Egypt, Day 8

Mount Sinai :)
Sunday morning brought with it a 2:00 am wakeup call. Wow. By 3:00 we were starting up the base of Mount Sinai.  It was, obviously, really dark, and really... requiring of more physical exertion than I am generally accustomed to before dawn.  The hike was filled with camels, tons of other hikers from around the world (literally- I talked to some from Indonesia, Germany, and England), and more snack-hut-things (vendors selling what seem to be Egyptian convenience store staples: Coke and Snickers bars) than you would ever think possible (I mean, talk about a commute to work!) So the hike wasn't a boring one, for sure!  We made it to the top in a little under 2 hours-- and had well over an hour to wait before the sun came up.  Could've slept in til 3 ;)
The waiting in the still dark before dawn was one of my favorite parts, though.  It was really a sweet experience to watch the horizon slowly lighten to a pale blue, then a pink, as we sang hymns.  The neatest part was when some of our fellow hikers joined in our singing, but in their own languages. :) When the sunrise finally came, though, it was magical.  The sun came up a fiery red-orange from below the horizon... To be at such a sacred place, so far removed from the rest of the world, and so beautifully peaceful... it's easy to understand how mountains served as temples in ancient times.  And it's suddenly difficult to have any doubt that God really did speak to his prophet Moses face to face.  I could go on and on... truly, though, this was an unforgettable experience for me.  And I got to cross another thing off my bucket list, as well :)

The hike down the mountain was fun, too.  I meant to take the switchbacks to spare my knees the soreness I experienced for a couple of days after, but I accidentally found myself heading down the stairs ("stairs" being used in the loosest possible sense here...)  It was SO pretty, though!
By the way, I loved the couple of old, old churches nestled up in the mountain- imagine that work that went into building those.

Not the best lighting for pictures up there-- but with how I know I looked that night/morning, perhaps it's a blessing in disguise ;)

The rest of Sunday consisted of not showering back down at the hotel (thanks to brown stuff gurgling from my shower head,) and a long drive back to the Israeli border, waiting in long lines to get through the border crossing security (I even got to have my luggage randomly searched and swabbed for who knows what.) Awesome.  Eating dinner at another kibbutz was heaven-- real, heavenly ice cream from their dairy!  I was a happy, happy girl at that moment.

And finally-- back safe and sound in Jerusalem :)  Such an incredible experience!