Going to Egypt...

[Nonlegit]

Well i dont know if this is legal or not, i guess ill figure it out if i come home and the thread is deleted lol. My dad has business in Cairo and for while now i have been tagging along with him wherever he goes and i get the royal business class treatment plus i get to go to some pretty cool places. This time he is going to Cairo, so i could not pass it up .

The reason for this though is i know we have world travelers here on this board, and i was wondering if any of you have climbed mt. sinai. I really would like to do it. My dad would have gone with me except his knee is giving him trouble and he hurt his arm, so he is not going to be able to make it. He has somebody who can accompany me, but im just wondering if anyone has any tips whatsoever on the climb. In all the travel books i really have not found much about it, except that its like 7400 ft. tall, and its like 4000 ft. elevation gain. Its also a 4 hr drive through some slightly less cosmopolitan areas as Cairo, so this is still up in the air, but according to frommers or some guidebook it is perfectly doable by westerners. Well, ill take pictures if i go, and ill have a good time even if i dont.

 

[Mohamed Ellozy]

Ask Google!

This Google search gives quite a few relevant results (as well as some less relevant ones).

 

[Nonlegit]

yes, i do apologize for needing someone else to point me to google to get help lol...that is pretty sad. Well, sometimes my laziness knows no bounds. Thanks Mohamed.

 

[Doc McPeak]

Try SummitPost.com, they have great info about mountains all over the world.

Really try to have your dad find a couple Cairo-ites to go along with you. I would not want to be an American in the Middle East right now. You're young and shouldn't be a kidnap prospect, but be very careful.

I don't mean to sound alarmist, and hopefully you won't have any problems, but anti-Americanism is at an all time high in Egypt. That said, I hope everything runs smooth and you have a great time.

 

[Nonlegit]

I appreciate that comment, and i probably did not explain myself fully. My dad is Pakistani, and was born and raised in Islamabad. He grew tired of the sentiments of the region (both tribal and different internation tensions exist in that area). So he left and came here to America. He came i believe in 1970, and went fully into the Aerospace industry. Because of his ethnicity, he has been put in charge of the middle eastern region for Pratt and Whitney's f-15 and f-16 engine program. My mother is from Texas however, and i guess i picked up mostly her genes, as i look basically, white who tans well lol. So, i do look and talk like a young American, but having a middle eastern father helps when i go to the middle east. He does have both business associates and actual friends in Egypt, and he will most certainly not let me go unless he feels comfortably with the company i would be travelling with.

So that being said, I hope i can go, but like you said, with the world being as it is, it has put a crimp on where i go with my father. (no Pakistan or Lebanon or UAE or Jordan since 9/11), only Europe and within the United States. Anyways, if anyone has any other advice, im here and listening

*Edit, excuse the poor english because i am tired and sick, im just bored.

 

[DeadFred]

nonlegit,

Have you climbed the pyramids of Giza on any of your previous trips? Do you have plnas to do so on this upcoming trip? I would LOVE to hear your experience in this regard.

Egypt is high on my "some day go there" list (perhaps in better political times) to see all the history, including a trip to the pyramids, Nile River Valley, Sinai, Suez, etc...

 

[Nonlegit]

I have not been to Egypt yet, but i do intend to visit the pyrimids. It seems like off the top of my head that i remember seeing on cnn or something that you cant climb them any more? Erosion perhaps? It was just a thought. This was kind of a shortly planned trip, so i need to kick it into gear to plan a little better. I leave July 10th. Honestly, i want to cross the sahara on camel back. I also want to circumnavigate the globe by boat, and i want to fly around the world by balloon, and i want to hit the 7 summits, and i want to hike the at then paddle down the missippi, i want to retrace shakleton's path, i want to dive down to the marianas trench, and i want to go to the moon, not to mention mars. Im working on it, slowly but surely .

 

[DeadFred]

Why hold yourself back! Go for it while you still can!

Personally, I've done all that and right now I'm developing my warp drive so that I can do a little interstellar travel. I've always wanted to explore our Milky Way galaxy. I'll let you know when I'm done so interested parties can join the trip.

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I have not climbed Sinai, but I did climb the Great Pyramid in 1980. Even then the pyramids were officially closed to climbing, however, the site guards would allow you to climb if you hired a local guide to escort you up. My understanding is that they are now closed to all climbing. Some tourists still attempt to get past the guards for a night climb, but it is probably not a good time to see the inside of a foreign prison.

Nominally the reason for the climbing ban is to protect the pyramids, but the real reason is a number of tourists have been injured, and a few have died from falls while descending. Over the centuries the surfaces of the limestone blocks have been sandblasted slick - even when bone dry. The blocks are about 3-4' high with an effective "slope" of 51%. The view from the top is much less than it used to be as the outskirts of Cairo have reached the edge of the pyramids' plateau. The air quality resembles the Los Angeles basin. Go early in the day if you want to go inside the great pyramid. There is a limit on the number visitors each day, and it gets hot and muggy inside.

It is good that you have someone to accompany you to Sinai. Egypt is not easy to travel around on your own. It is generally considered rude to travel without a local guide. Beside benefiting from their knowledge, the guides can greatly assist in "tipping" you through checkpoints and entrances to tour sites. The baksheesh/tips are generally expected and the guide knows just how much. In general Egypt is safe, crime is less than in the west, and the people welcome polite westerners who respect local customs. We'll look forward to a Sinai trip report.

 

[Nonlegit]

well, i figured it would be much more linear for me to post a trip report here as opposed to in the trip reports section, seeing as how someone could bring themselves up to speed on past conversations. I just got back from paris, which is where i stayed for 4 days after spending a week in cairo. I did in fact GET to Mt. Sinai, but unfortunately i couldnt because very very ill that evening. Thats actually an understatement, seeing as how i wanted to die on the toilet. I look at it now and laugh, but not too much since i am still sick 2 weeks after the fact. My freinds did climb it, and i will try to get the pictures up eventually, so you can see them. Otherwise, besides the stomach malady, it was a smashing trip. That was the most horrible trip report of all history, but i wont bore you with every single detailed thing that made the trip great. If you have any questions, ask and i should be able to answer. I do have a photo album but it consists of 1756 pictures, which i know for a fact that you dont want to look at. So, i made it there, had the time of my life, and highly recommend going to mt. sinai.

that was so bad i feel like i have to apologize.

 

[Rob S]

No need to apologize ...... just hope you start feeling better. Weren't you kinda sick before the trip, too? Anyways, I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of Sinai and I would bet others would like to see them as well. And believe it or not, you would not be boring anyone with a trip report ....... I have no plans to go to Egypt in the forseeable future so I think it would be pretty cool to hear about your time there. (If some folks aren't interested in Egypt, well, ..... that's ok, too ..... they don't have to read it. )

Well, trip report or not, take care of yourself, huh?

 

[Mark Schaefer]

I agree there is no need to apologize. It is not uncommon to develop those symptoms while traveling, and to have it persist a week or two after returning. Glad to hear you made it back OK. I also would be interested in seeing some photos when you're feeling better and have time to post them.

 

[Nonlegit]

Thanks guys, i was psyched to come back after work today and write a somewhat better report, but unfortunately I was bitten by something mildly poisonous. So anyway, i may have to go to the doctor, may not. I am just tired and have a headache. I was bitten sometime today around lunch. I work at a combination game farm/ranch/outdoor park, and at the moment i am working as a counselor. I had my kids out in the woods and we were looking for one resident heron when we saw a rat snake, which i chased into the deep woods, trying to get a hold of it. In the process, he slithered under a log, and ended up getting away. However, the kids (12 and 13 year olds) saw salamanders, and asked me to turn over more logs so they could find more. I did, and somewhere in there i was bitten, and i had an allergic type reaction about 30 minutes later (swollen hand, no rash, and i eventually got tired and had a headache). Such is life in the woods . I honestly have more fun with my job than my kids do, lol. Well, anyways, i suppose ill try to figure out webshots and get some of the relevent pictures up.

 

[amstony]

Nonlegit,

This brings back memories. I climbed Mt. Sinai in March 1993 when I was stationed in the area with the United Nations Peacekeeping force. A French officer and I started early in the morning after breakfast and were back down in mid afternoon. We did it as a work out. I remember seeing maybe a dozen people on the mountain the entire day. The view was good, and the weather perfect.

The central Sinai location is rather isolated from the rest of the tourist sites. You'll need an SUV to be safe because allot of the "roads" in the area are nothing but dirt tracks. It is doable for anyone who does 4K's on this board or is good shape physically. I forget the name of the town at the base of the mountain, but there is simple lodging, you can buy supplies there, eat, etc, and at the time was tourist friendly. The town itself is well visited by bus tours of "pilgrims".

I can sympathize with the stomach problem. I caught a bug in Syria and lost 20 pounds in 3 days.

Tony