We only got about 1-3 hours of sleep before we were back up and and heading off to Assalah square again with all our stuff in tow to leave for the Mt. Sinai trip. I left a couple postcards for Matt and Kiki thanking them for everything and after saying our goodbyes to Kiki and her pup Siren (Matt was already asleep) we got in the tour van and were off.

The had tied our packs up to the top of the van which made me nervous that they might fly off at some point but thankfully they never did. Then we drove around and picked up another 12 people to shove in the van, it was TIGHT! And not a comfortable drive especially since it took 2 hours to get to the ticket office. At which point our driver stopped the van and got out then proceeded to yell at Lisa and I to get out and buy our tickets! We both had just woken up and had no idea what his problem was, but apparently the 90 LE booking price didn't cover our admission, however every other passengers admission was covered? It was incredibly frustrating because no one had said a word to us that we'd need to pay an additional 20 LE. All the rest of the tour group (all foreigners) jumped to our rescue and got on the guy for his incredible rudeness, which was very nice of them! Not having expected to pay this extra amount my funds were pretty much all gone for the rest of the trip, so Lisa's gonna have to spot me because we don't have any time to get to a bank or ATM.

When we got into the parking lot I was amazed at how many people were there! And we would be hiking all the way up Mt. Sinai with these people on the same path! How crazy! We met up with our guide Musa (which means Moses in Arabic). I found this amusing, who better to guide us up to Mt. Sinai then Moses himself! Ha Ha! He was an excellent guide and spoke English very well, he also paced our group as we headed up the summit and made sure that we took lots of breaks.

The climb was close to 3 hours in the dead of night with everyone sparkling on the trail with headlamps and flashlights. It was really beautiful to see, the climb itself was very difficult, especially since there were so many steep areas to climb and it was pitch dark. There were so many guys trying to get you to ride their camels, and camels were literally freaking everywhere! The hike was exhausting that's for sure, everyone was out of breath and my legs were especially tired from all the hiking we'd done earlier that day. Maybe not a wise choice to combine the two but live and learn! *When we finally got about 3 minutes from the top it started getting really chilly, Lisa was already freezing so we spent another 10 LE each to rent a blanket for once we got to the very top. It was a waste in my opinion as I didn't even really use the thing for more than 5 minutes and it was the last of my LE's! Darn it! So we finally get to the very top and of course its just packed with people, and a lot of faith groups, one that even broke into song and dance when the sun was rising, quite an experience.

We were pry up there no more than a half hour before the sun started to break, it was a very picturesque moment, quite beautiful and inspiring. The mountains around Sinai peak were illuminated in the distance with beautiful orange and yellow beams of sunshine and it was really a spectacular sight to behold. Of course Lisa was asleep on a rock in her blanket, she says all sunrises are the same, but I watched the whole thing and truly enjoyed the experience.

We spent about an hour on the peak, taking photos and looking around. Then we all met back up with our guide and started the trek back down to the Monastry, we took a different route down that was still very intensive and had tons of stairs, by tons I mean that my legs were jello after only 15 minutes of hiking! We had an hour and a half hike to the Monastry, I was really afraid I might slip up and fall, but that didn't happen. It's really just mind over matter, I came through victorious! All of the steps were covered in sand and could be quite slick, plus the path was basically cliff side the whole way! Thankfully we took lots of breaks and most of the hike was in shade. *When we finally got down to the Monastry our guide had a nice shady place for us to sit and wait for about 30 minutes until the Monastry opened. When it did open and we got to go in I was rather surprised that so much of it was roped off or you were charged extra to see certain rooms and stuff. We took a few photos, the place was very pretty but all in all I'd say the Monastry was kind of a let-down.

When we all finished up we got back on the van and headed for Dahab, of course about 10 minutes in our van broke down! ( A common theme for Dahab since the day earlier our jeep got a flat and though the driver was quick about changing it and very resourceful using a rock to prop it up, a bunch of Bedouin kids from no where appeared and were so unruly! One little kid attacked my arm trying to rip off my bracelet! I had to push him away and then he tried to steal Lisa's water, Crazy kids!)

I was so worried that this van's breakdown was going to cost us our bus to Cairo because we needed to be on that bus when it left Dahab at 12:30! Our van was broken down on what was about a 2 hour drive back at 10:15 in the morning. Yikes!

Thankfully another van came for us rather quickly (it was a previous tour van that had came from the same tourist company but only had 3 people in it, even though ours had 14 shoved in it?! No sense in that at all) but we all got in and had them move our luggage and we were back on track.

The driver must have been flying because we made it to the bus station road at 11:50! Then we had to walk with our packs to the station, which wasn't too far. When we got there we had to pay 1 LE each to use the bathroom and freshen up (it's very common in other countries that you are charged to use the facilities, still takes a lot of getting used to). We got our luggage aboard the bus and then sat down, it was a very nice bus for Egypt public transportation standards. It had AC!!!! I was so thrilled! And our seats reclined pretty far. Lisa and I sat together and I figured if I was in some one's seat they could tell me to move ( we couldn't read the seat numbers), though no one ever did, I faked being asleep each time we stopped so I'm sure that might have had a little something to do with it. :) I couldn't actually sleep for more than about an hour though (of our 9 hour trip), my back was killing me, then I watched some Egyptian soap opera they had playing on this little TV.

At one point they stopped the bus and a guy got kicked off for not having a ticket, he had made it pretty far without one, which I found amusing but apparently the driver didn't share my sentiments, he made a big spectacle out of kicking this guy off and they had a long yelling match outside the bus.

Finally we got back to Cairo and got a taxi, Kiki had told us the taxi would pry cost about 100 LE so when we said 50 to a driver and he accepted we were very thrilled, however after about a 6 minute drive to the airport we soon found out why he was so quick to accept! Then he tried to get another 20 LE from us for having to go through a gate to get into the airport even though he didn't have to pay for it, NO WAY Jose! *We got in a line and had to answer a few questions about why we had come to Egypt, my security officer wasn't as thorough as Lisa's though and I got through rather quickly. Then we got our tickets and went through passport control, another fairly simple process.

And then we had to wait about 30 minutes to board so we emptied out what Egyptian currency we had left at a coffee shop. One guy was being far to creepy for my liking, he told me I was a beautiful woman and then every time I looked up or turned around there he was winking or grinning! So glad I'm heading home! Egypt is a very flattering country but believe it or not it does get incredibly annoying after a while!

Then finally on the plane back to New York! I'm so hungry and tired I can't wait to scarf some food, get a sprite, and pass out!!