Sinai
The Sinai peninsula is the easternmost part of Egypt between the Mediterranean and the Gulfs of Suez and Aqaba, both forks of the Red Sea. The western and northern coasts are practically uninhabited, but several Bedouin settlements-cum-tourist attractions dot the eastern coast.
Above ground is a harsh, forbidding and (in summer) brutally hot desert of parched rock. The reason most tourists come here is the vistas underwater: the Sinai coast offers some of the best diving in the world.
Cities
- Dahab, the hippie mecca of the Middle East
- Nuweiba, a port city
- Sharm el-Sheikh, where the package tourists hang out
- Taba, at the border with Israel
Other destinations
- Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments (or so they say), and the neighboring Monastery of St. Catherine
- Basata, one of the oldest and most popular Ecolodges in Sinai.
Talk
Like in all Egypt, the language of the Sinai is the Egyptian Dialect of the Arabic language. But in tourist areas you also get through with English, in touristical areas on the east coast also Hebrew, because here many Israelis come for holydays.
Get in
No Egyptian visa is required, as special 14-day Sinai permits are granted on arrival at the Taba border and Sharm el-Sheikh's airport. Note that this permit allows travel only on the eastern Sinai coast and the Mount Sinai with St. Catherine's monastery.
See
Itineraries
Get out