Mount Sinai - Late Night Hike to the Ten Commandments

I left last night at 11 pm to hike up Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is the much publicized sight where Moses received the 10 Commandments; however, archaeologists think this is not true. But this doesn't deter the tons of tourists that climb the mountain to view the sunrise.

We arrived at the mountain at 2 am and began our hike. We had a guide who couldn't really tell us anything. Well, I take that back.... When asked about Moses, he said, "Man went up mountain and stayed a couple of days and then came down." Very informative. He also asked on of the Canadians if she was "Girl or women?" Everyone said she didn't have to answer that. He led us on a rapid ascent which seemed like quick hikes just to hurry up and rest at the coffee shops/stops of his friends on the mountain. I wasn't impressed. We finally made it to the top around 5 am and waited another hour for sunrise.


Then we took the stairs down to Saint Katherine's monastery as shown below. On the way down, our guide accosted a French lady and told her "French all you do is eat, eat, then litter." She said not all French but he simply replied, "Merci Bouque." Then he found a Canadian guy and tagged along with him. They joked for a bit but then I heard the Canadian say, "Don't touch me. Get away from me." We were all laughing as he harassed others.

We finally made it down to the monastery where the bush that caught fire and Moses talked to God through was. Our guide didn't take us into the Monastery because he didn't know anything. So I don't know anything beyond the facts about this bush written on a sign. (Please tilt your head to your left to view the photo properly.)

I made it back to the hostel at noon and took a nap because I hadn't slept all night. I definitely feel like I am in the Middle East because right across the water is Saudi Arabia. I tried to take a picture to show everyone but it's on the horizon.