Sheikh Mousa

Most people come to St. Catherine to visit the Monastery of St. Katherine, the site of the Burning Bush, and to climb Mt. Sinai (Gebel Musa) to see the sunrise from the top where Moses is believed to have received the Ten Commandments. The Monastery is closed on Fridays and Sundays and these days are more quiet, but at other times there are several hundred people arriving from the coastal towns at night. We offer three alternative ways to visit these important holy sites.

Mt. Sinai Sunrise / at night

We start around 2 AM from the Bedouin Guesthouse going from the back-way, a quiet and unvisited wadi. We will be passing a less known Orthodox monastery and its big olive grove. Unfortunatelly the path will later join the main tourist path, but the experience of the sunrise will nevertheless be unforgotable. We will descend via the Stairs of Repentance to the Monastery in the morning.

Mt. Sinai Sunset / afternoon

We start after lunch from the Bedouin Guesthouse going from the back-way, a quiet and unvisited wadi. We will be passing the Rock of Moses (Hajar Musa) and a less known Orthodox monastery, the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs (Deir Arbain) and its big olive grove. There are not many people at this time, not even at the top, so we can see the amazing colours of the setting sun in quiet and peace. We will descend as soon as the sun dips behind the mountains to the Monastery. A taxi can wait to take us back to town.

Mt. Sinai - Safsafa walk: sunset and sunrise / 1.5 days

Sleeping in Elijah's Basin in Bedouin tent. The camp is in a walled court under ancient cypress trees and an olive. There is a carpeted sitting area around a camp fire, good mattresses and blankets.

The best way to see the sights of this holy mountain and both sunset and sunrise is to sleep in a small basin, Elijah's Basin, below the peak of Mt. Sinai. During the day we will discover small, hidden basins with small chapels and Byzantine ruins - beautiful places little off the main tourist path where hardly anyone goes. We will see the sunset from the top of Mt. Sinai and when we descend back to the camp dinner will be ready. In the morning you can climb back to the top for the sunrise if you wish or relax in the camp, and after breakfast we will descend to the Monastery.