Tien and Paul's Travels: Dahab and the Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula welcomed us after a short flight from Luxor to Sharm El Shiekh. Sharm has a modern international airport. Tourists come from all over the world to the Red Sea for its famous scuba diving, wind surfing and other water sports. From Sharm, we took the cab to Dahab, about 90 km north of the airport. Our hotel is located one block from the beach and boardwalk of Dahab. The boardwalk is lined with trendy shops and restaurants. From the boardwalk, I can look across the Gulf of Aqaba to see Saudi Arabia.

Dahab Boardwalk

We took it easy the first full day in Dahab, strolling along the corniche and people watching. Scuba diving and certification classes are offered. We made some arrangements with a tour office to travel to the Blue Hole by camel the following day and a visit to St. Catherine's Monastery and climb Mt. Sinai the day after that.

I thought it would be a fun experience riding a camel. The ride was along the beautiful coast for two hours to the Blue Hole. Paul, Kurt, & Lyn swam in the warm water, exploring the coral reef and the marine life while I stayed on the beach. The camel ride back to Dahab was a bit long. We should have taken the jeep back.!

Riding camel along the coast.

Camel riders.

The next day was the trip to St. Catherine's monastery and the climb to the top of Mt. Sinai. It was a three hour drive with seventeen people packed in a mini van. At St. Catherine's we saw what many scholars believed to be the Burning Bush that instructed Moses to climb Mt. Sinai. We had about an hour to explore St. Catherine's before we started the rugged three hour climb to the summit of Mt. Sinai to see the sunset. The climb was difficult, especially the last 750 steps. We left the summit just before sunset so we could follow the steep trail back down in twilight. The last descending hour, we had to use flashlights to find our way.