To Cairo by Sand

Seeing Egypt by sea is nothing like seeing it from land. Two colors dominate in Egypt—azure blue and myriad hues of camel, the color that is, though the tall knock-kneed camels can be seen on city streets and in the desert. Our group celebrates our first night together in Sharm El Sheikh—31 travelers from 11 countries. Some of us have traveled together before, others are new friends. We board a bus that takes us north to St. Catherine’s Monastery. In little time, there’s no question we’re in the desert. We pass through several checkpoints and feel the temperature cooling.

Upon reaching the area of St. Catherine’s Monastery, we don our fleece for our afternoon camel ride up Mt. Sinai. We climb the final steps to the top as dusk envelopes us. On my last few steps to the peak, I stop to pet a loudly meowing black cat. This must be a good omen as pure black cats are sacred here. It means I miss the sunset, reaching the crest as the light wanes. We descend in darkness, with me slipping and sliding on the sand and gravel trail as I realize I’ve worn out my Keens.

Early the next morning, we visit St. Catherine’s Monastery. This sacred place is one of the oldest continuously-run monastic communities in the world. It was originally built and named for the Roman empress Helena in 330 AD, and believed to be the burning bush by which God spoke to Moses. It was renamed for St. Catherine, a martyr who was beheaded for her faith. Her body was missing for 300 years before a priest was sent a message from above as to its location. A mosque was built within the walls of the monastery to prevent it from being demolished by persons of other faiths, but has never been used because it is doesn’t face Mecca.

To experience the real Egypt, we’re jostled about the vast expanse of sand in Land Cruisers to a Bedouin camp in the desert. We wonder how the drivers know where we’re going as there are no street signs in the desert and given the terrain, joke about how high we might be thrust from our seats. . It’s like driving in a snow storm. The temperature is much warmer, there are mirages from the sand, and it’s incredibly dusty. The winds begin to blow, continuing to increase over the next few days into a major sandstorm, so much so that airports have to close because of the lack of visibility. Luckily, there’s no sand to plow.

The Bedouins are excellent hosts. We have barbequed goat for dinner and try not the think of the cute little ones we petted earlier in the day. Afterwards, a well-known local folk artist enchants us by singing traditional Bedouin songs which he strums on his lute, an instrument with a huge belly. Afterwards we sleep under the stars and clouds, and experience what it’s like to sleep with sand whirling all around.

Few tourists visit Hathor Temple. The desert temple can only be reached by foot. Atop a hill, we see the stone wall, and inside we see what remains—carvings still quite clear despite hundreds of years of exfoliation by wind and sand. Hathor, daughter of Isis, is the Goddess of love and pleasure. The energy is this place is stimulating.

We fishtail our way out of the desert, and really understand the effects of a sandstorm as we make our way into Cairo via a four kilometer tunnel under the Suez Canal. The Suez Canal is Egypt’s main source of income, followed by tourism. It’s with some conflict that I have from sleeping under the stars one night to being in a five-star hotel the next. Which is the real Egypt? I’m still searching for it as I dine on sushi, battle traffic and visit the expansive and dusty Egyptian Museum where we are introduced to some of the deities—Isis, Horus, Osiris, Sekhmet, Sobek and Nute—we’ll hear more about in the days to come and the treasures of King Tut.