Mount Sinia - Heaven or Hell

Mount Sinai is famous from the bible but today people go there to enjoy the sunrise which is supposed to be amazing. You walk up there during the night and sleep at the top waiting for the sun to come up - all sounds really good. Hence I looked forward to getting up there.

 

I meet up with a guide that will take us to the top - in the dark it will be impossible to find your way up there if you dont no where you are going. We start walking everybody in the group seems pretty fit hence we make a good speed getting up without any stops. This is good because it is a pretty cold night at the mountain when walking you will start to sweat but the moment you stop you can feel the clod creping in with your shirt being wet from the sweat.

 

We get to the upper camel station and wait there for some people who had taken a camel up to here.

Then it is of to the top of the mountain. What a nightmare. At the top there were packed with people all over - When I got up there the search for a place to put down my rented mattress started. I found one on the top of a roof where I could lay it down about 30 centimetres from the edge of the roof. I figured I would not be so restless during the night that this would cause any problems. I was getting a bit cold so it was time to get a dry shirt on and all my warmest cloths and then get down deep in my sleeping back trying to keep warm during the night. I figured I would have problems waking up in the morning because of being tired.

 

Well I had no problems waking up in the morning - because that would mean I actually fell asleep during the night. You dont sleep on top of Mount Sinai. There is constantly people screaming want to rent a mattress want to rent a blanket. They are flashing torches all over the place and when they find your head they will keep the light beam point in your eyes until you actually turn away.

 

At around 3 o'clock some idiots arrived next to were we pretended to sleep. They came with a stereo and started to play some crappy old tunes. What kind of maniacs bring a stereo to the top of Mount Sinai??? Sunrise is approaching and we start to crawl out of the sleeping backs. For the first time on my trip I feel cold it has been a cold night probably all the way down to 6-7 degrees. We look at the wall we slept up against - it is discoloured by urine - fortunately I had not felt a sudden rain during the night.. I look down to my right there is a toilet block no roof on it I got a clear view to whom ever want to go to the toilet. Nobody seem to use it. Then finally sunrise - and it looks ok but considering the misery of the night that is just not good enough - it is a disappointment.

 

Then it is time to get down - unfortunately the thousands of other people on the top are heading down as well. You constantly get stuck not moving at all. The general chaos is just enhanced by people who were too slow getting up - they try to push there way to the top long after sunrise. It takes forever to get down - a lot longer than getting up during the night.

 

Finally I get pass the top steps and the path get wider and you can actually move at a decent pace - I get down from there as fast as possible. Maybe there are some spiritual background to Mount Sinai - but for me there is nothing divine about it - it has been more like a night in Hell.

 

Bye bye Mount Sinai - I will never come back to the top for sunrise again.