Climbing Mount Sinai

Camel dressed up for the climb!

Me on my camel 

 Of the whole 22 of us, 15 decided they were going to climb to the top of Mount Sinai.  We were not a young party but we were determined!  The fittest 6 climbed the whole way from the Monastery to the top, the other 9 of us rode camels up to the camel station which is about two thirds of the way but which still leaves the steepest 750 steps to the top.  Me, I was a camel rider and although getting on the camel and the camel then getting up to standing position is a bit of a challenge, it was worth it.  My camel was called Abdul and the boy leading Abdul, a young lad of about 11 or 12 was called Mustafa.  He was on his school holiday and had his younger brother Josef tagging alongside and helping with the camel behind.  Our camels had already been up to the midway station that morning and made it quite clear that they would rather be at home.  The boys pulled and pushed and smacked them and the camels just snorted and wobbled their camel bottom lips and went their own pace.  It takes about 2 hours to get to the camel station and I can say from experience that I was glad when Abdul sunk to the floor and I clambered off tottering slightly!  We had a little wait here which meant that we could have a drink and reconnect with our legs.  The walkers appeared about 30  minutes later and they mostly needed a rest before setting off for the summit.  We took this quite slowly because the steps are rough and steep and we needed to rest every so often.  No camels come up these steps, they gladly took their leave and went back down to their home just outside the Monastery.  We climb up about 100 steps and arrive at Elijah's garden where we see trees and a clearing with a hermitage and a small chapel.  Was Elijah really here?  We can't stop for long, we have another 600 or so steps to climb.  One member of our party who had been going to stay at Elijah's garden because of her three score years and more had decided she was going to make it to the top so we all held our breath at every stopping point to check she had made it too.  She did, she made it to the top and this is quite a climb with the steps being so high and irregular.  At the top, we could see all around mountains slightly smaller and one higher, we could see miles to right and left and we could see Moses cave where he hid from the terrible sight of God passing by.  There is a Church and a Mosque but we couldn't get in to either however, in my rucksack was all that we needed to have a Mass at the Summit, there was a silver goblet borrowed from my daughter, two clean white cloths and Father Laurence had brought the wafers which looked as if they might blow away in the wind.  We spoke the words of the service after him and then passed the wafers and then the wine in Rachel's christening goblet round and then held hands and wished that peace would fall on the world, on the warring factions, on families and communities.  One person climbed into Moses cave, I thought he might get stuck!  Then we all made our way down, back down the 750 steps to the camel stop where we had lunch and then down down down to the bottom.  My legs were very wobbly by the time I arrived back at the Monastery!  And they were very stiff and sore for the next two days.  I resolved to be fitter next year because for sure I will be going back there, back to the mountain where Moses saw the burning bush, where he hid from the terrible sight of God passing by, where he was given the tablets of stone to bring down passing Elijah's garden on the way, back down to the Children of Israel camped out on the Plain of Moses just below the Monastery.   Is it worth the climb?  Do you feel that it is where these great prophets and seers of old really were?  I conclude that only God knows but that it seems most likely to me and that it has an extraordinary drawing power for pilgrims like us.  Our oldest climber made it back too and was glad to have managed the climb.

The Church at the summit of Mount Sinai