Cultural Tour of Mount Sinai

 

Dahab	Nesima Resort	1 night
Mount Sinai	See note	5 nights
Dahab	Nesima Resort	1 night

NOTE: During your stay in the area around Mount Sinai you will stay in a variety of accommodations.  Please refer to the day-to-day itinerary below.

This itinerary runs in parallel with the 'Adventurous Tour of Sinai'.  You may therefore move from one to the other, and also enjoy meeting up with guests of different interests in the evening.

8 days £660

excluding international flights

DAY 1 – Arrival in Sharm el-Sheikh.  Transfer to Dahab.

On arrival in Sharm el-Sheikh, after obtaining your Egyptian visa and passing through immigration and customs, you will be met by a representative of Yalla Jabaleya! on behalf of World Discovery and taken by private car direct to your hotel in Dahab (90km from Sharm el-Sheikh) on the Red Sea coast.  Before dinner (not included, to allow personal choice) you will enjoy an introductory talk about the itinerary and a brief history of Mount Sinai.   Recommended flight from London: Easyjet from London Gatwick (see below). If you are travelling from a country other than the UK we would be happy to give you guidance on your flight options.

DAY 2 – Monastery of St Catherine.

After breakfast head into the rugged interior of the Sinai Peninsula to the village of St Catherine.  Here you will be given a guided tour of the Monastery, built by the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century.  Not only is it one of the holiest sites in Christendom, for it was here that God ordered Moses to remove his sandals, "for the place where you stand is holy ground", but it contains one of the finest mosaics of Byzantium, possesses the only icons to have survived the 6th and 7th centuries, houses the finest library of ancient manuscripts outside the Vatican, and is a bastion of Orthodox Christianity.  [click here for a link to the detailed history notes on the Yalla Jabaleya website].  After lunch you will begin the ascent of Mount Sinai with a walk up the camel path to 'Elijah's Basin' where you will settle into your lodgings for tonight in the Monastery Garden of Mahmoud's Mt Sinai Refuge.  Dinner around the camp fire in this delightful spot.
Meals included: Full breakfast, lunch, dinner.

DAY 3 – Mount Sinai.

Rise an hour before dawn and ascend to the summit of Mount Sinai to join the pilgrims on the summit and view the amazing colours of the surrounding mountains (left) as the sun appears above the horizon.  After participating in this wonderful moment, descend to the Monastery Garden for breakfast.  The morning is spent exploring the mountain, discovering ancient Byzantine chapels and relaxing in secluded mountain basins.  There will be an opportunity for personal time.  After lunch, descend the 'Steps Of Repentance' to St Catherine's Monastery.  Tonight you will stay in the simple but comfortable Monastery Guesthouse.
Meals included: Full breakfast, lunch, dinner.

DAY 4 – Star Viewing in the Ecolodge.

The morning is at leisure with an option to revisit the Monastery.  Lunch will be taken at the Fansina Craft Centre, a Bedouin women's cooperative making clothes, beadwork, bags and other handicrafts.  In the afternoon you will be transferred to Gameel Atteya's Ecolodge, a perfect place for stellar observation [click on this link for further details].  The Ecolodge is built of local stones, palm logs and clay; there is no electricity and no light pollution (all lighting is from candles and oil lamps).  Yet in these simple surroundings you can enjoy beautiful stone shower rooms with solar heated water, excellent food and a good night's rest in rooms furnished in an innovative Bedouin style.  Before dinner you will be introduced to the night sky as the brightest stars emerge out of the twilight.  After dinner you will identify the zodiac, learn about the life and death of stars and discover distant galaxies with the help of an 8" Meade LX90GP Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
Meals included: Full breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Based in the UK and interested in astronomy?  Take a look at what 'Astronomia', Surrey's only astronomy centre, can offer [more]

DAY 5 – Herbal Garden.

After breakfast transfer to Abu Seyla.  From here you will take a guided botany walk down the gulley to reach the Herbal Garden of Dr Ahmed, a local Hakim skilled in herbal medicines who runs a school for local Bedouin children to ensure that his traditional knowledge is not lost to coming generations [click on this link for more details].  After lunch at the Herbal Garden there is further botany activity and an opportunity to visit the cave of John 'Climacus' ("the ladder"), Abbot of the monastery at the beginning of the 7th century, thus nicknamed in honour of his book on ascetic practice, The Ladder of Divine Ascent [click here for an article on John Climacus and the Landscape of Mount Sinai].  Overnight at the Herbal Garden in Bedouin tents or the community room.
Pictured: Sage (salvia mulicaulis).
Meals included: Full breakfast, lunch, dinner.

DAY 6 - Wadi Itlah.

The morning is at leisure with opportunities to visit other gardens in the neighbourhood, take tea with the Bedouin, discover more plants and discuss the local herbal traditions.  After lunch walk up Wadi Itlah under the precipitous cliffs of the High Mountains.  From the end of the Wadi, transfer back to the Monastery Guesthouse where you will spend the night.
Meals included: Full breakfast, lunch, dinner.

DAY 7 - Return to the Red Sea coast.

After breakfast you will have a final opportunity to visit the Monastery or Icon Gallery before returning through the mountains to your hotel in Dahab on the Red Sea coast.  The remainder of the day is at leisure to enjoy the bustle and activity of this attractive Bedouin town.
Meals included: Full breakfast, lunch.

DAY 8 - Homeward Flight.

Morning free.  In the afternoon transfer to Sharm el-Sheikh Airport for your homeward flight.
Meals included: Full breakfast.

International Flights

There are no full-service schedule flights direct to Sharm el-Sheikh from the UK.  We recommend the services of Easyjet from London Gatwick. Current timings (subject to possible change) are as follows:
Gatwick/Sharm el-Sheikh. Depart at 09.15; arrive Sharm el-Sheikh at 16.35
Sharm el-Sheikh/Gatwick. Depart at 17.30; arrive Gatwick at 21.20

Cultural Tour of Mount Sinai (Tour Reference: WDEGS001)
2010 Departures
Price per person based on a minimum of two persons travelling together (maximum group size: 10 passengers)

Departures on Sundays	Price
17 Jan, 14 Feb, 14 Mar, 11 Apr, 16 May, 13 Jun, 11 Jul, 8 Aug, 5 Sep, 10 Oct, 7 Nov 5 Dec	£660

Single Room Supplements on request.

The price includes:

• Accommodation as listed above
• 7 full breakfasts, 6 lunches and 5 dinners as shown in the itinerary
• Private transportation throughout
• All sightseeing and activities as shown (unless indicated as ‘optional’), including entrance fees
• The services of private English-speaking guides for the included sightseeing

Not included in the price:

• International flights (see our recommendation above). We are happy to discuss the flights with you and give you further guidance
• Optional sightseeing
• International airport taxes
• Tipping. We will be pleased to give guidance in this often sensitive matter

A deposit of £150 per person is required at the time of booking. The balance of the price for your travel arrangements must be paid at least 8 weeks before your departure date.