories our guide so enthusiastically told.

Finally it was time for the sun to rise and we walked up a few stone steps to the highest point and watched as the bright red sun rose over the mountaintops to the East with complete awe. This is the very place that God spoke to Moses through the burning bush and provided him with the Ten Commandments, if you believe in the sort of thing. Regardless of your beliefs it was a truly beautiful place worth a visit.

We waited until the sun had fully risen and we began the trek back down the mountain. We opted to take the 3,750 stone "steps of penitence" through the valley down instead of the donkey trail we had taken up. It was nice to see the mountain from the other side, but the steps were often large and definitely gave you a good workout.

We spent another night at the El Milga Bedouin Camp having pleasant conversations about the Israeli Palestinian conflict with a French women, who volunteered in an Israeli kibbutz and British man who was recently denied entrance into Israel.

Overall it was really a beautiful little place that everyone should stay at when visiting Saint Catherine.

The "Wolf Moon" of 2010

Watching the Sunrise.

The Bedouin Tent that kept us warm.