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Sinai is a mysterious land: utterly stark, wildly beautiful and
intensely dramatic. Formed by a collision of continents, the
austere and unforgiving mountains of the interior plummet down
to meet golden beaches before melting into the coral gardens of
the Red Sea. It has been said that the triangular wedge of earth,
home to just 340,000 people, is but “24,000 square miles of
nothing”. Yet with its mystical past, dazzling seas and layers of
desolate, majestic peaks, travellers fast come to find that in
‘nothing’ there is so much. The southern coastal region features
some of the best diving in the world. Ras Mohammed National
Park, at the peninsula’s southern tip, is a sanctuary to every species
of life that thrives in the Red Sea and a fantasy world for divers and
snorkellers. Sinai’s rugged interior, too, is magical. Trekkers and
pilgrims journey from afar to scramble up the splendid face of
Mount Sinai, gaze at the rising sun and marvel at the sacred spot
where Moses received the Ten Commandments.
The western rim of the Red Sea also shelters a thriving marine
life. The optimal conditions for such water delights has resulted in
hasty development as epitomized by the sprawl of Hurghada, the
most visited coastal resort town in Egypt. But further south lies the
beguiling port of El-Quseir, where days are spent snorkelling at a
nearby beach or visiting the ruined fortress, and nights are spent
around campfires under a sea of stars.
The slowly widening major fault line running along the length
of the Red Sea created the dramatic mountains of the Eastern
Desert, a belt stretching for about 1250 km from the southern tip
of the Suez Canal. These mountainous desert expanses are the
final frontier before Saharan Africa and deep in their folds thrive
ibex and gazelle, while nomadic tribes live a traditional lifestyle
little changed in 6000 years. A safari into the interior is a quest that
involves effort and time. But once there, jagged charcoal peaks
and wondrous astronomical spectacles, the scattering of Roman
era ruins and encounters with tribal desert life are gifts to the soul.
