Your Favorite Luker on the Summit of Mount Sinai
What's up all,
Well it's been awhile since my last post, just about two and a half weeks, and in that time a helluva lot has happened (Moroccan excursion, arrival in Egypt, climbing Mount Sinai, etc.) so I think it's about time to bring you all up to speed. And fair forewarning to all of you: this is going to be a long post so feel free to bail at any time.
I'm wrapping up this post on the new campus of the American University in Cairo, probably one of the most prestigious universities in the Middle East and definitely one of the only universities in the region that can call itself a legit liberal arts institution. The campus out here is beautiful, a sprawl of collegiate modernity hunkered out in the desert in the midst of new housing developments, business centers, and gated communities sprouting up around the northeastern outskirts of Cairo. I'm on the last leg of my TIME 2010 program, in the last country I'll visit with all of the 2010 TIMErs. Of course, I'll be heading on to Israel for a couple of days after Egypt, but only for 7 days instead of the original 12 I had planned for; I had planned to spend Christmas in Israel, but I've had a change of heart. Now, I'll be returning home on December 22nd, just in time for Christmas. I thought I'd be cool with missing Christmas at home, but after all of this time away, I'm going to be glad to get home a little earlier.
Moroccan excursion was most excellent and my impression of that country improved immeasurably after leaving the choked streets of Fez. Over the course of our 12 day excursion, we visited a lot of cool places. As opposed to our Turkish excursion, which consisted almost entirely of visits to ancient ruins, during Moroccan excursion we spent the majority of our time exploring towns and natural sites. On the first night of excursion, we drove to Erfoud, a middle-sized town on the edge of the Western Sahara. After barreling across dusty roads in a small fleet of Toyota Land Cruisers, we arrived at our accommodations for the night, a series of Bedouin-style tents set-up by our hotel for guests interested in spending a night in the desert. We had an amazing meal, and before the moon-rise, some of the best star-gazing I've ever experienced, perhaps with the exception of stars I've seen in the Boundary Waters. Once we had finished our delicious meal, our entire group ventured out into the dunes. The sight of Saharan dunes covered in shadows and moonlight might go down as one of the coolest sights I've ever seen. Really amazing stuff. I slept great during my night in the desert, but when I woke up at 5 to catch the sunrise, I was freezing. Even a pile of thick woolen blankets wasn't enough to keep me warm against the borderline-freezing desert nights. In the morning, our entire group took a short camel ride out into the desert. What an event: 18 Oles mounted up on tall camels, trekking out across the dunes. That might go down as the best morning of my trip or at least the most entertaining. Here's some pictures of my night and morning in the desert:
Sunrise over the Sahara
Caravan of Camel-riding Oles (that's me in the front if you couldn't tell)
Our Bedouin Tents (very cozy at first, but very cold by the end of the night)
Sunrise over the Sahara
Caravan of Camel-riding Oles (that's me in the front if you couldn't tell)
After a night back in Erfoud, we set off for the Tineghir and Todra gorges on our way to the town of Ouazazate. The gorges were beautiful: towering red walls with a small stream running through their valley. After a scrambling hike up the sides of the gorge to an rocky overlook, I went for a nice dip in one of the stream pools; it was only about waist-high, but the cool, fresh water still felt incredible. We only spent a few hours exploring the gorges, but the briefness of our visit did not make it any less refreshing.
The Tinegher-Todra Gorge
One Wall of the Tineghir-Todra Gorges
On our way out of Ouazazate, we visited the Atlas Film studios, which served as a location for several Hollywood films including Gladiator and The Mummy. Needless to say, the visit was pretty forgettable: decaying set buildings and fake scenery, a pretty rundown place. However, our day did improve. On our way to Essouria, a beach town on the shores of the Atlantic, we worked our way through the High Atlas mountains. Navigating the narrow, tightly winding roads in our massive, 36 passenger bus, the bus seeming to actually lean out over the sheer cliffs falling hundreds of feet straight down from the outer bank of the road, it was a pretty thrilling experience. I was cool with it, but some of the other group members were not having such a great time. We stopped for a two hour lunch break just below one of the highest mountain passes on our route. Along with several members of my group, I took advantage of the break to do some more hiking up the steep, shale hillsides. We made it up several hundred vertical feet and were rewarded with some spectacular views. Here's a picture of some sheep grazing in the High Atlas:
Our Trusty Bus (but probably too big for the High Atlas Roads)
Once we made it out of the High Atlas, we continued on to Essouria, Morocco's "City of Wind", a popular destination for surfers, windsurfers and kite boarders (a combination of surfing and para-sailing). I loved Essouria. The town was quaint and clean and it's Medina seemed very comfortable with all of it's white-washed walls and blue doors. The air was fresh and cool with the slight, salty humidity of ocean towns, a humidity that still manages to seem crisp. We were fortunate enough to spend three nights in Essouria, including Halloween. On the day of Halloween, I even tried surfing for the first time. Needless to say, my height did not play to my advantage. I was close to getting up a few times, but not close enough to avoid getting swamped by the waves. Luckily the waves were calm and the shallow ocean floor was completely sandy and free of coral, so getting swamped wasn't too bad. On Halloween night, we continued with the beach bum vibe of the day, opting for a big bonfire on the beach to celebrate the last hours of the holiday. I didn't make any effort to pull a costume together (my current Euro-trash look is a good enough get-up) and there wasn't any opportunity for trick-or-treating, tee-peeing or any of the other typical Halloween activities, but it was one of the better Halloween's I've had in a long time, probably my best Halloween since I was actually young enough to load up on trick-or-treating candy. Here's some pictures from Essouria:
High Atlas Herd
Our Trusty Bus (but probably too big for the High Atlas Roads)
Once we made it out of the High Atlas, we continued on to Essouria, Morocco's "City of Wind", a popular destination for surfers, windsurfers and kite boarders (a combination of surfing and para-sailing). I loved Essouria. The town was quaint and clean and it's Medina seemed very comfortable with all of it's white-washed walls and blue doors. The air was fresh and cool with the slight, salty humidity of ocean towns, a humidity that still manages to seem crisp. We were fortunate enough to spend three nights in Essouria, including Halloween. On the day of Halloween, I even tried surfing for the first time. Needless to say, my height did not play to my advantage. I was close to getting up a few times, but not close enough to avoid getting swamped by the waves. Luckily the waves were calm and the shallow ocean floor was completely sandy and free of coral, so getting swamped wasn't too bad. On Halloween night, we continued with the beach bum vibe of the day, opting for a big bonfire on the beach to celebrate the last hours of the holiday. I didn't make any effort to pull a costume together (my current Euro-trash look is a good enough get-up) and there wasn't any opportunity for trick-or-treating, tee-peeing or any of the other typical Halloween activities, but it was one of the better Halloween's I've had in a long time, probably my best Halloween since I was actually young enough to load up on trick-or-treating candy. Here's some pictures from Essouria:
Rocks, Waves, and Fortress Walls in Essouria
Alleyway in the Essouria's Medina
Fishing Boats
I was bummed to leave Essouria, but not too bummed because we were moving on to Marrakech, probably the most popular tourist destination in Morocco. We spent four nights at the Andalous Hotel. The majority of our hotels have been far from rustic, a bit too nice for me, and certainly more nice than I had ever expected, but the Andalous has been the best of them all. The beds were huge and comfortable. The food was excellent. I ended up sleeping past my alarm on three of the mornings there and holding up the whole group; I blame it entirely on those cushy beds.
Marrakech was cool, but it didn't really live up to my expectations. We visited Marrakech's Medina, which was much of the same as the Medina's we'd visited in Fez and Essouria, basically just a huge maze of stuff to by. Marrakech's main square, Djemma El Fna, was quite the sight, a bustling mess of date and fig vendors, food stands, storytellers and snake charmers. I was pretty damned scared to walk through the bulk of the square for fear of wandering into the midst of a snake charmer's display. I'm absolutely terrified of snakes and I know I couldn't handle finding myself face to face with a cobra, head raised and hood spread. My heart would've given out on that one. Here's some pictures from Marrakech:
Lamps and Light in a Medina Alley
On our last day in Marrakech, we took a trip to the Ouzoud Cascades, one of the best natural sights in all of Morocco. The cascades didn't seem to be flowing at full force, but they were still damned impressive: over 330 feet tall, water rushing down over red rock to freezing, green pools. Many of us went swimming and the water was absolutely frigid, but absolutely refreshing as well. I really enjoyed leaping off into the water from some of the tall rocks lining the cascade pools. It was an excellent afternoon.
Pic 1 of the Ouzoud Cascades
Pic 2 of the Cascades
After Marrakech, we made our way back to the Atlantic coast to the city of Rabat, Morocco's capital. In Rabat, we visited two impressive Kasbahs, medieval Muslim fortresses. We also drove by several embassies and government buildings including the U.S. embassy, which appeared to be pretty rundown (not surprising...I doubt we have much of an interest in Morocco diplomatically or otherwise). Lastly, we visited the mausoleum of King Hassan II, the father of the current King, Mohammed VI. We spent our night in Rabat in yet another plush hotel, too nice for my tastes (note to St. Olaf: save us a buck and book us some cheaper digs), and then we were off to Casablanca for our last full day in Morocco.
In Casablanca, we visited the King Hassan II Mosque (named after and commissioned by King Hassan II), the third largest mosque in the world after the mosques at Mecca and Medina. The mosque was ridiculous. At max capacity, the interior of the 25,000 worshipers, while the outdoor grounds can accommodate another 80,000 worshipers for a total congregation of 105,000 worshipers. During Ramadan and the other Islamic holidays, the place is guaranteed to be packed. The mosque is built right on the Atlantic coast and part of the mosque even extends out over the water. The mosque also has the tallest religious minaret in the world, measuring in at 689ft. No one really knows the total construction costs for the mosque, but conservative estimates, which are probably underestimates, place the final price tag at about $800 million USD. Other estimates put the price well over a billion dollars and perhaps upward of 2-4 billion USD. After seeing this place, I wouldn't be surprised if it actually cost in the billions to build it. From the mosaics to the granite and marble, the Italian crystal chandeliers, the ablution fountains (over 80 huge fountains used for ritualistic cleaning before prayers), the enormous hand-carved and painted cedar roof, which is actually a retractable (unbelievable), a price tag of 4 billion would not surprise me. What is surprising is that a country of such poverty would be willing to spend upwards of 4% of it's GDP on such an extravagant construction. The place was beautiful, but it was a bit sickening at the same time. Here's some pics:
King Hasan II Mosque
Exterior Mosaic
Main Hall of King Hassan II Mosque
Mosque Mezzanine Ceiling
We flew out of Casablanca on Royal Air Maroc, a somewhat notorious airline (cited in Malcom Gladwell's Outliers as one of the worst airlines in the world in terms of frequency of accidents that result from miscommunications). But, we made it to Cairo safe and sound after a 5 hour flight across Northern Africa. All me and my knees can say is 'woof'.
We spent our first night in Cairo in the Cosmopolitan Hotel, our residence whenever we're spending time in Cairo. Our group will be spending much of our time in Egypt in Cairo, but our time here is punctuated with a bunch of mini-excursions to Alexandria, the Giza Pyramids, Answan, and Luxor, so we'll never be in the Cosmo for more than 5 nights at a time. On our first full day in Egypt, we set out for the Sinai Desert to visit St. Catherine's Monastery, and of course to climb Mount Sinai, trekking in the footsteps of Moses. We had a wake-up call at 2 in the morning on Tuesday the 9th, but I didn't even manage to get to sleep. Part of me was too excited to sleep, but I gotta blame the bulk of my insomnia on the infestation of mosquitoes in our hotel room. I don't think I've ever been more annoyed of mosquitoes in my life and that's saying a lot coming from a Minnesotan with his fair share of time in the BWCA. Whatever, I got a great adrenaline rush from being sleep-deprived, and that rush only continued to build during my group's predawn hike up the mountain. We walked in almost complete darkness beat back with nothing more than a few meager flashlight and headlamp beams. The stars were thick and incredible, nearly as good as the stars above the Sahara. It took us over two hours to make it up to the summit; I think we climbed well over 1200 vertical feet, but that's just my roughest estimate (might have been more, might have been less, I'm not sure). When we reached the summit, the sky was just beginning to lighten. Even though the summit was crowded, we were still able to find a spot for our entire group right on the edge of the bluff. Watching the sunrise over that barren, brown granite range, rough and bleak and all the more beautiful for it, that experience was one of the coolest of my life. Sinai's gotta be one of the coolest places I've ever been, perhaps with the exception of Machu Picchu.
Sunrise View from the Sinai Summit
Enjoying the Sunrise
Well, I've got a few more details to share, but this post has already been a monster, so I think I'll cut it short and save the rest of what I have to say for a latter date. I hope all of you are in the best of health.
Until next time,
Your Favorite Luker
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