Sinai Trip. Part Three.

Eventually we had to come down. We opted to take the Stairs of Penitence. These are some of the pictures I took while climbing down:

I do not know what this building is- there were crosses on/around it:

St. Catherine's Monastery comes into view!:

St. Catherine's monastery is the oldest continuously functioning Christian monastery in the world. It was first built in the 6th Century AD. You can read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Catherine%27s_Monastery,_Mount_Sinai

Our fearless fourteenish year-old guide through it all:

Inside the walls protecting the monastery, but not inside the monastery:

Cats are everywhere in Egypt, even in the monasteries:
We had to wait two-and-a-half hours until the monastery opened up for tours, so we slept outside their coffee shop:

This used to be the only way you could get into the actual monastery (it is some sort of pulley system):
..but now they have this little door:
This is supposedly either the Burning Bush or a descendant (supposedly, as well) of it. It is massive:





There is a cathedral inside, too. However, photos were not allowed. This is what I had written down when I was inside of it:
"-1st set of doors of wooden doors - built during Fatimids 11th and 12th Centuries
-2nd set of doors - built under Justinian 6th Century
-Rows of large chandeliers in the main room
-detailed engravings and artwork EVERYWHERE
-very large crucifix at far end of the room
-a large throne on the right side of the room"

The wooden doors were had ornate inscriptions and engravings on them- it was amazing that they were still in decent condition considering their age.

After the monastery, we drove back to Dahab. Breakfast was included in our room fee so were given breakfast, even though it was 2pm. While eating, the Red Sea began calling my name. I decided to go for a swim. As mentioned before, the Red Sea is full of rocks and coral. This made it difficult to fully enjoy swimming in it. There were a number of times when I would try to bodysurf (I am not completely sure what all bodysurfing entails, but I like to think I was doing it) only to end up crashing into some massive rock that was out of sight, just below the surface of the water. After an hour or so, my legs and feet were covered in cuts and scratches. I gave up.

Later that evening, we went to visit that store we had been at the previous day for some tea. [Since coming to Egypt, I have acquired a taste for tea. Delicious.] Then we went to a seafood restaurant where I ordered chicken. That led to me being teased throughout the night by the waiters- it is all apart of the Egyptian humor-thing. They are very friendly and enjoying mild teasing. We went to bed when we got back and the following morning we had our final seaside-meal. It was sad. Then we took a long bus ride back to Cairo.