Wednesday 5th March 1997

We manage to crawl out of bed at 6am. We have coffee and orange juice for breakfast then it's time to board the coach for a two and a half hour drive through the desert to Saint Catherine's Monastery at the base of Mount Sinai. There are five coaches in convoy from our ship. The drive was exciting, our first trip into the desert - miles of it with just one dusty road and the backdrop of the mountains, it's really hot and humid. There are flocks of sheep and goats with their shepherds, and there are wild camels everywhere. We saw many Bedouin camps along the way, the Bedouins still live in tents, but several own Mercedes cars as well as camels.

The monastery stands on the site of the burning bush, and is where Moses received the 10 commandments. There is the Chapel of the Burning Bush dated 537. Saint Catherine's Monastery dates back to 337 and is the smallest dioceses in the world and also the oldest Christian monastery still in existence. Our guide, took us around St. Catherine's. There is a rather grotesque room full of skulls. The main hall is stunning with ancient tapestries on the walls and about 20 massive crystal and gold chandeliers suspended from the ceiling. The monks invited us into the library, a rare treat, as it is usually closed to the public, this is still a working monastery and the monks home. The library contains some of the oldest Bibles in the world and a lot of other equally old books and manuscripts. The original Scripture of Mohamet is encased in glass on one wall, the writing is still clear. There is also an Icon of Saint Catherine, showing how she was pierced with daggers on a wheel. She miraculously survived this, only to be beheaded later as a martyr - poor woman. Hence the Catherine wheel fireworks on 5th November.

The ship's crew had provided us with a packed lunch so we sat in the ruins to eat, surrounded by lots of stray cats. We fed them the chicken, which was a bit warm, and watched them fighting over it, took some film of them on the camcorder.

Afterwards we went on a camel ride around the monastery grounds, Andrew's camel was blowing bubbles and making weird noises, so I asked the man leading my camel why this was happening. Apparently it means he is on heat - this is supposed to be attractive to the female camels, he is looking for a wife. He asked me if I would like to see the baby camels - I'd love to so he took me on a detour to the babies pen, they are gorgeous little things, all fluff and huge eyes, I want one to take home. One of them was only a day old - so sweet! The ride finished the camel knelt down to let me climb off, a bit dodgy when you are not used to it and have an Andrew filming you.

It is time for the return journey, part way back we stopped at a Bedouin camp, we could buy souvenirs from them if we want to, or just listen to the silence of the desert. This was difficult through the chatter of people. Andrew and I went for a wander behind the camp to film the wild camels, you can hear the wind whistling on the video.

Back onboard we freshened up and went to this evenings talk on options for tomorrow, we booked Petra - I can't wait! Dinner is a much more formal meal this evening, four courses and an excellent wine list, served by Bobbie our Greek waiter. We are to sit at the same table each evening, the other people we will dine with are Mandy and Tony, Jean and Dennis, Babs and George, Clive and Amy, all bar us are retired. After dinner we all attended the lifeboat drill {compulsory} then adjourned to the bar for a Metaxa. A stroll around the deck in the moonlight and then bed as we have another early start tomorrow.