Travelling is like engaging in prayers that will change the course of your life – Visiting Egypt
How excited I was to finally be in Egypt for a few days. The last time I visited, I had a few hours to spare, so I applied for my visa and submitted all the documents required. By that time, I had already finalized the hotel and flight reservations. As you keep on doing something, your experience also accumulates. The flight reservations indicated that I would leave Johannesburg (OR Tambo Airport) to Jeddah, Jeddah to Ruh Riyadh and from Ruh Riyadh to Sharm El Sheik and the return flight was going through the same route. Ok, no worries, I was all set and ready for Egypt.
The flight was for 11h00 on a Saturday morning and by 07h30 of that morning I was already at the airport and ready to check myself in. I was among the first few on the line for check in. When I got to the counter, I gave them my passport and they ran their fingers on the computer’s keyboard and I just heard *click, click, click*. The lady said, “you don’t have a visa for Saudi Arabia”. I replied, “I am not going there, I am only passing through Saudi to Egypt and I have a visa for Egypt”. She said, “you are going through a domestic airport through Saudi and a visa is required and the only way we advise you right now is to reroute your flight to Cairo from Jeddah and from Cairo to Sharm El Sheik and that is going to cost you an extra charge and you also need to book a flight from Cairo to Sharm El Sheik”. That was a huge “bump” and there went all the ching-ching (money) I saved up.
I had to think on my feet there and weigh the possibility of staying behind and missing out on all the experiences and my mind said, the experience outweighs the extra charge, just take the bull by its horns. Someday you will recover the ching-ching. I immediately secured my return flight from Cairo to Sharm El Sheik and luckily, I had an option to take the one with a long layover for another chance to visit the Giza Pyramids. By the way, this experience could have been avoided if I was not trying to save some few cents which ended up costing me an arm and a leg. I know better that next time, I will book direct flights. The easiest route was to fly from Johannesburg to Cairo and to Sharm El Sheik. I also know better that international domestic flights should be avoided at all costs.
When I arrived in Cairo, the place was even more beautiful than the last time I saw it and I could smell the soil. You know that smell you get after the rain. I took a shuttle and headed to the Giza Pyramids and they were just as breathtaking. This time I could touch and climb on the Pyramid. When I took photos, I just felt like one of the pyramids… A strong woman that stood the test of time.
In the same area, I also got close and personal with the Sphinx, which has been defined as “a mythical creature with a head of a human, falcon, a cat or a sheep and the body of a lion with the wings of an eagle. In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion and the wings of a bird”.
Off I went back to the airport to catch my flight to Sharm El Sheik and I met my friends from South Africa and Washington DC. My day was totally made. I arrived at Sharm El Sheik and the shuttle was waiting and I was taken to the hotel. The hotel was gorgeous. It was situated just at the front of the Red Sea… My gosh, is this the very Red Sea I read about in the books? And I was literally going to dunk myself in the clear waters. This was just unbelievable. It was real, alright.
I would literally just skip all the other fun things and jump straight into an excursion. A group of friends and I organized an excursion to Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is located, roughly 1 hour from Dahab and approximately 3 hours from Sharm El Sheik. We left Sharm El Sheik at 17h00 and arrived at St Catherine’s Monastery at 21h00. It is 2,285 meters above sea level and it is a religious pilgrimage site where Moses is said to have received the 10 Commandments. Moses was also said to have been commanded to take off his shoes as the place is holy.
We started our ascend, taking 3,750 stone steps leading to the Sinai Summit. This was one tough a ride. There was an option to take a camel at a fee but our group agreed that we will walk…. and walk….. and persevere through it all. I, for one, was struggling. My feet could not carry me anymore. Motion sickness, altitude sickness and the smell of camels made me transcend into my prophetic mode every now and then. Luckily, our tour guide was very patient with us. As we ascended deep into the mountain, it was becoming freezing cold but thankfully, there were coffee kiosks on the side of the road. Then we reached a certain place where no camels were allowed. We persevered and pushed until we came to some sort of a coffee shop/blanket renting shop. We rested a bit and continued our journey.
In my head, I kept on telling myself that I am not a quitter, I can do this, no matter how challenging it is, I will reach the top. And I kept on pushing. At this point there were no camels, so my sickness had subsided, and I was regaining my senses. I kept on asking if we were there yet. And all of a sudden, our tour guide just said that we had arrived. Wow, mission accomplished! It was around 04h20 in the morning. The summit was full of people from all walks of life. Everyone was serious and praying in their own language. I also started praying in my mother tongue. I prayed so loud. I prayed and prayed with tears flowing. I kept on praying until there were no tears left. It was freezing cold.
After my prayers and taking a few photos, I witnessed the sunrise at the summit of Mt Sinai. I stood there, watching and admiring the sunrise. In awe. It was a surreal, magical moment. I just knew that, from that whole experience I was destined to reach greater heights. The course of my life was changed from that moment.