Sinai, Petra, and the fun that comes with it!

Well, it has certainly been a long time since I've updated, or at least it feels like a long time, mostly because we have been so incredibly busy with adventures. When I last wrote you, I think that I was terribly upset about the insanely high numbers of creepers in Egypt. It's true, that I would tell most people not to go there if they could but there are also some adventures that I could have never had anywhere else. SO, IF you want to risk the men with no morals, then I can give you a suggested route to follow that will keep you relativley safe from harm, and will get you to the big ticket items.

One such big ticket item, is a coastal town called Dahab. It's right on the Red Sea, and it's basically a diver's village. People come from all over the world to go diving there, and it's really cool. WE ended up arriving there early in the morning, because we had a 6am flight. So, we woke up still in Cairo around 3:30, and then took our leave from Cairo...hopefully never to return. When we got to Dahab, basically we were driven directly to our hostel and were given a room (it was only a day room), where we slept for a few hours out of pure exhaustion. That evening we were planning to go to Mt. Sinai and St. Catherines, and we knew our tour would start late. So, we figured we had the whole day to chill. However, at around noon, someone started banging on the door and yelling at us to get ready. It wasn't even "excuse me, are you interested in some sight seeeing??" NO, it was "Get up. ARe you ready?" Of course, we had no idea what we were supposed to be getting ready for, because all we had done in Dahab was sleep! So, we all chatted for a moment, trying to figure out what they wanted...maybe our tour started way earlier than we thought? Or maybe they wanted to feed us? we had NO idea.

So, we struggled to put a few things together that might be needed on a mystery day, and crawled out into the reception area. There were several men, hostel employees, who were waiting for us, and one, after eyeing us up, said, "are you ready to go?" Well, I was frustrated that no one had told me what I was supposed to be doing and said, a little sharply I'm afraid, "What are we supposed to be doing?" And the other man, said, as if he had no idea we didn't hear the big news "to go snorkelling!" "No!" I replied. " NO one told us anything about this or anything else yet!" SO, the one who spoke looked at some other guy in a cowboy hat, and cowboy realized, clearly, that he hadn't spoken to us yet, and decided to save face by making up lame excuses for getting us out of bed. "OH, we let you sleep because we knew you were tired, that is why we let you sleep the morning, but it's your only day in Dahab, so we wake you up to do some things here." Ha. I can only imagine if I did the same thing at Matrix. I'd be fired so fast....

Anyway, we opted to save our money and not snorkel, as it wasn't included, and instead, found a lovely Sea Side restaurant, they kind where you sit on coushions, with low tables, and we just watched the water, drank some cold drinks, and smoked some shisha. We ended up spending about three, almost four hours there, and then did just a little walking around before we went back to the room to have a little nap before our tour left...which was at 11pm (far later than noon!)

So, after unsuccessful napping in a room with a gecko and huge flying beetles, we grabbed our gear, said good-bye to Dahab (which I'd like to see again (the only part of Egypt I'd see again), when I get my advanced divers...which I will someday), and jumped onto a van headed for St. Catherines monestary. The two hour drive was long, because it was so late, and when we reached the area, we were unsure that we'd make it, we wre all feeling groggy, and I was downright ill. Count on me to be sick and uncomfortable on the days when we climb moutains...it seems to be a trend!

We found a guide to take us up the moutain. Often these guides don't speak much english, and are only there to show you the route, as it's dark. I suppose that we could have taken camels, but how can you really say that YOU climbed the moutain, when it was clearly the Camel who did the climbing? SO, we said no to the furry friends (not to mention having little to no Egyptian pounds left!) and walked up a few steps. The guide turned back and said "you have flashlights?" I'm assuming that if there were any at the bottom to be purchased, that would have been the time for him to mention them, however, he didn't and we didn't have any and told him so accordingly. He laughed at us for not being prepared, and then shrugged his shoulders and said, |ok, let's go"...I sure wish that someone had suggested flashlights!

The climb at the beginning is jsut fine. Nothing major, the incline isn't steep, and the path trails along at a good pace...but there are rocks to kick when there isn't light, and depth perception is out of whack too, so you think a rock is yay big, and it turns out to be tiwce that size! So, you step on it funny. The climb started out really easy too, but with the exhaustion from such an early morning, and the not sleeping, and the instense climb, it actually got really tiring, and we had to take frequent breaks. Interestingly enough, Bethany had a friend that we were supposed to run into in Egypt sometime, and we never figured it out, or, he never replied when he had too, and loe and behold, who should greet us at one of the rest points, but Justin! Bethany's friend. So, we had a few getting to know you conversations, and this guy and Beth caught up a bit, and it was nice to have someone to chat with at the top.

After about 3/4 of the walk, the rest turns into a stairway. After a few of the stairs, I was so tired, and still feeling really really sick, and in a lot of pain in my stomach, I had a moment of shame...and began to cry. I was starting to get really dizzy and didn't know if I'd make it to the top, and I was fairly embarassed by the whole thing. After a moment to sit, and a little prayer for strength, we kept on going and eventually reached the top of the set of stairs, and therefore the summit of Mt. Sinai! At the top there are people selling blankets and thin matresses to try and make your visit comfortable. We wre basically out of egypt money, and so opted out of those, much like the camels before them, and for the next two hours resented the fact that we couldn't afford blakets. It was chilly up there, at 4 in the morning, at the top of a moutain, when your skin is so used to plus 40! But, other than the cold, I coudln't think of a cooler place to be in the middle of the night. And, better yet, after a few hours, sitting on a perch on the wall facing East, we watched the sun gradually peak it's way up over the surrounding moutains and into the sky, The image rivaled most of the sunsets that I've seen (which is unusual for a sunrise). It was colourful, bright, beautiful, and most welcome. It began to get warmer as soon as some of the hues of colour rose up, and for that we were also grateful. It was one of those moments that you wish could last forever, and though you know it can't, you are grateful for the time you did have.

Lovely.

So, the way back down was much easier, and after the long rest, I was no longer feeling as ill - thank heaven. On the way down I was amazed to see the terrain and couldn't help but wonder how on earth we managed to do the climb in the pictch black only hours earlier. I was in awe of my own abilities!

We grabbed breakfast at a buffet that had nothing you would have dreamed a buffet would have, unless you're dreaming of stewed vegitables and beans...and then we had our van driver take us to the Border of Egypt. Talba I think. From Egypt (after we shook the dust from our feet when we left), we crossed the border on foot to Israel, had an intense interrogation, then took a cab to the Jordan/Israel border, and crossed it on foot as well. So, several possport stamps and baggage searches later, we wound up in Aqaba Jordan, where we took a fairly reasonable 1 1/2 cab ride to Petra for 90 American. We actually felt like, as steep as it was, this was a good prices for a cab ride for that long, split three ways. And with us having not really slept in a long time, and having had a strenuous night, we took what we could get.

We stayed at the Orient Gate Hotel in Petra which was at first a real trial, mostly because the poeple that worked there spoke 0 english and had no idea where the closest bank machine was, how to get into Petra, or how to settle a bill. However, later in the evening, we met a man named Mohommad who worked there, maybe the owner? He was awesome!! The had a whole deal with making these huge instensley awesome packed lunches, they had movies to watch, he explained everything about Petra, like admission and hours, and how to get there, and he invited us to have a beer with him. Really nice guy. So, all of a sudden, the hostel was really cool. Man, those lunches had everything from 3 pieces of fruit, veggies, to bread, to cake, and a chocolate bar!!! We almost never have chocolate these days!!!

Early the next morning, we had a driver bring us to Petra. When we first arrived at the city, we found some shops which we browsed in...and they had really cheap goods (or so we thought at the time) so we bought a few things. In fact, throughout our time there, we kept finding super great deals on goods, so we bought a ton whilst in Petra...but, that story will change.

The actual city was amazing!! it's just like dad told me when I was a little girl...how you walk down a long passageway, with only a few hints as to what is around the area, like a temple or tomb here or there. Finally, you get to a thinning of the passage, and then a crack in the wall, and as soon as you turn around the corner and go through the crack, there is a huge temple, known as the treasury, right in front of you, carved directly out of the stone, so it's all still attached to the wall. From then on, you are in a place of imagination. The main city is basically a valley, with two big sides of the mountain, all carved out with little caves and small buildings. It's fun to imagine the people who lived there, some still do, and it was mostly populated right up until the 1980's. There is a woman who wrote a book which I'm now very interested to read called "Married to a Bedewan". I guess a lady came to visit Petra, or work there or something, from New Zealand, ended up falling in love with a local, and married him. She lived with him in Petra for years and years, and set up a life with her family living in a cave. She still lives in JOrdan, in the Bedewan Village just to the side of the Ancient city. But, it's an interesting life.

We did a lot of climing, hiking, went to the peak of the moutain passage, met a few locals, including a little girl who tried to sell us post cards and ended up getting part of our lunch...

The day was hot though. After a big climb to the top, we ended up sitting up on some rocks for ages, because there was no energy left to get out of the sun, or to climb down. Luckily though, we had some water with us, and no one got heat exhaustion. We did decide to go home a bit earlier than we had planned, around 5 instead of when the sun set. But, over all, I'd say I have seen a good chunk of the city.

That night though, when we paid for our hostel, it seems we had budgeted around 143 JD, and the cost was only 43. This was very interesting. And with all of the fun purchases we'd already made, we decided to check on the conversion rate, which was wrong. Instead of the Jordinian Donar being .5 of the Canadian, it was 1.5! We were paying almost a full dollar value more for everything than we'd thought...no wonder we were loved by all the vendors! So, obviously we all had bought more than we needed mostly because we thought it was so cheap, so now, we were also all even more out of money. I was scared I woudln't make it through Israel...though, after looking things over, it seems I'll be just fine afterall.

Anyway, early the next morning, we grabbed a cab, which Mohammad had set up for us, and was a far cheaper rate than the last one. It took us back to the Jordinian border at Aqaba, and then we once again crossed by foot to the Israeli side. Then we had to take a cab into the downtown area of Elat (the border town) and buy a bus to get to Jerusalem. Because it was saturday, not a lot was open, and the busses didn't run until 4:30...so we had a long long wait. We also had to call Ellen, and it took a long time to track down a phone card,. and we ended up using some gas jockey's cell, but, at least we got through to her.

We finally got on a bus, and though it was cramped, at least it had air conditioning, and we pulled up in Jerusalem around 9pm. It took a little while to Find Ellen and her husband Fadi, but once we did, we were really relieved to be in friendly company once again. Once at her house, we just chatted a bit, and then jumped into a long awaited slumber.