i left by bus from dahab at 11pm.  arriving at the foot of sinai at 1am, one begins the long arduous climb lit only by moonlight.  i arrived at the top around 3am, and had a very very cold two and a half hours waiting for the sunrise.  when i started climbing there were 10 other people slowly making their way up the mountain.  by the time i reached the peak the entire trail was lit up by flashlights (torches).  it looked like a long undulating phosphorescent snake slithering up the mountain.  all these people try to cram themselves and their sleeping bags onto the top of of the mountain.  real estate is in precious short supply and by sunrise it's standing room only. 

unnerving as it was to be watched by 50 people while setting up my equipment with numb hands, and hearing them do a play by play on various things i did ("what's he doing now?" --  "he's got some kind of remote control for his camera" -- "what for?" -- "well it reduces camera shake...") i persevered and got some great shots of the crowd and the sunrise.  in fact, i like the crowd shots i got even more than the sunrise pictures.