Flight from Cairo to Sharm El Sheik - Sinai Desert from the Air

The Sinai Peninsula is part of the country of Egypt. Those familiar with the Bible know this as "the wilderness " or "the desert of sin". This arid desert region is where Moses and the Israelites wandered for 40 years as punishment for their lack of faith.

The famous Mount Sinai is located here. This is where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God as the Israelites rebelled. The actual location of the mountain is debated, however, it is generally recognized to be in the City of Saint Catherine. I did not visit.

This is certainly an unfriendly place. When I first pictured the wilderness of the Bible it looked nothing like this. I had no idea just how rugged the terrain:

There are many of these rough looking mountains in this desert. Not something I would want to climb through in the Exodus from Egypt.

The Sinai is interesting in another regard. It is actually located in Asia, whereas the rest of Egypt resides in Africa. A country in two continents!

The area of Sinai is approximately 6% of the total area of Egypt, however only a little over 0.5% of the population resides here. Around 600,000 people live in Sinai of the 110 million Egyptian people. Mostly they live in the coastal regions.

My trip took me to Sharm El Sheik at the southernmost tip of the peninsula. This is a fabricated city in that it is not natural to the surroundings. The greenery located there is a result of the desalination of ocean water. Without man-made efforts to produce salt free water, this place would be uninhabitable, without divine intervention.

My journey started from Cairo.

I flew Air Cairo directly from the capital city to Sharm El Sheik:

I took pictures as I flew over the desert, however, the haze in the sky did not allow for a clear view as I had hoped:

This was my view over the entire flight of this desert wasteland. Not much to see.

As I approached the southern tip destination, the waters came into view;

Then the city of Sharm El Sheik:

A city forced into existence in an otherwise desert place. Mainly due to the beautiful coral reefs of the area.

If you wander outside the city and into the desert the terrain stands in stark contrast;

Most people live in cities along the coastal region, however, there is a nomadic Bedouin people that live in the desert.

Historically there has been tensions between Israel and Egypt over the lands here. It was only relatively recently the dispute was settled peacefully, partially due to arbitration. This has allowed Israel and Egypt to be peaceful neighbors.

My time in the desert included a dune buggy rental to explore the region. I enjoyed the change of scenery from my normal routine. But as the saying goes, "nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there !"

If interested, here is an earlier post I did of my dune buggy ride in the desert:

https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/sinai-peninsula