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While in Dahab, we took a day-trip to St. Katherine's Monastery. St. Katherine's was built at the base of Mt. Sinai (where Moses ascended to recieve 10 Commandments) and around the original site of the burning bush (from the Bible). St. Katherine's is still a working monestary with both Christians and Muslims working there side by side. It is really unique in that way. In the museum, there are is a scroll from the Prophet Mohammed himself asking that St. Katherine's not be destroyed because of its historical significance. Honestly, I think it has survived the test of time because it is so darn far from ANYTHING. We drove 2 hrs in the dessert to see this! Also, there is the creepy factor. Supposedly, one of St. Katherine's monks had a vision that the body of the real St. Katherine could be found perfectly preserved in the mountain. He went to get her and prayed for 7 years at her side that she would give him her hand (weird souvenir?). The hand bones are on display inside the holy sanctuary and the body is in the crypt near the burning bush. We saw lots of people (Muslims and Christians) on pilgrimage there. That was really cool. Many of these people fell down to their knees in prayer. It was an incredibly neat thing to experience.

Sights (from left to right, top to bottom)

-Virginia on the pilgrimage trek to St. Katherine's (and we only had to walk from the van!)
-the calf in the mountain. One of the idols that angered God
-View of St. Katherine's from Mt. Sinai
-Aedan and Virginia on Mt. Sinai
-A healthy looking burning bush (supposedly it was moved 100 ft so the monks could place an altar over the exact growth spot)
-Joe and Ashley cheese it up in front of the burning bush