May 5th, Sanai

I checked out this morning at about nine o'clock and headed out for the Turgoman Garage bus depot. The bus left at 10:30 and I had to make it across town on foot. So I was walking pretty fast and had worked up a good sweat by the time I reached the bus station. It is a good thing that I looked for the place yesterday because that made it much easier to find. Once I got inside I was surprised to find out that it was the main hub for the East and West Delta Bus companies and was a very nice building. I went in there and asked for one ticket to Saint Katherine's monastery. I got the ticket and ran downstairs to where the departure gates were.

The Bus was also surprisingly comfortable. It was air-conditioned and I had an empty seat next to me. Looks like my journey across the Sinai desert would not be that tough at all. I don't know what the Children of Israel were complaining about to Moses for all those years. Or so I thought...It took us about two hours to even get out of the city. Traffic and frequent stops to pick up more passengers kept delaying our trip. Once we did get out of the city we were stopped at multiple checkpoints. I have no idea why they kept stoppi9ng us but I was asked to show my passport at one of them. Why show a passport when I am already in the country? I have no idea.

It was amazing how quickly civilization disappeared once we did leave the city limits, basically, the Sinai desert as a prime example of complete desolation. Not a green thing growing for as far as the eye could see. It seriously looked like the most inhospitable environment that I had ever laid eyes on. There is no way human beings could survive for long out there. I was proven wrong however when we passed a remote village consisting of maybe a dozen different structures. I saw children playing outside some of the buildings and to my surprise the bus stopped and a man got off and ran to go meet the kids. We left the family and continued to cross the desert.

After several hours on the bus I was woken up by a loud popping then a terrible grinding sound coming right from underneath my feet. What in the world broke and what were we going to do out here in the middle of nowhere? The driver stopped in the middle of the road and him and almost every other man on the bus got out and began staring at the side of the bus. To my surprise, when a truck pulled up behind us our driver got back in the bus and just started driving again...and kept driving despite to constant grinding sound coming from underneath my feet.

Another hour passed and we finally pulled of the side of the road into this nothing town that makes Delta Utah look like a Metropolis. WE all got out of the bus and took a look at the side where all the noise was coming from. One of the back four tires had blown out and some man from the nothing town was hard at work trying to change this bus tire that was almost as big as he was. It took forever but the tire was finally changed and we were on our way again. The 6 hours bus ride would prove to take about 8 hours.

I knew that we were getting close to my destination when I saw a sign that said "Sat Katerin" on it with an arrow pointing off the road. Then I saw another sign with the same message with an arrow pointing another direction, and another. Had we passed my destination? Did they know that is where I wanted to go? I was getting a little bit nervous and went toward the front of the bus and tried to ask them where they would drop me off for Saint Katherine's. Nobody understood me so I pulled out my book and found the actual name of the town where I would be staying and did my best to pronounce it, "ASl-Milga." The Egyptians all started talking to one another and then one of them turned to me and said "little more." Then he said something to another man sitting near me and then got off the bus. The man he had spoken to turned to me and said "you follow me." I did not even know if they understood my question or if they knew where I wanted to go, but the only thing I could do was pout my fate in the hands of this complete stranger who did not speak my language. I now believe that one of the greatest benefits from traveling alone like this that you really learn how to trust people.

It all worked out. I got off the bus with man and we walked down the road for about ten minutes. He then pointed to the side of the road and there was the Hostel that I had told him I was planning on staying at. I thanked him, we parted ways and I went and booked a room. The place I am staying is called the "Bedouin Camp" and is simply amazing. My room consists of a bed...and that is it. There are communal showers, bathrooms and an outside eating area of cushions and blankets spread out all over the floor underneath a palm branch roof. Basically, it is a backpacker's paradise. I think Ryan and Heather Miller would fall in love with the place in a heartbeat. The small village of which it is a part is tucked away deep within the Sinai mountain range and is 500 meters away from the Mt. Sinai trail head and within close proximity of at least 10 other trail heads that take you deep within the peninsula. The remote and quite atmosphere is a complete change from Cairo's busy and dirty rhythm. The stars are simply breathtaking.

I found out that the only bus leaving for Cairo comes once a day at 6:00 am. I will be on the mountain at that time hopefully watching the sun come up. So I guess that I will be here a day longer than I had planned. I am ok with that. I love it here. Ryan did tell me that some of the most fun things that happen while backpacking are the unplanned events. I guess he was right. Time for bed though, I got to get up at 2:00 in the morning in order to make it to the trail head by 3 to hike up Moses' mountain before sunrise. It is interesting, back at home I work in the temple every Wednesday but had to take a three week absence for this trip. It looks like I will get to go to a temple this Wednesday after all.