Mar 02, 2001 02:48 AM
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It has not rained for last seven years. The average temperature is 41C.This is the arid land of Old Testament, through which Moses had fled to the Promised Land. This is Sinai (Egypt), a mass of dry crumbling rocks.
All three of the West's great religious traditions--Judaism, Christianity, and Islam--know Sinai as a holy land, a vast expanse traversed time and again by prophets, saints, pilgrims, and warriors. Sinai is most familiar to many as the ''great and terrible wilderness'' through which the Israelites wandered for forty years. However, it was also the path by which Amr swept down into Egypt in 640 AD, bringing Islam in his wake.
Dahab is the Arabic word for gold, and it is almost certain that this locale in eastern Sinai derived its name from the fine yellow sand that colours its beaches. It is a seaside village about 60 miles north of Sharm el Sheikh. At the time of Israeli occupation, Dahab had earned the reputation o being a hippy joint, drug infested but now all that has been replaced by diving and windsurfing and morning winds, crystal clear water and coral reefs provide the perfect conditions for a holiday.
There is infamous Blue Hole, a cavity about 300 ft deep surrounded by fantastic coral reef, and with many caves. But the adventurous divers try to explore it and I was told that over the years many divers have lost their lives and disappeared into the underwater caves.
I wanted to climb the Mount Sinai just for the thrill of it knowing that at the top is the place where Moses had received Ten Commandments. Though no archaeological evidence of Moses’ presence here has been found, the Path of Moses is abundant with old relics, ancient chapels and numerous structures honouring Virgin Mary. It took us nearly 4 hours to climb. There is also St.Catherine’s monastery reputed to be the oldest surviving monastery in the world, and a 6th century church on the site of the Burning Bush.
I was also fortunate enough to share a dinner with a Bedouin family. Bedouins are nomadic, generous and spiritually minded people who have settlements all around the Red Sea. Our host was Abdalla, his three wives and eight children, the food was mainly meat and sea-food, served with fresh mint twigs and spring onions, followed by Kahwa and relaxing puffs of Arab hookah.
It has been a memorable experience, more so because I could get away from the snow,rain and freezing winds of London for a week.
