12/18/2009
Mount Moses was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was rough getting up at 1:30am knowing that I was about to climb a mountain. It was cold, dark and a little scary at times, but getting to the top made me feel as if I could do anything I wanted to in the world I wanted to. The trek up the camel path was not bad. It was a pretty steady incline, and was at times very difficult. It was wide enough to fit three or four people across, and wasn’t really on the edge of the mountain. So you were afraid of fall off a cliff. At times you must move aside to let the camels through that have visitors on them, or are just passing to find someone that may need one. Since we were on the camel trail, you had to be a little weary of where you stepped. I was one who tucked in the bottom of my sweatpants so that they were not covered in camel droppings. The camels could only take you so far though. You have to do those last 750 steps at your own will. I was not ready for this at all. I made it though. Some of the steps were a little shaky, beings they were put their by man. You had to be careful of the people that were in a hurry to get to the top, for what I am not sure. At the time that we had reached the top we were all sweating and not too cold. But we soon learned why lots of people were trying to rent blankets to us. It got cold, really really really cold. Cold enough that I couldn’t feel my toes or fingers. It was cold. I had never been so anxious for the sun to rise in my life. Before the rising of the sun, to help forget about how cold I was, I looked around at all the people. There were lots of people. People from all religious backgrounds, race, ethnicity, and whatever else. All were taking in the site from the top. There were people singing, I could only catch a few words, but I think it went something like the call of prayer heard five times daily. I could hear the word Allah. Which is God in Arabic? It was amazing to see all these people here in one place, for the same reason, God. Yes, many would say that it was just to watch the sunrise. But really that mountain has so much meaning to so many people all around the world. Then the sun started to peek out above the horizon. Everyone was so happy, snapping pictures, hoping for warmth. It was truly a beautiful site to see. Once everyone had gotten pictures there was a mad rush for the stairs. It was a slow process moving down. I was on the slow side because I couldn’t feel my toes, and with every step they ached tremendously. As we were heading down, you could start to feel the sun, but the wind it what hurt the most. It was nice to be able to see where I was walking, and what views I had missed on the way up. You could also so many people from different countries that had joined you on the mountain that morning. It was nice to reach the bottom and take a break for a minute before we visited St. Catherine’s Monastery.
Posted at 12:07 PM by Amanda Gibbs