Egypt, Jordan, and the Red Sea Cruise Log - Silver Whisper Red Sea Cruise Tour

By Linda Garrison, About.com Guide

The Silver Whisper sailed into Sharm el-Sheikh early the next morning. The red rock cliffs and mountains of the Sinai desert were breathtaking. Sharm el-Sheikh is Egypt's popular diving resort, and many Europeans love to vacation there in the winter. Sharm el-Sheikh was the target of terrorist bombings in 2005, but the area seems to have recovered, and security is tight.

The Sinai peninsula is the only part of Egypt in Asia. The mountains of the southern part of the peninsula are like sharp teeth, and Sinai means "teeth" in Arabic. We drove north from Sharm el-Sheikh on coaches to the foot of Mt. Sinai to visit St. Catherine's Monastery. The drive was interesting, and the convoy of coaches snaked through miles and miles of desert scenery on a lonely road. If we hadn't seen the occasional camel, I would have thought we were in Nevada or Arizona. The Sinai is patrolled by both Egyptian and United Nations forces, and we passed through a dozen checkpoints on the way to Mount Sinai. Traffic was light, but we did see a few trucks. After about three hours, we reached St. Catherine's Monastery.