Sharm El-Sheik to Nuweiba
Sinai mountains on the drive from Sharm El-Sheikh to Nuweiba over a good quality road with spectacular mountain and desert scenery that provided an enjoyable interlude beween the disappointments of the start and finishing points. Didn't see much of Sharm El-Sheikh at the start but it seemed too resorty, and saw too much of Nuweiba at the end, which seemed too shitty.
St Catherines
A Greek Orthodox monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai built in the mid-6th century at the site of the supposed burning bush revelations. Riiight! It was a long drive over the same route we'd take to Nuweiba the next day so, that, added to my atheism and I gave it a miss. Those who'd given more credence to biblical fairy stories took the trouble. No burning bush. No revelations. Told yas!
Nuweiba
Nuweiba - a cafe opposite the the port facilities was the best spot we could find to spend the hours until the ferry to Jordan was ready. The best spot. A loud and angry tirade from the speakers at a nearby mosque added to the already bleak atmosphere. Somewhere in Nuweiba is an imam who really needs a chill pill. Seriously, how do people derive any sort of gratification from nasty, beligerent harangues? It may have been in Arabic but the tone was unmistakeable.
The vibe of the place was giving us the creeps so after a couple of teas at the cafe we decided to decamp early to the ferry terminal and its big, sparse departure hall with facilities that could be politely described as crude. We spent a couple of boring hours as the obvious objects of curiosity from the locals. Being constantly stared at gets a tad disconcerting - every movement followed by dozens of pairs of eyes.
Passing through Egyptian customs was a laissez faire process - we needed to go looking for the customs office to get our passports processed. A couple of young backbackers hadn't given it any thought and were not allowed to board the ferry without having to walk some distance back for processing. Luckily for them the ferry ran on Egyptian time and they were able to make it. An enforced overnight stay in Nuweiba would not be my idea of fun.
