The pilgrimage itinerary's farthest point was a visit to Mt Sinai and St. Catherine's monastery, dating to 5th century, which are both in Egypt. The group drove 7 hours to the border of Egypt, passing Qumran Caves, Masada, where ~1000 Jewish people took their lives rather than submit to Roman rulers, and stone sculpture of Lot's Wife. Once at the Taba Border, we had to go through security and obtain a separate bus in Egypt, and were charged an exit fee to pass through to the Egyptian side of the Taba border. The fee is only in special cases where people want to cross the land border on the Taba side of Israel, as a condition between these two countries that were previously at war but now have a peaceful cooexistance to share this border.We were welcomed by our guides, Marko and Isaac, and our security officer, who was dedicated to our group for the entire time spent in Egypt. On the way to Mt. Sinai we enjoyed beatiful scenery of both the Red Sea and the desert.
We stopped by the Meryland hotel next to St. Catherine's to rest and have dinner before our midnight Divine liturgy at St. Catherine's small side church, which Fr. Blasko got special permission to hold. The liturgy was beautiful and intimate in this small church, only lit by candles in the moonlit night. The tour guide later told our group that this was the most special memory of his experience with our group, listening to us sing our responses and take communion before dissembarking on our special journey up Mt. Sinai. Some people from the group chose to walk the entire path up the moutain whereas other adventourous souls took their chances on the Bedouin's camels, who knew the route by heart, even in the darkness. The trip took ~ 4 hours by foot or ~ 2.5 hours by camel and everyone must go on foot for the last 750 steps to the top of Mt. Sinai, which was very strenuous, as the slope is very steep and slippery, in addition to being dark. Many people used flashlights along the path to keep their footing; however, God's moonlight lit the way for our group, allowing us to glimpse at the amazing valleys below us.
Once at the top we found that we were not alone; many groups of people from all over the world, representing different Faiths were there gathered on rocks as a homage to Moses receiving the 10 Commandments upon this very spot. Once the sun rose, the view of the valley below was spectacular, and you did really feel yourself closer to heaven and God at this great height, as if you were looking down at the entire world below you.We stopped to say a prayer in front of the Holy Transfiguration Greek Orthodox church, which is associated with St. Catherine's monastery. The descent down the mountain was no less challenging than on the way up. Many in our group that walked decided to take a camel back down, only to realize that riding a camel down the mountain is much more uncomfortable than the ride up. The great physical effort we made reminded us of the spiritual efforts we need to make to fullfill God's Commandments.
Upon returning to St. Catherine's monastery, located at the foot of Mt. Sinai, we were blessed to venerate the Holy Relics of St. Catherine; see the burning bush; Moses well, where he met his wife; and the holy icons in the museum dating from the 4th and 5th Centuries, which are the oldest icons in the world, surviving the Iconoclasm.
After all this climbing, our tired and dusty group went for a refreshing swim in the Red Sea on the way back to the Taba border. We all were exhausted by the physical strain of our journey but our hearts and souls were alive with the memories of our once in a life time experience.
