40 Hours of Reds

It was pitch black when I woke up. The tent I was sleeping in had several layers of blankets on it, so none of the light of the already fading night sky could come in. It had been cold during the night so I had most of my clothes on. I took some off, packed my bag and came out into the quiet desert. The color of the sand was like burnt skin the day after: a deep, desaturated red that would sometimes get lighter at your footsteps, when mixed with paler sand underneath –almost exactly as if you were pressing burnt skin with your finger. Gavin, Suzy and I were the only ones in that camp at the base of a huge dune in the middle of the Wadi Rum desert, in Southern Jordan.

I had met them two the day before and we had decided to travel together to Egypt before going to Jerusalem. Our goal was to hike to the top of Mount Sinai during the night to watch what was said to be one of the most beautiful sunrises in the World, and then to do a little bit of scuba diving before going back to Israel. To do this, we had to leave Wadi Rum at dawn to be able to reach Dahab by the afternoon, leave our stuff and get ready for the hike, which we would do that same night and return the following day at midday, on time to do a quick immersion in one of the coral reefs of the Red Sea.

Almost 24 hours later, we got to the base of Mount Sinai. The hike up took about 3 hours, but it was really chilled, filled with conversations with other inspiring travellers. When we got the top, just like we had done 24 hours earlier, we saw the stars slowly fade and the sky become clearer and clearer very slowly. Everyone was quiet, just watching the colors change. Suddenly, right where the sky was brightest, a red sphere popped up raising over the horizon. It was hypnotic. Maybe because of having seen two sunrises in a row, or because of the long journey in the last day, or because of the physical tiredness of hiking a mountain on no sleep, but it definitely felt like the most amazing sunrise I have ever watched in my life.

We were almost zombies by the time we reached Dahab again, but the thought of all the things that we had done in the past day and a half was still revitalizing. This gave Suzy and I the strength to keep our promise and go scuba diving in the Red Sea. When we were underwater reality started to mix with the dreams of that night’s sleep. After diving we slept for 14 hours straight. 

When I woke up I knew that I wanted to travel for my entire life.