Sinai Trail
When Muslims from Africa crossed the Sinai on foot on their pilgrimage to Mecca and Christians did the same on their way to the monastery of Santa Caterina or Jerusalem, l The Bedouin tribes of the southern peninsula they cooperated in a broad alliance called the Towarah to assist worshipers as they crossed the inhospitable region.
Not far from there, the imposing mountainous area that stands on the outskirts of the coastal city of Hurghada Centuries ago it had become a dynamic region midway between the Red Sea and the Nile River. Through that territory, trade, travel and hunting routes intertwined with each other to create a labyrinthine mosaic of paths along which they would leave their mark. civilizations as old as the Ptolemaic and the Roman.
The effort will be worth it
Until well into the 1980s, a good part of these routes were still traveled and cared for by the local Bedouin tribes, who remained in those respective regions.
But the advent of motorized transportation suddenly changed the way people got around, making those old ways obsolete. Over the years, many inevitably began to fade, even disappearing from the map.
There was only one place where the route and history of all those trails had been recorded: the collective memory of the Bedouins. And now, after years of development, Two routes of more than 1,000 kilometers have been inaugurated in Egypt Together they bring those old paths back to life, in order to preserve their history and all the knowledge about flora, fauna, legends, proverbs or poems that surround them.
The first of them, the Sinai Trail, It has been designed by the eight tribes that inhabit South Sinai: Alegat, Awlad Said, Garasha, Hamada, Jebeleya, Muzeina, Sowalha and Tarabin. After a century apart, these tribes have cooperated again to create this route of 550 kilometers, which can be crossed in about 42 days.
Views from the top of the Red Sea tour
Parallel, members of the Kushmaan, a clan of the Maaza tribe, one of the largest in Egypt, has inaugurated in 2019 the Red Sea Mountain Trail, a trail of 170 kilometers through the mountains outside Hurghada. the path takes about ten days and, in turn, connects with secondary roads that form a network of up to 800 km.
Both routes, twinned between them, offer a real opportunity to get closer both to the Bedouins of Egypt, a community marginalized by the State and tied to orientalist clichés typical of The Thousand and One Nights, as well as their unknown territories, which have traditionally fallen outside of the margins of mass tourism in the country.
DIVERSITY AND ADVENTURE
As far as Sinai and Hurghada, where the Red Sea trail starts, it is easily accessible from Cairo by plane or bus, and once there the Bedouins will provide the rest. Even so, it is advisable to consult the difficulty of each excursion and the material that needs to be brought, since these are remote areas and you have to go prepared in advance.
Red Sea Trail
The cities of South Sinai, such as Sharm el Sheikh, Nuweiba and Dahab, as well as Hurghada itself, are famous diving and beach destinations, which allows to extend the stay.
The traditional territories of the Bedouin tribes are strictly delimited and ignore the political demarcations imposed from a distant capital that they often refer to – like so many others – as “Egypt”. For this reason, The routes can only be walked hand in hand with the respective tribes, each of which is responsible for escorting and caring for the hikers through their land.
Many of the routes that are crossed are confusing, in some cases totally impossible to discern, so the help of the locals is not only recommended but absolutely essential.
The Bedouins are characterized by their independence , so there is no need to fear that they are invasive, and they are the ones who retain the knowledge that has been passed from generation to generation.
A Bedouin in a Ca n the Sinai Trail
The two trails offer great historical diversity, which in the case of Sinai includes the famous monastery of Santa Caterina or the chapel that crowns Mount Caterina, the highest in Egypt (2,642 meters). The Red Sea, for its part, intersects with prehistoric rock art, two ancient Roman villages and chapels of the Desert Fathers of Egypt. You can take day trips or as many as you want, so it is best to check the wide range of options and choose the most attractive route.
At the same time, the extension of both trails offers a great diversity of landscapes, which mix vast desert esplanades with steep mountain peaks, passing through networks of canyons, springs and even natural pools.
Among the most iconic points of the former is the holy mount Sinai, where christians, jews and muslims believe that god spoke to moses, while in the second he does the Shayib el Banat mountain, with the highest peak in mainland Egypt (2,187 meters).
Rugged landscapes along the Sinai trail
On clear days, the trails can be seen from one another from high points. In this sense, the Sinai and Red Sea mountains were once part of the same landmass, and were only separated with the formation of the Red Sea, making them similar places geologically.
Culturally, both territories have been inhabited for centuries by Bedouin tribes, and all of those included on the trails trace their roots to the Arabian Peninsula, so they have a lot in common. To know more about South Sinai, you can read Sinai: the trekking guide, by Ben Hoffler, co-founder of both paths and deep connoisseur of both regions.
As for security, the traveler should not be frightened by the news coming from Sinai, where the Army and terrorist groups continue their battle.
Rugged landscapes along the Sinai trail
The vast majority of these incidents occur in the extreme northeast of the peninsula, far from the south, for where the trail runs, which is one of the safest places in the country thanks to the scrupulous control exercised by the Bedouins themselves. But it is true that, as in the rest of Egypt, it is advisable to be attentive to events before traveling.
Definitely, Egypt is much more plural than Cairo would like, and both the Sinai trail and the Red Sea trail are one of the best ways to get closer to this diversity.