The Sinai Peninsula is situated between the huge continents of Africa and Asia, comparable with a triangular wedge and functioning as both, separating desert and binding land bridge
No matter from which side the Sinai is approached the traveler is suddenly confronted with the rough almost refusing yet impressive countryside of dramatic contrasts.Only little by little one realizes that it is those contrasts which make the Sinai so fascinating.
There are people who find this desert landscape and the Red Sea less inviting, even terrifying and hostile towards human life.Right here lies the peculiarity of the Sinai, with its constant weather fluctuations and changes of light which often happen unexpectedly.
The dusty, blazing heat of midday is followed by a cool wonderfully starry night.In winter it sometimes even snows on the highest mountains. After few but usually strong rain falls, the sand is gradually covered with a carpet of colorful flowers and with amazement one stands in front of this miracle of a flourishing desert.
The same is true for the landscapes as such. Dreary expanses of sand and gravel unexpectedly enter into a lovely landscape of dunes and behind the next bend a smooth little wadi brusquely ends in a wild deeply fissured gorge.
In the steeply rising rock faces, colorful deposits are hiding and it is hard to believe that they are natural formations and not man-made works of art. At the Gulf of Aquaba, reddish rugged granite mountains fall down almost vertically from a 2000m altitude into the deep blue water of the sea.
Time and again the amazing contrasts of the Sinai surprise you with unforgettable experiences. Its diverse geographical structures emerge into ever new impressions of the landscape which may in fact become a real treat when these same mountains, dunes, acacias, wadis, rocks, or gorges continue to offer you a magnitude of views due to the changing light of daytime and season.
Everyone who has experienced a sunset at the Mountain of Moses or on one of the lonely surrounding summits knows that the light at the Sinai plays a fascinating role.The overwhelming impression left by the change of rough but sublime wilderness through the alternation of light, in the middle of an infinite silence, can move a human being deep inside.
It is surely also responsible for the significant religious impulses coming from the Sinai.Thus it is easy to understand why people from all different walks of life are so fascinated by this particular landscape, that they always want to come back, indeed, that they are even willing to give up everything and stay forever.
