Day 27: September 20

Everyone woke up slowly this morning. We were supposed to be up at ten for our trip to Blue Hole. However, some quick talking by Ben convinced the owner of the hotel to have a separate trip for our group at 12. We all rolled out of bed and went downstairs to get some food before snorkeling. Sam, Jasmine, Jake, and Corley met with us and we all jumped into our swimming suits to go to Blue Hole.

The hotel owner coordinates allot of trips and this was one of them. He got us two jeeps to take us out to Blue Hole. One of the premier diving spots in Dahab. We got there and went to get our gear (which is included with our trip). The gear was not as nice as the stuff we got a few days ago. However, it still served our purpose and all of us were excited to get out and see some great reefs.

I made sure to apply a healthy amount of sunscreen after getting a little burned the other day(despite using sunscreen..). Then it was time to go snorkeling. We split into two groups. Evan, Mike, and I stayed together for the most part. We swam around the gorgeous coral reefs taking in the awesome sights. It astounds me how much color and variation there is in fish. Absolutely gorgeous.

After about an hour we met up with the other group and explored another area of the reef. Apparently they had seen a turtle while we were split. I’m a bit bummed, but I’ll survive.
I really wish I had an underwater camera. There is absolutely no way to describe how beautiful it is out there under the water.

Anyways we finished snorkeling and came in out of the sun. We sat in the café where we were renting our gear. We got hastled by the owner for not buying food despite renting our gear.. We decided it wasn’t worth our time arguing with him and left to hang out back home. We got in the jeeps and headed back to the Jasmine.

We arrived and our group decided to get a nap because we were going to climb Sinai later that night. I slept for three hours and then went down to the café to play some backgammon. We slowly congregated in the café. Once the six of us were awake we made our way to a restaurant we had seen called meya meya. The other four met us there and we got dinner together.

I got the Pizza. It was good, but nothing out of the ordinary. I did however get an excellent milkshake. We ate and talked until nine. At that time we decided it was time to head back and prep for our night excursion. Evan and Jesse took another short nap while the rest of us hung out and relaxed.

At eleven we met in front of the Jasmine and got in the bus to Mt. Sinai. Ben chose not to join us because he had done it earlier this summer. We all slept on the bus ride over. We were awoken after an hour and a half ride to show our passports and buy tickets into Sinai. Five minutes later we arrived at the foot of the mountain.

From here our bus driver introduced us to our guide up the mountain. His name was Dehab and he was a Bedouin from the area. He led us through the check point and we started our trek up the mountain. There were 15 people in our group total. Mike and Jesse are both former cross country runners like myself, and wanted to do this at a fairly good pace. Needless to say we were all a bit disappointed at the slow pace set by our guide. After about half an hour of his stop and go Evan, Mike, and I decided to break off from the main group so that we would make it up by sunrise. The guide gave us allot of static about going off in front of him, but soon enough he was far behind us.

The walk was long and dark. However, the cold wasn’t noticed due to the fast pace set by Mike. It was fun to go up and see the long line of lights both above and behind you. We estimated nearly 400 people were on the mountain at the same time as us.

Near the top there is a long set of 700 stairs. We got there and tackled the stairs with a few short breaks in between. Once at the top we rented a blanket and tried to keep warm until the sunrise. I was really happy I had my sweatshirt otherwise I would have frozen.

After a half hour wait we started to see light coming up over the mountain. We watched in awe as the silhouettes gained shape and light flooded across the mountains. It was truly remarkable to see. I was reminded of the sunrise I saw from on top of one of the Volcanoes in Hawaii. We spent awhile on top of the mountain taking pictures and taking in the scenery. However, eventually we had to join the mob heading back down the mountain. Dodging and weaving we made our way down the mountain in good time.

We eventually ran back into Jesse and Cyndis. From there we made our way over the Saint Katherine’s Monastery. However, It was did not open till 9am and they would not admit guys who were wearing shorts like us. We decided to walk around the outside and enjoy the grounds even if we could not get inside. After poking around we went back to the parking lot to await the bus ride back.
After what seemed like forever the bus reappeared and we were on our way back to Dahab. The bus was uncomfortable but we all managed to catch some sleep on the way back. After the two hour drive we arrived back and all of us quickly passed out.