We started our hike at 2:30am so that we could reach the top in time for the sunrise and also to beat the crowds.  After our almost two and a half  hour hike up Mt. Sinai (or the camel ride for some), we passed the time while we waited for the sun to rise by sharing a bottle of Egyptian wine that Simon brought with him. (from left: Russell, Simon and Melissa)

Here I am as the sun began to rise.  I'm wearing a sweatshirt because it was a little cold in the morning (about 64F).

A shot of the much anticipated sunrise atop Mt. Sinai.

Behind me is Mt. Katerina, the highest peak in Egypt.

I'm standing in front of a Greek Orthodox chapel on the summit.

On our way down we had to fight a very long line of people on the trail.  Some of us opted to take the less travel route until the crowds thinned out a bit.

At the point where the path splits (one way is the camel trail which we hiked up and the other way is the 3000 Steps of Repentance which we hiked down), this camel was posing for some shots.  On another note, the 3000 Steps of Repentance was laid by one monk as a form of penance.

One of the stone markers on the way down.

On the way down the steps I noticed that a partial moon was still out in the morning and it appeared to be hovering right above a peak in the rocks.

As we got close to the end of the steps we came upon a great view of St. Catherine's Monastery.

I was almost at the bottom of the steps here.  In some places the steps were very apparent and others, well it was a stretch.

St. Catherine's Monastery.

This is taken from inside of the monastery.  Unfortunately this is the only picture I was able to get since we arrived about 15 minutes before it closed for a couple of hours.  From what I saw it was very simple and it would have been nice to see some more of it.

Here we all are that same night relaxing and talking about the big day we had the nest day (the 2 am hike followed by the jeep tour for some of us).

A tower at the chapel in the middle of the the town.
 

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The Jeep Tour
 

This is one of the first canyons that we came upon.

When we climbed into the canyon we found some pretty spectacular crevices.

Here is a pretty cool formation on a side of a cliff.

The entrance to the Colored Canyon.

You can see why this is called the colored canyon.  You can't really tell from the picture but each time the sand ends it drops about 10 feet into the next hole.

Just happy to be hiking in the very colorful canyon.

During our jeep tour, we visited some Bedouins in their environment.  The Bedouin women are making some fresh bread which we later ate.  When we first arrived, the women weren't wearing the scarves around their faces (only their shawls),  however once we began taking pictures they covered themselves up more.

Janice (left) and Melissa (right) enjoy some fresh bread made by the Bedouins.