Hiking Mount Sinai to watch the sunrise is one of them. (Some pilgrims hike the mountain in time to see sunset.) As part of a trip last winter to Egypt, a friend and I decided to hike the fabled peak.

Seen from above, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is a dun-colored triangle of desert, a vast wedge that splits Asia from Africa. Move in closer, and the desert resolves into a landscape of high peaks and ...

ST. CATHERINE, Egypt -- In the Bible, Moses climbs Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments. But he was the chosen one, and I am a mere mortal. Divine intervention seemed unlikely as I stood at the ...