Mount Sinai: A religious experience

"The" Burning Bush. Funny story about the burning bush--no one knows where the original one was. This picture is of a bush of a related genus or species of the supposed actual burning bush. So, like the sheep we tourists are, we all took pictures of this bush inside Saint Katherine's monastery. So, I give you The Burning Bush!


Chapel at the summit of Sinai ("Mount Moses"). Sadly, it was boarded up. I hoped for some religious experience at the top of the holy mountain, but the monks of St. Katherine's didn't provide it (although I'm sure they could've. They missed an opportunity here). Instead, a Muslim classmate of mine sang the morning prayer (I'm glad he did it--he gave a beautiful call), and about a half hour later a group of Colombian Christians sang some prayers in Spanish. Listening to people pubicly express their different faiths amidst groups of complete strangers, who were of different faiths, was actually kind of inspiring.


Sunrise at Sinai. I waited almost 2 hours at the top for this picture, but those 2 hours were actually better than sunrise. You're at the top of your own world, the stars and the moon bright and clear in the pitch black sky. There is no light at the top of Sinai, and nothing around but other mountains, but you still have plenty of light. There is no sound at the top. No wind, no noise from planes, no birds chirping. No sound at all. You can hear yourself think, and there's enough space at the top (if you're the first of the night to summit, as we were) to go off on your own and think. I definitely said a quick prayer of thanks for the opportunity to have this experience. The best part of the hike was the contrast between the sparklingly bright stars and the moon and the clarity of the night sky, and the emptiness (and darkness) of the rest of the nightscape as we hiked (and waited at the summit).