Sinai - Egypt's Strange Asian Half

One of the greatest ancient civilizations of mankind not only has pyramids or temples thousands of years old still intact. Few people know that this country with strange geography straddling two continents has half of Asia which is also full of charm.

Egypt is located in North Africa, with more than 90% of the country covered by desert, the Nile River accounts for about 5% of the area, and most of the people live along the banks of the Nile. This country is also famous for the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. This canal is also the boundary that divides the country into two separate Asian and African parts. The Asian half is located entirely on the Sinai Peninsula.

The Sinai Peninsula has a rather strange terrain, divided into two parts, North and South. North Sinai is almost a mountainous and desert area, while South Sinai is surrounded by the Red Sea - a famous destination for tourists who love the sea. I arrived in Egypt on an early winter day and had the idea of ​​crossing the Suez Canal, going to the Asian side to dive in the Red Sea, touching the holy mountain of Sinai.

"Landing" in the military zone

There are two ways to get across the peninsula from Cairo, by bus or by plane. Mohamed Gad, a tour guide I met while traveling here, knew that I was traveling alone and suggested that I go by plane because it was faster, healthier and safer. I still insisted on going by night bus. My purpose was partly to save money, but above all to experience and fully feel the daily life of the people.

Gad took me to the bus stop. He showed me and told me to cross the street, right at the corner of the house was the ticket office. Then when it was time for the bus to leave, come over here to get on the bus. I paused: How would I know which bus I needed to get on because the license plates here were all in Arabic? Gad reassured me: “Just show me your ticket and ask the people here, they will guide you. Don't worry, Egyptians are gentle and kind. Egypt is also one of the safest countries in the world for tourists to travel on the streets.”

“Safe?”, I thought to myself. Looking at the men here, all tall, bearded and with white eyes, how could I not be careful! It was past 9 pm, the ticket office was sparsely populated. Only one ticket counter was still operating out of the four counters here. The ticket office was quite small and rudimentary, but the ticketing system here was quite modern. In front of each ticket counter was an LCD screen displaying the seating chart for customers to choose from, and the ticket seller only needed to confirm the information, then print the ticket for the customer.

The night bus station was also quite empty. The buses were quite clean, but even though they were long-distance buses, there were only seats, not sleeper buses. I put my luggage under the bed and got on the bus, only men were on board. For the first 30 minutes in downtown Cairo, the bus played prayers in Arabic, but as soon as the bus entered the highway, Arabic movies with loud sounds replaced the prayers, making it impossible for me to sleep.

In the middle of the night, just as I was dozing off, I was awakened by the bus stopping and the sound of passengers on board. Outside, a series of other buses were also stopping and passengers were getting on and off in a hurry. I was surprised to see people starting to take their luggage one by one, standing in a circle and opening their luggage to put it on the ground in front of them. In front of them, many policemen in black uniforms, long guns in hand, walked back and forth. Before I could calm down, the driver signaled for me to get off the bus to get my luggage, and line up like the rest of the passengers.

The policemen walked back and forth, shining flashlights into each bag. Only then did I understand that they were doing a security check. Our bus was about to go through the tunnel to cross the Suez Canal, to the other side of Asia. During the long journey that followed, the bus had to stop every 30 minutes or so. Each time, there were many policemen around the bus, checking something for a long time. The only thing was, the next time, the passengers did not have to take their luggage and have them check each person like before. At nearly 7am, the bus arrived at the station on the Sharm El Sheikh side, after nearly 9 hours for a distance of more than 700km.

The Sinai Peninsula is a military region of Egypt. This area shares a border with Israel, and is separated from Saudi Arabia by the narrow Gulf of Aqada. With such a sensitive geography, especially after the 6-day war in 1967 between the coalition of Egypt and Arab countries and Israel, this peninsula became a military zone strictly controlled by the Egyptian army.

Blue scarf on the Red Sea

Despite being a sensitive military area, Sinai is second only to Cairo, home to the famous Giza Pyramids, in terms of tourist arrivals thanks to its scenic beauty and the government's efforts to promote tourism here.

Sinai has two “natural treasures” that attract tourists, which are the Ras Mohamed National Marine Park and the Sinai Holy Mountains. Along the long southern coast of this peninsula are only hotels and resorts from 4 to 6 stars, which are as beautiful as a dream. There are almost no houses here. People live concentrated in Na'ama Bay in the south and the new city of Dahab, hundreds of kilometers from Sharm El Sheikh. Dahab is also the second place chosen by many tourists for sea activities, after Sharm El Sheikh.

“The entire peninsula has less than 600,000 inhabitants, so most of the workers here come from other places. Since Islam is the state religion, men do almost all the work. Women stay home to spend time with their families,” Gad shared when I asked him about the night bus with only men.

I quickly left my luggage at the hotel, made a quick cup of hot coffee and got in the car of a local tour company that Gad had booked for me to go diving at the pier. There are many diving spots in Sharm El Sheikh, the most famous of which is Shark Reef in Ras Mohamed. This dive site is famous for its barracuda. ​​If you are lucky, you can see reef sharks (a type of shark that does not attack humans).

The speedboat service for diving here is also quite modern. The speedboats are spacious and clean. Below the boat are changing rooms and bathrooms. There is a living room and a small food counter. The entire upper part of the boat is used for resting and watching the sea.

Mahmoud, my diving instructor and co-diver, advised that if you have time, you should go diving in Tiran Island, the second most popular diving spot in the peninsula. Or go snorkeling in Blue Hole in Aqada Bay. However, because Blue Hole is a natural hole hundreds of meters deep close to the coast (due to this feature, the water here is dark blue), divers need to have an advanced diving license and must have a lot of diving experience before the diving centers dare to accept them.

It must be admitted that each diving spot has its own beauty and appeal because of the diverse corals and aquatic life, no spot is the same as another. Therefore, the diving spots here are always voted by many famous magazines in the list of the most beautiful diving spots in the world.

After a day of diving with many emotions and scenes like lost in a fairyland, I spent the afternoon returning to watch the sunset at the bow of the ship in the Ras Mohamed National Park. The bow of the ship is a small, narrow strip of land jutting out into the sea, with occasional geological cracks that, standing on the shore, I could see schools of small fish and corals deep below. I looked into the distance. Under the fading sunlight on the Red Sea, the sea water was haloed with different shades of blue, like soft scarves draped around a young woman's neck.

Touch the land of the Old Testament

“Today the Lord has loved his people, today he has brought them up to Mount Zion.” (*) This is a passage from a famous hymn from the 1950s that every Catholic has heard at least once. The hymn is taken from the Exodus psalm about Moses, a great prophet in the Old Testament, bringing 70 people up to the Holy Mountain to receive the Sinai Covenant, which are the 10 commandments that Christianity still uses today.

(*) The Old Testament name for the area of ​​Mount Sinai today. Mount Sinai is also known by the Egyptians as Mount Moses.

To catch the sunrise on Mount Sinai, visitors will have to depart at 11 pm from Sharm El Sheikh or Dahab for a 3-hour drive to the gathering area at the foot of the mountain. I and a group of other tourists were introduced to Mohamed, the local guide here and the person who will support the group on the climb. After a few greetings and a brief introduction about himself, Mohamed introduced the trekking: it will be a trail, with steep and rocky sections, but not too difficult and quite safe.

It was pitch black, lit only by the flickering flashlights of the pilgrims, and we started walking. Mohamed walked ahead with his flashlight, turning around and counting the people. Every 15-20 minutes, he would pick a flat spot for everyone to rest for a few minutes, then continue walking. After more than an hour, we reached the first station. It was a wooden house with chairs placed around the walls. They served tea, coffee and cakes. An Italian couple, who had always been behind the group, decided to stop because they could not climb any further. They did not want their delay to affect the others, and for them, touching the Holy Mountain was enough.

At the second stop, after Mohamed and I had talked a bit more and became more familiar with each other, he pointed to the camel lying in front of the stop and asked if I wanted to try it. This camel belonged to the owner of the tea shop here. Mohamed would negotiate a good price for me. Of course, the camel could only take me to the third stop. After that, guests still had to climb another stretch of more than 600 steep stone steps to reach the top. I agreed immediately because I was too tired, partly because I wanted to know the feeling of riding a camel up the mountain.

Indeed, riding a camel up the mountain was an unforgettable experience. From the initial feeling of fear because the road was very dark with a cliff on one side and a deep abyss on the other, there were also some narrow and slippery sections. I foolishly thought that if the camel stepped on an unstable stone, I didn't know what would happen. Mohamed encouraged me: "Don't worry, camels are animals with quite good memories. They remember every stone they set foot on along this route. Camels' eyes see very well in the dark. There has never been an accident here before." I temporarily felt reassured and believed him (but actually, there was no other way). When I started to get used to the feeling of riding a camel, I dared to look up. The dark night sky was dotted with countless sparkling stars, stretching out endlessly, in a strangely calm and peaceful silence.

Our group was one of the first to reach the summit. Mohamed had been encouraging us and urging us to hurry and try to get the best spot to watch the sunrise on the summit. He had found a spot on a flat stone platform against the side of the mountain with a pretty good view. We could sit against the cliff while waiting for the sunrise.

Time passed so slowly. At 6am, from afar, a pale pink line ran along the horizon, then slowly grew larger and darker, gradually deepening, until it became a mottled orange-red. Right in the middle, the sun appeared, big and clear like a giant ball of fire, almost as if you could reach out and touch it. In just a moment, the dawn woke up as if it had taken off the old black cloak of the entire undulating hilly region and replaced it with a new pink-brown cloak, leaving anyone who witnessed it overwhelmed.

In the afternoon, visitors can visit another place recognized by UNESCO as a world cultural heritage located at the foot of the mountain: the ancient Catherine Monastery. This is one of the oldest monasteries in the world. Here, visitors can visit the chapel with thousands of priceless artifacts, the ancient well where the prophet Moses met his wife. And most notably, the thorn bush, where God appeared in the image of a pillar of fire to call Moses to lead the Jews, cross the Red Sea to enter the promised land, which is today's Israel.

Until I left, I still could not believe that I had just touched Sinai, the land of the Bible. And I understood that, somehow, this planet is always open to those who know how to nurture the dream of touching the land that contains many strange mysteries.

More information:

+ Visa:You can apply at the Egyptian Embassy in Hanoi. The documents need to be prepared in detail and fully similar to those for visas in developed countries. However, the application review and issuance process is easier. The fee is 25 USD for a single entry visa and 35 USD for multiple entries. If you book a tour with an Egyptian travel agency or travel in a group of 10 people, you can request them to apply for a visa at the airport (Visa on arrival), with a fee of 65 USD/visa/single entry for a stay of 30 days.

+ Move:Buses from Cairo to Sharm El Sheikh are quite cheap, ranging from 5-10 USD depending on the bus company. There are also many domestic flights for this route during the day, mainly operated by Nile Air and EgyptAir, round-trip prices range from 120-200 USD for a 1-hour flight.

+ Travel:If you are going within the city, taxis are the most suitable means of transport. Taxis run day and night and are easy to find. Note that some taxis do not have meters, so you should negotiate the price before getting in.

+ Accommodation:There are many hotels and resorts here, with reasonable prices. 3-4 star hotels in the center cost from 25-40 USD/night/double room. Resorts right on the beach, depending on the star rating, room type and accompanying services, cost from 60 USD/room. 1 week before departure, you can go to reputable booking sites to choose accommodation that suits your budget and trip purpose. Additional note: check the location of the hotels on the map because there will be many places that are cheap but quite far from the center, making it inconvenient to travel.

+ Travel time:All months of the year are ideal for visiting here except June to August when the weather is very hot. The best time to visit is from October to February when the weather is cool and pleasant. Although the temperature during the day can drop to 20 degrees, the sea water is always warm and ranges from 25-27 degrees Celsius.

+ Should try:

-Camel Trek to Mount Sinai: Guests sit on camels to ride up the mountain for nearly 3 hours from the foot of the mountain to the 3rd station before climbing more than 600 stone steps to reach the top of the mountain to watch the sunrise. Service price: 10 USD/person.

-One-day glass-bottom boat tour: 50 USD/person. During the day, guests sit on the glass-bottom boat, use the amenities on the boat and can see the coral from the glass at the bottom of the boat.

- Snorkeling service: guests will be picked up at the hotel from 8am to the pier and dropped off at 5pm. During the day, the boat will take guests on a tour at sea. Stop at 3 different diving spots for guests to snorkel for 1 hour at each diving spot. The cost includes diving equipment, a lunch on board and non-alcoholic drinks: 50USD/guest.

-Scuba diving for guests with PADI diving certificates: the service is similar to snorkeling but at the diving sites, guests will be equipped with scuba diving equipment and dive with a professional guide. Price 15 USD/dive.

-Special service: renting a boat for a one-day wedding photo shoot. This service is quite attractive here because of its high-class quality, unique program and accompanying services, including: a specialized boat that can carry a group of up to 20 people. The boat will take the bride and groom to the islands in the area to take wedding photos. If you want to have more unique underwater wedding photos, you can register for an additional 20 USD for 1 photo set and 1 DVD. The price is 650 USD for the cost of renting a boat, diving equipment, lunch and non-alcoholic drinks.

+ Cost:Round-trip airfare: 700 USD (flying with Etihad Airlines, transiting in Abu Dabi). The cost for 10 days, 9 nights in Egypt is about 890 USD, including the experience of the white desert, the black desert (camping 2 days 1 night), 5-star cruise ship to and from Cairo-Aswan (5 days 4 nights on the Nile), 5-star train Luxor-Cairo and major attractions (Iris temple, Abu Simbel temple, Edfu, Hatshepsut, pyramids, Cairo museum).

The cost for 3 days 2 nights in the Sinai Peninsula is about 240 USD, including trekking tour up Mount Sinai, visiting the ancient Catherine Monastery, 1 day of scuba diving, transportation and food.

Thanh Cao: Travel blogger, Photographer

Having been successful in management positions in multinational companies and corporations, his passion for "traveling and writing" has made him step out of his comfort zone to truly immerse himself in journeys of discovery. With the motto "Going to truly touch the place you go and return with more or less changes", each of his reports, memoirs, and especially his photos always show the true beauty of the roads, cultural imprints, local architecture, people and life... in the places he has been.

Thanh Cao is currently a regular contributor to the travel section of many newspapers and magazines, and is also the founder of OffTrack Travel, a company operating in the tourism industry.

Article and photos: Thanh Cao

The Thanh