This mountain in the South Sinai desert is also known as Moses' Mountain since it is reputed to be the place where, according to the fable in both the Bible and the Quran, Moses received the Ten Commandments. I hiked up in cool night air in order to be at the summit at dawn. It's a climb of about 750m vertical from the bus parking lot on a steep rocky trail. I was armed with a bottle of water and a flashlight, and went along with other tourists and many camels (for those who can't make it on foot). Of course, there are no
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Sunrise The first rays of the morning sun shine across the mountain ranges
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Tourists There were tourists from all over at the summit. This group was from Korea.
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Mountains The first rays illuminate the tops of the highest peaks.
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Mountains all around
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Sunlight The sun gets stronger and brighter.
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View back up to the very top The sun is bright now and the crowds of people are starting to make their way...
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Steep way down I chose to go down the quicker but steep way which follows a narrow...
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Crowd coming down There's a big crowd coming down behind me!
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Farm Big surprise: a source of water allows a small farm to exist part way...
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Camel I suppose this camel is having breakfast.
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Down again Back down the ravine. It's quite wide in some places, very narrow in others.
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Smooth rock Mostly the rock is quite rough, but in a few places it has weathered...
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Way down It still looks like a long way down to the valley below.
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Steps A few of the 3,750 steps on this trail. Some steps are cut into the...
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Arch In two or three places where the ravine is very narrow, the steps lead...
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Dramatic A dramatic view down the trail. We must be getting near the bottom.
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Monastery At last! A glimpse of the monastery where the trail ends.
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The End The Trail ends at St. Catherines, an ancient Greek Orthodox Monastery....
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Wild flowers At many places down the ravine, I was surprised to find wildflowers such as...
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More flowers There must be a source of water to nourish these plants in the ravine. All...
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