On the last weekend of February 2022 – from Friday to Monday – we flew from Berlin to Egypt, to the south of the Sinai Peninsula, together with Ania and Mikołaj. We did not have much time, so we spent it very intensively: a night climb of Mount Sinai for the sunrise, St Catherine’s Monastery, quad bikes in the desert, the Salama Canyon, Dahab and a coral reef. Our base was Sharm el-Sheikh.
Table of contents
- Mount Sinai at sunrise
- St Catherine’s Monastery
- Quad bikes and a Bedouin tent
- The Salama Canyon and Dahab
- The coral reef and the beach in Sharm el-Sheikh
- Practical information – airport, weather, food
Mount Sinai at sunrise
On the very first evening we went on a trip to Mount Sinai (2285 m above sea level) – the place where, according to the Old Testament, God gave Moses the tablets with the Ten Commandments. It is the second highest mountain in Egypt, right after the nearby Mount Catherine. The plan was to watch the sunrise from the summit, so we set off at about 1 a.m. – in the dark, with torches and in the cold. Along the way there are stone huts where you can warm up for a while.
The route is about 10 km return with more than 700 m of elevation gain. It is not difficult, although towards the end there are steps and it gets steep. We reached the summit more than an hour before sunrise, so we had to freeze for a while longer – it was below zero up there.
The view is very nice, but not quite as spectacular as people describe it. If we had the choice, we would happily have climbed it during the day, without freezing all night.
St Catherine’s Monastery
On the way down we could see St Catherine’s Monastery in the valley, and we stopped there once we reached the bottom. It is the oldest still existing Christian monastery, surrounded by thick stone walls at the foot of Mount Sinai.
Quad bikes and a Bedouin tent
Soon after we got back to Sharm el-Sheikh, another attraction was waiting for us – a ride of about an hour on quad bikes through the desert at sunset, with a visit to a Bedouin tent. It was a nice experience, although most of the time we rode one behind the other, because that is what the terrain allowed. I have fond memories of a similar trip near Hurghada in 2008 – the ground there was sandier and you could really “go wild”.
The Salama Canyon and Dahab
On Sunday we went on a trip that was not quite the one we had paid for. We were supposed to spend most of the day in the canyons, but in the end we spent most of the time by the water, because that is what the rest of the group wanted. The organiser stressed that it was not his fault – we got a small refund, but nobody will give us that time back. Had we known, we would have chosen a different option. On the plus side: we rode a jeep across the desert – on the roof!
The most interesting point of the day was the Salama Canyon – a narrow gorge with red and colourful sandstone walls, washed into fantastic shapes. We only walked through it in an hour, though, and it was the canyons we had been looking forward to most.
We spent the rest of the day in Dahab on the Gulf of Aqaba – on a stony beach, among camels and in Bedouin-style tents.
The coral reef and the beach in Sharm el-Sheikh
On Monday, before our flight, we still had time to take a glass-bottom boat to see the coral reef not far from the shore, and to swim in the sea. The water was below 20 degrees, but in full sunshine it did not bother us that much.
Practical information – airport, weather, food
Airport security checks are a topic for a separate text. Even with only hand luggage, we still had to queue for the initial check together with people with checked bags – there could have been a separate line. Before passport control you first had to collect your boarding passes and fill in two forms. After passport control we were scanned once again, and a police officer picked me at random for another, personal check. Luckily the plane was delayed – at best we would have made it just in time. Better get to the airport with plenty of time to spare.
Weather: usually over 20 degrees during the day (as much as 26 on the day we flew out), but the night on Mount Sinai was freezing – bring warm clothes.
Food: we tried to eat local food as often as possible, although in a tourist district that is not easy. Among other things we had falafel, spiced aubergines and lamb in sauce with boiled vegetables.
We consider the trip a great success. With two more days we would have spent them diving in the national park and exploring Sharm el-Sheikh itself – we only saw our own district. In the back of our minds, though, there was the outbreak of the war in Ukraine all the time, and the fact that most sellers took us for Russians (of whom there were plenty there) only made it worse. Three weeks later we flew to neighbouring Jordan for a week.
Photo gallery
