St Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai

Well pretty much a blank entry here. The Monastery was closed the day we arrived, although one could wander around the exterior and take a few pics. (And a shifty bloke came up to me to say the monastery was closed. But then said, "If you need to get in..." leaving it fairly clear that if I paid him he would get me in. Mammon 1 God 0.)

Of course I could have done the other activity arranged for our stay here, namely to climb Mount Sinai to see the sunrise. But this involved a 7kms walk before reaching the 700 steps to the summit to join  500 or so  others that would share the experience. And it was cold and, the coup de grace, it required setting off at, wait for it, 1:30am. On a Saturday night that is more like the time I would go to bed not get up out of it. Well sorry no thanks. Those who did it were needless to say too knackered on reaching Cairo to do anything but eat and go to bed. I slept in and felt smug. Very smug. It is one of my talents.

Of course accommodation at St Catherines for all these visitors is in short supply and so can afford to be crap. And it was. Hostel rooms with 7 beds and even then sharing bathrooms with another 7 beds. The door handle fell off our door as soon as we entered. And meals were done on an industrial scale in a huge room which had a distinct tower of babel feel given the many nationalities on their semi-pilgrimages to this religious site. Of which the Italians were noisiest. Surprise.