Photos from Egypt

Climbing the mountain

Nearing sunset on Mt. Sinai

With our mountain guide Mohammed at the summit.

St. Catherine''s Monastery at the base of Mt. Sinai

Dinner at the Bedouin camp

Our view from the Bedouin camp guesthouse

On our way to central Sinai

Photos from the Past Few Days...

The narrow streets of Pano Lefkara

Here are some photos from our last day on Cyprus.  I can catch up on photos now that we're in a spot with wireless.  Unfortunately my keyboard has died, so my written posts may be brief until I can get it re-charged!

Aphrodite's Rock

The Mountain of Moses

Our day was comprised of two tours led by our Bedouin tour guide, one of the Mohammeds we met yesterday.

Tour 1 took us to the St. Catherine's monastery at the foot of Mt. Sinai.  Upon entering, we stumbled on a wedding ceremony in the courtyard.  We added our good wishes to the celebration and then entered the sanctuary for some quiet moments with other tourists from around the world.  Mohammed pointed to the monastery's most treasured artifact - a portion of St. Catherine's arm.  We learned the story of how the saint was decapitated in Alexandria and her body was tranported away by angels.  In the 9th century, monks at the monastery (the oldest continually-operating monastery in the world) found St. Catherine's remains at the top of a nearby mountain, thus the arm (we didn't really see the arm, it was in a box.)  Anyway, it's a very impressive place, partly because its first major benefactor was the emporer Constanatine's mother way back in the 300s.  It's also awesome for containing the Burning Bush that Moses encountered in the desert.  Monks at St. Catherine's claim that the bush in their courtyard is the very same and that it survives without being watered.   We thoroughly enjoyed the monastery museum that contains part of the monastery's massive collection of ancient icons and early Christian books.  Exiting the compound, we came upon the abbot reaming out the Orthodox priest who apparently performed the wedding ceremony without permission.  He scolded the priest for "dishonoring the monastery."  Maybe a wedding would make the 27 celibate monks looking on feel bad or reconsider things?  In retrospect, it did seem pretty odd to hold a wedding there!

Tour 2 was to the peak of Jabal Musa, also known as the Mountain of Moses, also known as Mt. Sinai.  This was the main draw for us in coming to Egypt, and it's a major stopping point as we visit biblical sites in several countries.   The trip up took three hours, and we made it back down in less than two.  We decided to be non-conformist by eschewing the most common tourist practices.  First, we went up for sunset instead of sunrise.  The sunrise expedition and crowd near the 9,000-or-so foot summit each morning is described as a 'circus.'  There were only a dozen of us on the mountain as the sun set.  We also decided not to ride camels 3/4 of the way up (the final ascent involves 750 steep stone steps.)  So we walked, and our new Oboz hiking shoes are now coverered with red dust.  It was worth it, and the views were truly spectacular.  As we started back down, a dozen or so religious pilgrims - mostly senior women wearing sandals - arrived with their Bedouin guides.  How disappointing it must have been to  come all the way from whatever Spanish-speaking country they traveled from and find themselves in near dark.  I can't imagine how they made it down the mountain with those shoes.  We scurried down the steps and the trail, passing a herd of camels that glared and hissed at us in the dark.  We had borrowed "torches" (Brtitish for flashlights) from our new rock-climbing friends at the camp, and they were a life-saver on the descent.  Our driver back to the camp was a twelve year-old Bedouin boy with a pick up truck.

So it's been another eventful day.  I'm going to take some Tylenol for my sore back and the knee I twisted coming down the mountain too eagerly and then go to sleep.  Leroy's already snoozing.  Any typos will be fixed tomorrow.  Hopefully I can add photos from the last couple days when we return to Israel tomorrow afternoon.

On to Egypt!

Driving from Paphos to Larnaca, we exited the highway to  drive back into the mountains.  We had just left the massive rock formations emerging from the sea that are the fabled site of Aphrodite's birth.  The sea and mountains are close together on Cyprus.  Our destination was the idyllic village of Pano Lefkara that spills over a hillside and is famed for its production of lace and silver.  Before we even entered the villlage, we were already wary of eager townspeople rushing our car to urge us to buy their wares.  Two more women waved wildly at our car, motioning for us to pull over.  Leroy ignorned the women, not realizing cars are not allowed in town due to the narrow, winding streets.  Apparently they were directing us toward a parking area.  We immediately became trapped in a maze of steep cobblestone alleys.  Our automobile startled pedestrians, and we barely squeezed it between the historic buildings.  Finally we found a place to park the car, breathed a sigh of relief, and explored the picturesque town on foot.

Our arrival in Israel after 11 pm last night and our early flight to the Red Sea this morning meant less than four hours of sleep.  By 9:00 am we were at the Egyptian border.  At customs, an irate woman grilled me on our travel plans and was highly sarcastic when I mixed up some details: "Did you make your own arrangements or not?!"  Her demeanor changed entirely when Leroy approached her window.  BIG smile and "Mr. Lewis, you couldn't possibly be the age your passport says you are!"   He of course loved that!  The flirting finally ended and we were free to enter Egypt.  Two young men named Mohammed in a Chevy whisked us throught the desert to the Sheik Moussa Bedouin Camp and Guest House in the Sinai Peninsula.  We settled in to our simple room and joined a dozen or so travelers from around the world for tea in an open air room (an "arisha") lined with carpets and cushions.  A professional rock climber and writer from the U.K. named Dave filled us in on procedures at the Bedouin camp.  After a nap, Leroy and I walked the three miles or so to St. Catherine's Monastery.  I was eager to get some photos of the remote stone complex that is said to be the oldest monastery in the world.  I took lots of pictures of camels and rocks and everything else along the way, and just as we reached the monastery my camera's battery died.  I did manage on the spot to figure out how to take photos with my iPad (a significant achievement for me) but will climb above the monastery to get better photos tomorrow morning.  In the afternoon we will scale Mt. Sinai and reach the summit in time for sunset.  Climbing down with flashlights should be a real adventure!

Now it's dark.  We are back in the arisha with a fire burning and the call to prayer from the nearby mosque echoing through the mountains.   Several cats are curled up on the cushions and by the fire.  The Bedouin Camp is known for its amazing food, and we have ordered two traditional dishes to share by the fire.  We are savoring each day of our sabbatical travels, and this has certainly been a great one!

I have some really great photos I would love to add to this blog post, but unfortunately here in this remote camp of a nomadic Bedouin tribe high in the mountains of the Sinai Peninsula, the wireles  internet connection is a bit too slow to load my digital photos!  I'll post them on another day.

Extra Pic for Today

Sitting at the Larnaca, Cyprus airport on the way to Israel.  Leroy complained that all the photos are of him, so here's one he took of me today at the Aphrodite Sanctuary archaeological park.

Pic of the Day - April 7

Cats roam the streets in Cyprus and are everywhere!  

Farewell to Cyprus

We didn't really plan to come to Cyprus.  Our first stop was intended as Egypt, with five post-Easter days on the Red Sea.  As we were preparing to buy plane tickets, Cairo and Libia erupted in violence.   Then a pastor from the U.S. was kidnapped in the desert.  We considered skipping Egypt altogether and going directly to Israel.  But then the Israelites and Palestinians renewed their never-ending campaign of missiles and bombs.  When we realized that Cyprus was not only nearby, but would be an idyllic spot to relax after Easter and hadn't been in the news for a long time, we booked our tickets.  Of course Cyprus became the focus of world attention the week before our departure with the bank crisis.  It passed quickly, though, with no real uprisings.  A Cypriot here in Paphos explained to us that the people of Cyprus are generally understated and very polite even in the midst of crisis - a carryover from many years of British influence.

Yesterday the weather became seriously warm.  We were sweating and guzzling bottled water while

crawling in and out of dusty graves at the Tomb of the Kings across the street from our apartment.  Today will be even warmer as we head east to the airport and stop at coastal villages along the way.  Tomorrow we arrive in the Sinai Desert (yes we are going to Egypt, but only for two days) where temps will be near 90 F as we climb Mt. Sinai.  People ask why we didn't wait till summer to travel -- this is why!

The St. Paul Pillar in Paphos sits beside a small church that is relatively modern by Middle Eastern standards.  It was built in the 15th century and now hosts services each Sunday for Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and... to my amazement... the German Evangelical Church.  This, in a structure constructed for an Eastern Orthodox congregation.  The St. Paul Pillar (site of his alleged whipping) is easy to miss in an excavation site that contains four ancient churches built one upon the other.  Cypriot Christians are

proud of the fact that the Apostle Paul visited the city of Paphos after landing on the other side of the island and walking through the mountains.  Having driven through those mountains with great difficulty, and having seen the scope of the Mediterranean from our terrance, and still bearing an ugly bruise on my arm from a sudden storm that blew in from the sea, I have renewed respect for the apostle.  I imagine I will still prefer to preach from the gospels than the epistles (I struggled through a Pauline text last week and it was hard to find something relevant for the twenty-first century - though I did!), but I am definitely impressed by the ambition and tenacity of Paul's travels.

And so our journey continues today... not by foot or boat like Paul, but in our tiny rental car and a plane and a taxi.  Tonight we will catch a few hours of sleep at an over-priced hotel room by the Tel Aviv airport (no other options.)  Then on to Egypt and the mountain of Moses.