Sinai in the snow

Jebel Moneija from Mt Sinai, Go tell it on the mountain_resultHigh in the Sinai mountains, in the cold depths of winter, snow isn’t unusual. In December 2013 though, more snow fell in the Sinai than had fallen in decades, as the biggest blizzards to hit the Middle East since the 1950s rolled through. I was in the town of St Katherine when it came and got into it as soon as it started; every day after that, until it melted, I walked as far as I could, going into the most remote parts of the mountains from sunrise till dusk, sleeping in old hermit cells by night, then getting up at dawn to start walking again. I walked for days and I’ve never seen the Sinai as it was that winter; if the next big snowfall is as long coming as this one was, I’ll be 82 before I see it again.