Discover Sinai

  A moderate overnight hike in the Sinai high mountains, with the first day being a little tougher and the second more relaxing. The walk started at Abu Jeefa, descending to Islibet and Wadi Tubuq and passing the spring of Ein Shkaya along the way. A detour was made via Wadi Shaq and Wadi Mathar before returning to the main route at el-Ehded and Wadi Zawatin. The reservoir at Farsh Zaq was still quite full after the rain a couple of months earlier. 

  Another valley very close to St Catherine is Wadi Itlah, running more or less in a straight line from Wadi Tala to a junction further down. The steep Wadi Shaq Tinya joins Wadi Itlah here, descending from the high mountains, and the two merge and continue as Wadi Jinab towards the lowlands at Sheikh Awad. At this junction, a little canyon known as Ubugiya leads to the Bedouin settlement of Abu Seila, from where you can take a car back to town. If water levels are too high in the canyon, there is an alternative route over the hill.

  On my short visit to Sinai in 2026, the first walk I did — as is usually the case — was to the secluded garden of El-Freish and through short Wadi Tala. But instead of returning to town via the usual Naqb el-Raheb pass, I decided to have a look at the valley and its monastery from above, so I chose the route known as Seru. I quickly realized that I am not as strong as I was even a year ago, and the climb took me significantly longer than I had anticipated (40–50 minutes instead of 20). Anyway, I finally reached the top and descended via the Abu Jeefa pass. A nice little walk, with some beautiful gardens and lovely views along the way.

  The view of Mt Katherina, Egypt's highest peak, from El Zirri.  A long walk to visit the remote Wadi Tinya, starting from the main route from St Catherine via Abu Jeefa and Wadi Zawatin. From the latter, passing El Zirri, the route leads to the high pass of Iskikriya, and on the other side descends to Wadi Tinya. Locations worth visiting but not visited this time include Wadi Abu Tuweita and Wadi Sagr. Wadi Tinya drains to Kharazet el Shaq, a series of pools at the top of the very steep and long gully known as Wadi Shaq-Tinya, which connects to the end of Wadi Itlah. Two ways exist to the village of Abu Seils, and this time the adventurous little canyon, Ubugiya, was chosen. 

Originally posted on February 7, 2015 The whole southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula is a mountainous area, while the High Mountain Region proper, sometimes called the Central High Mountains, is the area in the middle around the town of St. Katherine. (See Google Earth screenshots below.) Up to 80% of the massif is granite of different types formed as far back as 600 million years, but there are also mountains that are made of newer, about 10 million year-old black volcanic rock. Sandstone and limestone are found north of the mountainous tip, forming surrealistic rock formations, sandy plains and eroded layered plateaus. In the mountainous area red granite and black volcanic mountains are often found together, as we can see with the Jebel Safsafa-Mt. Sinai, the Jebel Raba-Jebel Ahmar-Mt. Katharina or the Jebel Abu Mahashur-Jebel Abbas Basha ranges. In each case much of the mass of the mountains is made of hard and smooth red granite, but the famous peaks are actually softer crumbling bl...

Very easy to reach from the town of St. Katherine, it lies just below the holy peaks of Mt. Sinai on one side and of Mt. Katherine on the other side. Mt. Sinai can be reached different ways, and the full day program is definitelly recommended. There is an ancient small Orthodox monastery next to the garden, with a big stone-walled orchard, olive groves, tall cypress trees. The rock of Moses is also in the same valley. Ramadan, the owner of the garden, sometimes plays the traditional stringed intrument, the simsimiyya. He also breeds Rock Hyraxes, a cute hairy mountain creature. The terraced garden has many secluded areas away from Ramadan's family tent, with stone rooms for winter use and shady-windy open arishas for summer. There are clean toilets and showers. There are many fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, all grown organically. The garden is ideal for individuals and smaller groups who want to relax on holy land but don't want to - or unable to - walk too much or too hard. ...

Originally posted on January 12, 2014 Flying to Sharm el Sheikh a couple of days ago over the Sinai, you couldn’t see the peninsula at all, it was covered with such a thick blanket of clouds. But as we got further south, just when we reached the edge of the Tih Plateau, small windows opened up in the clouds and luckily most of the main places of interest could be seen. Then further south and to the east above the Gulf of Aqaba the sky was totally clear, revealing the beautiful coastline. What a beautiful way to return to the Sinai!