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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.
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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.
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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
when
standing in front of this
miracle of a flourishing desert.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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