The Sinai Peninsula, Egypt
I didn't get to bed until 10pm and I had to get up at 2am, so I had a short sleep and got up the next morning and went to the lobby where I recieved a breakfast box and then the van came. The new guide's name was Met. I was very surprised that it wasn't Mohammed. But the two drivers were both named Mohammed. Shortly after meeting Met he mentioned that he was Christian. "That explains why his name was not Mohammed", I thought. The first thing we did was to pick up the Canadian couple who I had gone into the Great Pyramid with when I first got to Egypt. The three of us would be finishing the last leg of this tour together. We wouldn't be staying in the same hotels, but we would have the same guide and see the same things from now on. After that they would go on to Paris and then home. I would be going back to London and then Seattle.
Sinai Peninsula After we collected them we were heading north passed some industrial areas. We stopped briefly once to get coffee. It was dark but we were driving parallel to the Gulf of Suez, then after a little drive we went into a very short tunnel called Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel. You blink ten times and you are on the other side. Now we were on the Sinai Peninsula. The hustle and bustle of Cairo was behind us. Now we were in the peace and quiet of the sandy desert. By now it was starting to get light. The road we were on is the traditional route that Moses led the Children of Isreal on their quest to find the promised land 4,000 years ago. This is also the route that the Muslim pilgrims take when they go to Mecca, only they turn off at some point and enter Saudi Arabia, where as Moses went into what we call Jordan today.
Now the coral sea was on our right and there was a barren mountain range to our left. I was surprised at seeing so many resorts along the way, and there were many other building projects in the works. Met said, that eventually if plans go right this whole area will become green and fertile. He said that everywhere in this area water can be found by digging down only a few feet in the sand. They can ship fertilizer in and build up the soil.
Camel It took a couple hours to get where we were going and we made a few stops on the way. One of the places we stopped was called Hammam Far'um. After this we passed several check points. They have check points because some terrorists blew up a couple hotels in this region a few years ago. Now every vehicle that passes through the area is checked three or four times at the check points. This way they know who is traveling through the area at all times. At one point we were asked to show our passports and it was radioed ahead that we were coming.

After awhile we left the flat desert land and started to enter the wild and rugged mountain passes where the natural landmarks remain totally unchanged. It is a region of desolation where only a few thorn bushes are seen growing in the landscape and an occasional Acacias tree.