And I'm flying to where they accept (c) Part 5
To be continued. Start here >>>
Mikrik has arrived. In it sat a young couple of compatriots. I hoped that there would be few people, like last time. Therefore, she occupied the rear four seats and fell apart in the hope of taking a nap on the track. During the day I tried to have a pokemar after dinner, but nothing came of it. The day before, I did not drink at all - and it will be easier to walk, and there is no preparation for the sacrament of absolution. I wonder who came up with the idea that this would happen exactly at dawn? And will it happen at all? Guides, probably. I didn’t go for this at all, since I periodically receive absolution from the priest after confession. I just love mountains. I need new experiences. Well, pictures too. Of course, during the period that has elapsed since the last confession, I managed to mess up, so it would not be superfluous to clean up once again, if anything. Nice bonus.
But my hopes of sleeping on the bus were not justified. First, we took four compatriots to Savoy, and I still had a glimmer of hope that that was all. But the guide said that in Dahab we will pick up four more. Well, at least I’ll lie down to Dahab!
I couldn't sleep. At the gas station, four guys pushed themselves into the bus. The person sitting next to me immediately asked in English where I was from. He himself was from Spain. My meager knowledge of English and his Russian was more than enough for all 80 km to the foot of the mountain. The guys were two from Madrid, two from Amsterdam. Students. We came to Dahab to dive. My interlocutor studied to be a flight engineer. I was in St. Petersburg last year, and for this purpose I learned Russian online.
It was exactly at midnight that we arrived. At the foot it was only plus 6. I put on everything that I had warm - a T-shirt, a flannelette shirt, a raglan with a compromising inscription "I write TurPravda" and a dead down jacket. Legs in jeans and trekking shoes. Foreign tourists immediately purchased woolen ponchos from the tent. The Savoy family put on their hats and gloves. By the way, as it turned out, they rise not for the first time. I'm not the first either. A whole second! And their father of the family did this already... the eighth time! The mother is the fifth, and the daughter is also the fifth. Go crazy!
Having passed us from hand to hand to the guide, the guide left, making an appointment in the morning at the monastery.
I thought about who I would join, and chose a young couple as a victim. The guys (a guy and a girl) were from Kharkov. I mostly talked with them all the way. By the way, they stayed at the Monte Carlo Hotel. Whoa! Savoy, Montycarly! Crisis, they say?
And the road looked like this at first:
I naively assumed that in the 10 years that I had not been here, the road had been lit right up to the top! Aha, shaz! As soon as we entered the monastery, the lighting ended. And no one gave out flashlights! Oops! Phones began to shine. And the stars, the stars! I haven't seen such a starry sky in a long time! The expression "to touch with your hand" was quite justified. Such an illusion really existed here.
But you need to look under your feet. And I wanted to look around. Looking to the left, I saw a barely visible figure with a machine gun on a stone. Oops! Are we being protected? Or from us?
Behind the gorge looked like this:
On the rise, I warmed up and took off my jacket. And the dawn is already at 6! And to go here - just nothing, two hours. Therefore, they began to go into all the pylons. In the first, which was a shed with homespun striped rugs instead of walls, we just sat. It blew terribly from the holes. The guys climbed into the backpack for a snack and rustled the bag. Immediately, an impudent cat came and tried to climb right into the backpack.
In the next hut, the conductor entertained us by strumming on some strange triangular instrument - “three sticks, two strings”.
There was also a cat here. Another group came, led by a joker guide. Neighing with his jokes, jokes. "How are you? Has not yet given birth? " - and stuff like that. I have always marveled at the linguistic abilities of the Egyptians. Once, when buying a bag at the Old Market, I doubted whether it was leather. I told the seller about it. He rolled his eyes and yelled, "Hello! " I dropped out. Okay, words! But intonation! How can it be so subtly understood?
By the way, when the guide suggested calling our group "Venus", an alternative proposal was received - to call it "Megera". Imagine, the conductor knew the meaning of this word!
The higher you go, the colder it gets. I put my jacket back on, but I tried not to rush, so as not to sweat. And what's the hurry? Far from dawn. I wanted to drink, but at the same time I wanted to do the exact opposite. And not just me. Only turning off the path into the darkness was dumb. Suddenly there is a guard behind each stone?
But nature prevailed over fear, and the girl and I were safely freed from excess fluid. After that, they immediately replenished its reserves at the next parking lot.
And the charge of phones is not infinite! And take pictures of the sunrise! Therefore, they began to save. The moon has risen. Not the moon, but a thin crescent. But the whole joke was that it was oriented not from the side, but clearly from below. And reddish. Beauty!
At the last stop in front of the top, in a shed, all the shops were occupied with carcasses wrapped in camel blankets.
Blankets were rented right there. By the way, there were very few people on the route. Accordingly, the demand for camels fell completely. I didn't see a single rider. But the blankets were flying like hot cakes. Apparently, the enterprising Bedouins quickly re-profiled the business and put the camels on blankets.
With difficulty finding a corner for myself, I put on a hood and put my hands in my pockets, trying to doze off. But I can't sit still. It's good that it's already starting to turn gray. The caterpillars emerged from their cocoons and crawled to the top.
And someone was sleeping right there! And on the street, for a minute, zero! Well, at least there was almost no wind.
I heard familiar words - this is one family turned on the recording of morning prayers on the phone. And I, stupid, did not think to do so. Standing behind them, she also prayed.
And now the long-awaited moment has come! Everyone snapped their cameras.
Five minutes, and you can go down.
I chatted with the guys on the way. They bought this tour from some beachboys at the hotel for 45 bucks. They were dissatisfied with the food at their Monte Carlo hotel. But they gave me shrimp. HM! We were not given, but we are satisfied. We just didn't expect to get them there.
I was talking to two more ladies. They rested in Dreams Beach - exactly where Andrey recently visited cgistalker. Complained about forty-minute queues in the canteen. Here are the cons of burning prices!
The sun, rising higher, began to bake, and the people began to slowly undress.
At the monastery there was a booth with warriors who did not allow me to come closer to the wall of the monastery to take a picture. On the other hand, for some reason, it was already possible to approach.
At the monastery, a guide with a "breakfast" was waiting for us. The last time we were brought to a provincial hotel and there we were fed very poorly. Now we were just given a croissant and a bag of guava nectar. Well, good! Let's not waste time on a naked breakfast in a naked hotel.
After a quick bite, we went on an excursion. The guide spoke Russian, it seems, and not bad, but he had almost no information. He showed the burning bush, the well of Moses, and took him to the museum.
Burning Bush
In the museum, we examined everything ourselves. Icons of the 6th century, old bibles in Greek, marble shrine without relics. The relics lay in the church. And it was closed to visitors. It was kind of impossible to take pictures, but everyone took pictures. Nobody cursed.
St. Ekaterina
The bus was waiting for us in the parking lot. I noticed that he has a German Euro badge, and Egyptian numbers are nailed on top. Customs clearance in Egyptian? Captured this miracle. But then the driver ran up and something began to gurgle me. I did not need a translation, and I removed the compromising evidence from the phone so that he could see it. Calmed down.
The way back seemed endless. The bus passed out in full force, except, of course, the driver. And me. I can't sleep sitting up. No, I'm lying! Once on a plane from Sri Lanka, I fell asleep before takeoff. Then I got even more exhausted.
The poor Spanish boy next to me, sitting in the back seat opposite the aisle, without any support, periodically leaned to the right, then to the left. Like a mother, I even wanted to put his head on my knees. Didn't decide. Still thinking what the hell. And I offered him to change places. I sat by the window and could rest my head either against the window or on the back of the front seat. But it was absolutely useless for me. But he refused. So humble!
I had no choice but to take pictures of the surrounding Martian (or lunar? ) landscapes outside the window.
I hoped that the boys would be dropped off in Dahab, and I would at least lie around for an hour and a half to Sharm. But we immediately went to Sharm for some reason. At the entrance to the city, the bus, together with us, was driven through a metal frame structure, like in hotels or an airport, but only a large one, for transport. I haven't been irradiated here yet, damn it!
I arrived just in time for the hotel dinner.
Continued here >>>
