Visa time . .

August 12th 2010

It was a great coincidence that Ramadan commenced at exactly the same time I had to leave Palestine and Israel in order re-enter and renew my visa. My stay here so far has been under a 3 month tourist visa which expired on the 6th august and to be honest I'm lost for where the time has gone.

I left Nablus on the 2nd August at 6am with the intention of making it to the Taba border crossing by the evening of the same day. The Taba border crossing is located just south of Eilat and is the only land border with Egypt. I made it down in good time passing through the Qalandia checkpoint before getting a bus from Jerusalem to Eilat. There were the usual complications at the checkpoint with two elderly women being denied transit and ordered off the bus by some young Israeli soldiers, a scene which is depressingly all to common.

Here I am though, sipping lemon juice by the Red Sea with the Sinai Dessert firmly behind me with its towering mountains laying guard over the region. Bang ahead over the red sea Saudi Arabia glistens in the evening Ramadan light and I feel cocooned in this utopian hippy enclave surrounded by the nasty warring factions around me. If I look left up the bay I can just about make out the bright lights of Eilat, the tacky not so glamorous Blackpool of Israel. Ahead as said is the strict Wahhabi regime of Saudi Arabia, to the right is Hosni Mubaraks Cairo and behind me nestled in the mountains of Sinai there resides 'terror' groups linked to Hamas and Al - Qaida. The day I arrived in Sinai was the day insurgents (allegedly linked to Hamas) fired rockets aimed at Eilat. One landed in the sea, the was over shot  landing in Aqaba Jordan killing a random taxi driver. This type of armed resistance seems more like a Monty Python sketch than a serious threat to Israeli security.

Sinai for me can't be summed up in the limited language we human beings harness. It is both unnaturally intimidatingly and beautiful. The most famous land mark in the region is Mount Sinai. It is believed that this is the location Moses received the ten commandments from God after his daring escape from slavery in Egypt. Not three days ago I climbed it. Myself and about 1000 other tourists, pilgrims and psychopaths set off at 1 am and reached the summit by 5 am. There, we waited for the sun to rise and it eventually broke through he mountain range like flood waters breaking over a damn.

Ruined by tourists (like me), fat moaning Americans, rude Russians and one idiot from Italy who carried a cross all the way to the top (I'm sure he was confused), the experience was as moving as Jade Goodys' funeral. The only thing which kept me walking up was knowing that should I choose to give up and go back down I would have amble through the 2000 camels and 1000 morons cluttering up the narrow path which I over took to get to the front. Granted the scenery was awesome at the top though.





The Bedouin were on good form though, through my broken Arabic I heard them mocking one obese American man as he grappled up the peak of the mountain. The camels also cheered me up, as I walked past one it broke wind violently. Screams and moans of complaint could be heard for minutes after from the unlucky rear enders. I let off a sly one as well,  It was a perfect cover.

Walking down in the sunlight was also nice but mildly depressing. Tourist litter can be seen in most places on the trail and I caught one idiot throwing his batteries from his camera on the floor.  I kindly told him to pick it up. I was surprised when he did.

I'm staying Dahab at the moment, a lovely little resort in between the Sharm el Sheik and Taba. Its heaven wearing shorts and have a beer in the evening. The beaches are as beautiful as the reefs I snorkel and there is a great mix of  travellers here from all over. The place is quite empty though and has never really covered from the waves of terrorist attacks which hits the resort 5 or so years ago.Quiet is good though and it's exactly what I need.

The view from my 'hut'