The Secret Gardens Walk is designed for those wanting to experience the tranquility and stunning beauty of the high mountain region, but who may not have the fitness level for hours of walking every day. Stops in 3 different Bedouin gardens will give you a taste for true Hospitality as tea is kept warm on an open fire, bread is made before your eyes, fresh fruit is plucked off the tree for your enjoyment and everything is done to make you feel as comfortable as possible. Read, nap, exchange stories with your guides, take a short walk around the garden… the days are wide open with only one directive – Relax!

Distance Vertical Ascent Day 1 4.76 km 363 m Day 2 8.41 km 174 m TOTALS 13.17 km 537 m

Itinerary

Day 1.

On the first day, the most difficult part of the walk is a 200m ascent from the town of St. Catherine’s up to the high mountains plateau. From the top, the small village below already seems far away and as we pass the ridge and lose sight of it, we enter an enchanted world of ancient rock formations, dry riverbeds, trickling springs, hundred year old trees – Almond, Apple, Apricot, Fig, Mulberry, Olive, Palm, Pear, Pomegranate… - and the perfectly tended gardens that contain them. The first garden the group will stop at is located at the top of a dried out river-bed. Ouda has been living here with his wife for years and is always very welcoming. Lunch will be served and afterwards we have 3 or 4 hours to relax, nap or explore the area. Before sunset, an hour walk will take us to Omreya’s garden in another lush valley, at the base of a 19th century Ottoman Palace ruin. The Bedouin woman that lives in this garden will welcome you warmly. As dinner is cooked over the fire and bread is made, watch the Bedouin thrive in their environment or let your eyes wander up, to the immensity of the starry night above.

Day 2.

Wake up to the first rays of sun and the beautiful Sinai morning. Tea and coffee will already be brewing on the fire and we will take our time preparing and eating breakfast, before heading off to our next garden destination. About a 2 hr walk from Omreya, we arrive in the area called Bulia, where families have tended gardens for generations. There are many places to explore in this wide desert valley, or those more interested in sitting in the shade and read can do that as well. Lunch will be prepared and served and the remainder of the day will be spent in one of Bulia’s gardens as a base. Mid-afternoon will see the group head back down to St. Catherine’s, reluctant to get back to a world they thought they had forgotten. Dinner at the Bedouin Guest House in town will offer a nice close to two unforgettable days in the Secret Gardens.

Sheikh Sina reserve the right to modify all our treks without notice in accordance with changing conditions in the area.