Easy Mountain Walks

Sights and Easy Walks

The Sinai high mountain region offers walks of different difficulties for all ages. Getting up to the high mountain wadis is actually much easier than climbing Mt. Sinai. After climbing the steep but short Abu Jeefa pass – 30 minutes compared to 2.5 hours –, the treks lead through a more or less flat terrain. There are other easier passes if you venture further, and sometimes steeper valleys, but in over all the hikes should be suitable for most people. If you want to add some peaks, then you should be prepared for more active trekking. The climate is pleasant all year round, ideal for hiking and trekking. In summer walks are done early in the morning and before sunset to avoid the mid-day heat and the nights are pleasantly cool. In winter the days are usually sunny and warm and the evenings are spent in warm stone huts around a fire.

Whichever garden retreat you base yourself in, there are nice walks in the immediate surroundings, but if you are up to it, you can take full-day treks to visit sights bit further away. Your host-guide will be always at your service, so whenever you decide to take a walk, he will explain everything and organize the hike. If you are taking one of the Garden Tours, you will pass by many of the attractions described below, and have the opportunity to add optional treks.

There are hundreds of attractions, from Nabatean and Byzantine ruins to Greek orthodox monasteries and chapels; from narrow canyons to secluded basins and open sandy plains; from springs and water pools to seasonal waterfalls; from easy to reach look-out points to rugged peaks looking over the whole region and onto the sea. There are cute stone huts and cottages, rock shelters under massive boulders and in walled up caves, and of course, you will be walking all along next to beautiful Bedouin gardens and immerse yourself deep in Bedouin culture.

The main attractions of the Sinai high mountains

Mt. Katherine The highest peak in Egypt at 2642 meters, with a small Orthodox church on top. According to tradition this is the place where monks, after a dream, found the missing body of the martyred St. Katherina. Mt. Sinai (Jebel Musa) is right below, and the views of the whole high mountain area are stunning, especially at sunset and sunrise. Just below the church there is a small room with wooden floor built by the Monastery for the visitors, as temperatures here, even is summer, can get quite low. In winter there is often snow.

Wadi Mathar A wide open valley at the foot of Jebel Katherina, with massive, walled Bedouin gardens, called bustan. The thick rock walls are built in the watercourse of the occasional floods, and they have to withstand the force of the water and retain the soil inside – thus are called retaining wall. At one of the bustans, outside the wall and belonging to everyone, is a mulberry tree, called tuta, a popular destination for the kids in June-July when the fruit is ripe. Not far from the tuta, under a protruding massive boulder lies a Byzantine hermit cell. Small caves in boulders were walled up leaving only a very small entrance which could be blocked from inside. Hermits used to live and even die in these cells – there are still some bones in this one. At another spot nearby there are the well preserved ruins of a Byzantine monastic settlement. The cluster of buildings is typical of the Byzantine era, as are the very low entrances and the sole round building. From the tuta through a short, narrow canyon a path leads to Wadi Umm Serdi, and onto Jebel el Ahmar, Jebel Raba or St. Katherine.

Canyon and water pools of Wadi Shaq In the upper end of the valley, off the main trail after a bustan, there is a narrow canyon with connecting granite pools. There is usually water in at least some of the pools all year round, and after rains all fill again for another season. Habaq, a wild mint, grows close to the water.

The palace retreat of Abbas Pasha From Wadi Zawatin a road supported by massive stone walls leads to the Wadi Tinya pass from where there are magnificent views of both valleys. The road carries on in a zigzagy way until it reaches the top, where there is the palace of Abbas Hilmi I. Pasha, who was Viceroy of Egypt between 1849 - 1854. The palace has never been finished as he died before it was completed, but the massive 2 meter-thick walls made of granite blocks and granite-sand bricks still stand firmly. There are stunning views all around, to the high mountains and the lowlands, to the village of St. Katherine with Mt. Sinai towering above it, to Jebel Katherina and the bustans in the wadis.

Farsh Abu Mahashur A secluded basin high above Wadi Zawatin and under the smooth rock face of Jebel Abu Mahashur. It is surrounded by massive granite walls which harbour dense vegetation. There was a Byzantine monastery here, its ruins are still visible. An opening in the granite wall leads out to the smooth boulders from where there are beautiful views of the gardens below and to Wadi Jibal in the distance. There is a kharazet, a granite pool under the basin. It can be reached from Wadi Zawatin on the way to Jebel Abbas Basha.

The granite water pools of Kharazet el Shaq Wadi Tinya leads into a short canyon before dropping into a steep valley. At the top, under date palms and a stone wall, there are a number of connecting granite pools, with water flowing from one to the next, then into bigger ponds and finally dropping some 20-30 meters before disappearing down in the valley. None of the pools is as big as Galt el Azraq, but the setting is perhaps more dramatic and the water is clearer.

Farsh Gdemiyet An alongated, big and flat basin sourronded on all sides by massive granite ridges and dotted with granite crops standing out from the sandy terrain. It connects the Jebel Abbas Pasha pass to Wadi Bulia and Ras el Jibal.

Mt. Umm Loz A smooth granite mountain standing at 2176 meters, also called Ras el Jibal or the Head of the Mountains. You have a beautiful view of Wadi Jibal, Farsh Rummana and the high mountain ranges around. Accessible from Wadi Bulia.

Masba Abu Gharun On the way to Jebel el Bab, there is an opening above a mountain top basin that leads to a rock balcony above wide wadis going to the low lands. You have superb views of the Southern Mountain Region with Jebel Umm Shomar in the distance. The name refers to the mountain goats as there is a boulder split into two that resembles its horns.

Bab el Donya and Ain Najila There are two peaks, one is called Jebel el Bab, the other Bab el Donya. They are a short climb from Ain Najila, with spectacular views to the Gulf of Suez. The city of El Tur is basically just below, and in clear weather you can see to the other side of the gulf – virtually to another continent. The dark triangular shape of Jebel Tarbush dominates the view to the North. To the South you can see Jebel Katherina and, in the distance, Jebel Umm Shomar. There is a large boulder stuck between the walls of a crack at the top. Ain Najila is a spring flowing to granite pools in a mountain top basin, just below the peaks of Jebel el Bab and Bab el Donya. There are the ruins of a Byzantine church a little down from the spring. Its elongated shape is different from most other Byzantine buildings.

Berry Canyon A short, narrow canyon with a big boulder stuck between the vertical rock faces. It is at the end of Wadi Zaitar connecting to Wadi Talaa Kibira, the way leading down from Ain Najila to Galt el Azraq. There is usually water flowing in the canyon and there is luch vegetation.

Galt el Azraq, the Black Pool Galt el Azraq is the biggest granite pool in the High Mountain Region. Its name, despite azraq meaning blue in Arabic, actually means Black Pool in the Bedouin language, as black has negative connotation and is often replaced with blue. It is located under massive boulders and surrounded by lush vegetation. The quality and colour of the water changes with the flash floods sweeping through, one bringing sand and derbish from above, while the next cleaning the pool out leaving crystal clear water. In late summer some algae might form in the water, although it is still safe to enter.

Wadi Sagar Connecting Wadi Abu Tuweita to Wadi Tinya, Wadi Sagar is a short and very narrow canyon. There are some local trees growing in the cracks of the rock on which fig has been grafted, and in the middle of the canyon there is a small rock fountain which is filled with clean water flowing from the smooth rock face. It is safe to drink as animals cannot reach the fountain.

Mt. Naja A conical mountain towering over the tomb of Sheikh Ahmed, where two of the biggest wadis, Wadi Talaa Kibira and Wadi Itlah meet. There are spectacular views to the Northern lowlands from the peak and down onto Sheikh Ahmed and the wadis. It can be reached from Wadi Tinya through a series of basins. There is also a leopard trap in the area.

The Monastery of Cosmas and Damianos Down in the wide valley floor there is the Monastery of Cosmas and Damianos with big olive groves and tall cypress trees. Giant boulders dot the huge garden and the gracious stone monastery building is in the middle.

The Monastery of the Forty Martyrs At the upper end of Wadi el Arbain is the Monastery of the Forty Martyrs with a big garden, olive groves and cypress trees. The Monastery was constructed in the sixth century in honor of the forty Christian martyrs who died in Sebaste (central Turkey). Monks relate that forty Christian soldiers from the Roman Army in the third century were commanded to worship pagan gods. They refused and were put to death by being exposed at night to the bitterly cold winds off a frozen lake. Those who survived until morning were killed by the sword. In the grounds of the monastery is a chapel dedicated to the hermit Saint Onuphrius. Coming from Upper Egypt, he was said to have lived for seventy years in the rock shelter at the northern end of the garden, until he died in AD 390.2

The Chapel of St. John the Ladder The Chapel of Saint John Klimakos, locally known as Galeli Max, was built in 1979 in Wadi Itlah to commemorate his devotional work in the 6th century AD. Also spelled St. John Climacus or Climax, the saint spent forty years in solitude in a cave above the existing chapel. During this time, Klimakos was elected Abbot of Sinai and asked to write a spiritual guide. He composed The Ladder of Divine Ascent which likens spiritual life to the ladder seen by the Patriach Jacob extending from earth to heaven (Genesis 28:12-17).1

Mt. Sinai and the Monastery of St. Katherine Most tourists come to visit only the Monastery of St. Katherine and climb Mt. Sinai, unaware of the range of other attractions the area offers. If you have not seen the monastery and did not climb Mt. Sinai before, it is definitely worth a visit, but be prepared, it won't be a quite experience as up to a 1000 tourists from the coastal towns invade the sites on a daily basis. The best time to climb the summit of Mt. Sinai is before sunset, as the hordes have not arrived yet. The monastery is open from 10.00 to 12.00, and you cannot avoid the crowds.