After coming back down the mountain, I was dead tired and dirty! Checked out the breakfast, but nothing much was there. So went back to my room and collapsed for an hour or so before visiting the actual monastery. Before walking in, our tour leader gave us a history of the monastery. Apparently this monastery was so sacred that kings dared not attack it. When Napoleon conquered Egypt, his army attacked and took down the walls of the monastery. Upon seeing the cross of the church, Napoleon immediately wrote a letter apologizing and withdrew his army, then told his army to rebuild the walls! And before that, when the crusade was happening, this place was never attacked either. Talk about respect! A place where throughout its lifetime, only barbarians tried to attack it... while kings swear to protect it; what an honor!This place is considered a holy place for Christians, Muslims and some other religion (which I forgot). Located inside it is the 'burning bush', as well as where St. Catherine's body was reburied. St Catherine's story is also a pretty cool one. She had so much brains and beauty that she was able to convert all these smart people into Christians, and managed to p!ss off the ruler at the time because she was so smart! Overall, the history and story behind this monastery is amazing!
Inside, the temple is very beautiful! The chandeliers were made with the utmost detail and were very pretty. There were also paintings from the medieval? or middle-age? period...
After walking around the monastery, we set out for our last destination with GAP tour... Dahab, the resort city!
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