Red Sea Cruise – Sinai Peninsula – January 29, 2011

     After we docked at Sharm el Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula, I remembered that my youngest son, Fred, was stationed here in the mid eighties when he served with the International Peacekeeping troops.
     While I stayed on board the ship, Kathy went with part of our group to visit St. Catherine’s Monastery – the very place where 2 women were held hostage this past week.  She was very impressed with their collection of religious icons.
     Those who continued on to climb Mt. Sinai (10 mile round trip) rode on camels until they reached the 750 steps (boulders) to the top – the place where Moses is reported to have heard the voice of Yahweh coming from the bramble and was given the 10 commandments.
     Of course, Kathy reached the top and reported that it was a truly spiritual experience.  The thing that dismayed her was the amount of trash along the path.
     Because of the escalating protesting and rioting across Egypt and especially in Cairo, our tour company decided to send the ship back to Aqaba, Jordan, and arranged for us to fly home from Amman via Paris.