Abu Galum Reserve
I have never seen such a turquoise sea. Especially when this turquoise splashes and shimmers in the rays of the sun with all the unusual shades of blue and blue. Lonely palm huts on the seashore, a boat, several Bedouin carpets with pillows on golden sand... The Bedouins leave the Abu Galum reserve in the winter season and go to the mountains, where it is warm, and in the summer they return when there is no such wind here, in open space. strong wind. The road here is especially impressive. Various rocks of red, yellow, black blotches in the grayish ocher of the mountains, growing single trees with flat crowns, unusual rocky formations that seemed to have been grinded by water for a long time, giving them a rounded shape.
We decided to take a day off, which just fell on Catholic Christmas, took a jeep with our wonderful driver Refat, who, it seems to me, had already traveled all over the Sinai desert, and drove to Abu Galum. So everyone understands: Abu Galum is a nature reserve, but this is not exactly the place where many Egyptian travel agencies send tourists, passing off Blue Hall as Abu Galum. From Blue Hall to the reserve itself, it is still about an hour and a half to go along the sea on camels, or you can go around in a jeep from the other side. This is the only way to get to Abu Galum.
Familiar Bedouins greeted us with delicious, freshly baked bread, cheese and honey with tahina. We ate it all with pleasure on both cheeks and realized how beautiful life is. What else is needed for happiness? Boundless turquoise sea, whistling wind, clear outlines of mountains. Sea urchins in the water seem to be simply huge and sit in a pile several times. We decided they were family. There is a father, and a mother, and a couple of smaller children, probably. Huge shells, even shells that grow to breathtaking sizes, lie in the sea and on the shore, corals have formed multi-colored clumps of small reefs that shimmer in the water. You can look at these landscapes endlessly, without thoughts, without desires, just watching the unhurried passage of time (is there any at all? ), contemplating the picture that appears before your eyes.
A Bedouin came, said that our camels were ready, and guides arrived who would go with us to Bir Ogdu, an abandoned Bedouin village. For about forty minutes we slowly followed the camels, as always inspecting the surroundings. Only now am I beginning to see how different this amazing Sinai desert can be. At first it seems that all the mountains are the same and what else is there besides sand? By the way, the Egyptians call the earth "turrap", not earth, and not clay, and not sand. What is in the Sinai desert is turrap. So, the desert is different, there is not a single similar stone, everything changes in it, just like in our Russian forests. And I finally heard that she was not silent, as it seemed to me for the first time, each stone here carries information, it speaks to you, listens to your inner world. Be in tune with it - and the whole environment will become you, and you - them...
Camel rides took a long time, probably about an hour. The worst thing was when the camel had to climb the gently sloping stones, it seemed to me that he would simply slide down and there would be no living place left of me when he crashed on me. Well, it worked out. We've arrived. In Bir Ogd there are wells with tasty drinking water, these wells supply Abu Galum and Blue Hall with water. Somewhere in the depths there are generators, and water flows down through narrow hoses, simplifying the life of all those who live in the valley. It began to get dark. It gets dark very quickly here, as soon as the sun sets, you understand that daylight hours will be replaced by pitch darkness in a matter of minutes, and only a myriad of stars will illuminate your path. There was no moon. Camels refused to go, rested and made terrible sounds. Who said they can see in the dark? The Bedouin boys literally dragged everyone along, we got down several times and climbed on them again. For those who someday go on a camel trek: to keep yourself from getting tired, throw one leg around your neck, or sit in the lotus position and keep your back straight. Then everything will be all right with your legs, and with your back, and even with the place where you sit. Otherwise, the next day you will walk like an invalid. In general, we are all alive, but in the end, already when we were driving back in a jeep, lighting the way for the camels with headlights, one of them nevertheless fell, and with one of our guide boys. I was very frightened that something had happened to the boy, but he jumped up, as if nothing had happened, and again drove the camel on the way home...
How I fell asleep, I don't remember.
