Thursday 5th November: We made an excellent beginning: everyone on time at Newcastle airport; our man from the Egyptian agency ready and waiting at Sharm-el-Sheikh to distribute visas and lead us through the labyrinth of the airport car-park to our waiting guide, Ashraf, and our coach – and to the hilarity (for the others) and embarrassment (for me) of seeing my name prominent in the front of the bus. The next day our guide encouraged us to think of a name for our group (useful for calling us to order!) and after a little discussion we chose the name “St. Cuthbert,” a saint with whom he, as a Coptic Orthodox, was not familiar, but a Durham postcard helped put that right.
Friday: Bright eyed and bushy tailed, from overnighting in a very comfortable hotel with excellent food, we drove north, those who had not visited before quickly realising how unique is the scenery of the Sinai, as the road was soon bordered by great cragged mountains. We took a small diversion by jeep to view the Valley of the Gazelles, part of the ancient Silk Route, and the Nawamis, 4000 year-old circular tombs, the oldest roofed buildings in the world, a reminder of the long, mysterious history of this place.
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Nawamis |
Nawami roof – interior |
Guest House Coffee shop |
As we approached St. Catherine’s, the question of getting permission for the group to attend a service of Vespers the following day came to prominence. I had been in touch with the monastery, and we were to contact the English monk, Father Nilus, who would help us. Arriving at St. Catherine’s at about the time for Vespers, Elena, our Russian Orthodox theologian friend, rushed off to try and make contact while I saw to people getting room keys. I was just standing outside my own room, ready to start unpacking, when Elena reappeared calling , “Ruth, Ruth! Come quickly! Father Nilus is celebrant at Vespers and a monk will take us to him! Quick!”
Pausing only to grab the ‘Gift from Durham Cathedral’ box of fudge (I remembered from past visits that he had a sweet tooth and, I discovered this time, an affection for Durham) I rushed after her, only realising as I stood in the church, the chanting of the monks resonating around us, that I was distinctly travel-shabby. There was nothing I could do about it, and no-one else seemed to be bothered, so I abandoned worry and concentrated on the worship, until Elena nudged me into the side aisle where a monk was waiting to bring Father Nilus to us. “You have to keep looking around you during Orthodox worship.” she explained later, “If I hadn’t been looking around I’d have missed the monk.” This is actually very good advice for the Sinai itself: you have to keep alert for the opportunity; for the ‘wow’ moment; for the unexpected - and seize it.
Saturday: Father Nilus was so helpful to the group. After a morning visit to church, museum, burning bush and Moses’ well, along with the many tourists who flock from the coastal area for the three hours the monastery is open, and lunch at the nearby Morganland Hotel, most of the group met with him for an hour during which he spoke about the monastery and answered questions very fully, they then went to Vespers which, because it was being filmed by a Greek film company (St. Catherine’s is Greek Orthodox), lasted for an hour and a half rather than the normal less than an hour. Afterwards Father Nilus arranged for the museum to be reopened for the group and took them around himself. It is a great gift, not granted to many, to have time in the monastery when it is silent, and during this time, one of the group took the opportunity to sit in quietness under the burning bush.
The rest of the group went with our guide for a walk along a rough, steep pathway, joined by an amiable stray dog, passing remains of ancient dwellings, some on the foundations of earlier Nabatean buildings, and noticed the small, often very beautiful plants growing in the rock crevices where a little moisture gathers. The contrast in between the massive nature of the terrain and the tiny detail of the plants is sharp and quite wonderful: God in great and small. Back at the Guest House, we sat in the coffee shop and enjoyed a tremendous sunset.
We were staying at the Guest House that neighbours the Monastery, our rooms mainly bordering an attractive garden where you can sit and read or just be. The guest house has a coffee-shop, open most of the day and night, and small groups of us would gather here after or before dinner and just chat. Given that the group was large – 26 – and most didn’t know each other, it ‘gelled’ particularly well, and the buzz of conversation over mealtimes and warmth of feeling was great.
Sunday: A quiet day, devoid of tourists, as the monastery is not open at all, so when we climbed Sinai, under the leadership of a Bedouin guide, appropriately named Moses, we had the mountain virtually to ourselves; again, a rare and special experience, for crowds come from the coast to climb at night, waiting at the top for sunrise, and then the track up the mountain bears a marked resemblance to a motorway, with camels as juggernauts. Most opted for camel travel for the first, longest part of the way, then some remained at the camel-stopping place, some went part way up the rest of the way and others made it to the top, and to a time of quiet and reflection.
Monday: We set out by jeep into the desert for one night. It was at this point that Ashraf shared his discovery that there may not be provision for those who wished to actually sleep outside, which made for some anxiety for us both and some muttering within the group quite reminiscent of the grumbles that beset Moses . . .!
The first stop was at the Orthodox Convent of Wadi Firan, set in a large oasis it is the site of the first bishopric of Sinai and an earlier place of pilgrimage than St. Catherine’s and in the surrounding hillsides can be seen the caves of former hermits; outside the peaceful and beautiful convent grounds are the ruins of a vast sixth-century church.
We were heading into a region famous for its turquoise mines in times past, and at lunchtime stopped for those who wished to walk up to a former mine before enjoying a wonderful lunch provided by our Bedouin drivers and helpers. Our journey then led us to a view-point, where a massive area of sand stretched before us, awesome to view; but when we lowered our eyes to the ground beneath us, we were encircled by stones of quite stunning beauty – again, the contrast between the vast and the tiny, each marvellous in construction and being.
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The great . . . |
and the small . . . |
and a happy Elena. |
And so onwards, across and, more significantly and scarily, down, steep sand-dunes to the village on the edge of which was our camp and indeed it had changed vastly from the last time I had stayed there. A bit of negotiation by Ashraf led to a lot of joy when sleeping-bags and blankets were found for those who wanted to sleep out, while the rest of us each chose our small room – bare stone huts furnished only with large double bed and small mat. Dinner, cooked by our Bedouin hosts, was taken around a wood fire, then Elena led the group in giving each opportunity to offer what had been special to them in the trip thus far, before blending some of this into her talk on Egyptian monasticism.
And so, early, to bed. For those sleeping out, there was the wonder of the canopy of stars above (no light pollution in the desert); for me, there was the waking early, rested and comfortable in my little ‘cell’, and reflecting on how little we actually need to be content and at peace. This is something that comes to me often in the Sinai, especially looking at the simple life-style of the Bedouin, living within what is an immensely hostile environment; adapting to its restrictions, as against our way of trying to change the environment to suit us, and ruining it in the process.
Tuesday: Serabit – a small mountain at the top of which are very ancient turquoise mines and the ruins of a massive temple to the goddess Hathor, ‘the lady of the turquoise.’ The views on the way up and down are tremendous and the site itself is stunning; sole evidence that, millennia ago, this absolutely barren place was a thriving community. The ascent had been made much simpler since my previous visit, by the provision of steps, but the descent, we were warned, was a ‘bit slippy-slidey.’ A bit? But, as on Sinai, those who tackled the walk (more folk than I expected) found that they achieved all and more than they had dreamed possible, helped by guides and encouraged by their fellow-travellers. I had been here in 2003 and never, at the time, imagined that I would return, so the climb was rather special to me. Incidentally, the winner in the instant blood-sugar lift stakes was jelly babies!
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The camp-site |
Ascent of Serabit |
Descent of Serabit |
For those who opted out of the climb, there was an opportunity to rest back at camp or, in the case of one person, conduct an ad hoc English lesson for an interested Bedouin.
We returned to St. Catherine’s via the coast of the Gulf of Suez, an industrialised area far different to the terrain through which we’d travelled.
Wednesday: We all set out to walk along Wadi Arbei to the home of Ramadan, a Bedouin who runs a breeding programme for hyrax, a guinea-pig-like creature, actually related to the elephant, that lives wild in the Sinai, but whose numbers had begun to decline radically. The walk is easy and very lovely, passing the rock from which water flowed when struck by Moses’ staff; we stopped here to hear the relevant passages and reflect on the ‘living water’ Christ offers. We continued by the Monastery of the 40 Martyrs, also owned by St. Catherine’s, its garden sadly closed on this occasion, then to Ramadan’s to view the captive hyrax and enjoy tea under a canopy beside his garden. On the way back, we called at a shop run by a Bedouin lady who has built up a business by putting out embroidery work to women in their own homes; the quality of the work – bags, cushions, jewellery and more – is excellent and over the years I have watched this business thrive and grow (website: http://fansina.net). For a Bedouin woman to have achieved all this is remarkable, and I am always keen to support her business – one look at the merchandise, and everyone else was keen too!
Thursday 12th November: The return to Sharm and the Vera Club Queen hotel, starting out relatively early to give time for those who wished to swim in the sea before lunch and departure for home, all of us conscious that this beautiful sunshine would be a dream once home . . . and so to home – and the ‘re-entry’ that I always find difficult seemed so much harder this time. Why, I’m not sure – but what I do know is that I am already talking with McCabe Travel about another trip, this time including the Red Sea Coptic Orthodox monasteries of St. Anthony and St. Paul. As they say, watch this space.
Ruth Crofton
Revd Ruth Crofton is Convenor of the Synod
Doctrine, Spirituality, Prayer & Worship Group
Read Barry Hutchinson's Sinai Reflections