| The
road to the Coloured Canyon is well paved,
and snakes nicely through magnificent mountains
and bold, rugged rock-formations of awe-inspiring beauty.
Then, by a cluster of date palms, it turns
onto a gravel road for about 15 minutes. As you reach the
summit, rehydrated & energized, you are ready to descend.
When you start descending, you'll notice that many of the
rocks are covered in a chalk-like powder caused
by being worn down by tourists. After about 20 minutes,
it feels like walking through a dry riverbed.
It is a must, besides watching your feet, to look around
and above you (at some points, the walls reach some 20 stories
in height) to realize that it is a geological wonderland.
At some places, the rocks radiate crystalline colors,
at others, they have a smooth velvety appearance.
Except for one or two obstacles, it's fairly an easy
hike. For example, at one point, one has to slide
down through a vent, where the two sides of the canyon almost
touch each other and where maybe thousands of years
ago, a fallen boulder had blocked the way, leaving
a narrow opening underneath. On the other side of this obstacle,
the canyon floor gradually starts to rise again. A few minutes
later, another obstacle appears where the best way to handle
is to swing yourself around a huge rock to slide two
meters down, or simply to jump over it.
The canyon is almost 800m
long. Before you climb out of it, you'll see a twin
palm-tree, which gives a little shelter
for about a minute. The first bit of climbing up is your
choice, walking uphill and getting sandy hands or doing
some rock-climbing. Then comes a short and flat walk
before the last climb to reach the point where
your 4-wheel drive laid in the sun for almost two hours.
Probably, your driver either had a nap or played backgammon
with his fellows waiting for you...
Now, just go to the nearest beach and enjoy the Red Sea
water.
| Advices:
|
| |
Try to be
there as early as possible, in summer,
start the hike around 00:07am, in winter
at about 00:09 am is good. This can avoid bad weather,
but more important is to avoid the masses of tourists.
With too many people, it doesn't feel majestic anymore. |
| |
A guide
is a good idea. As some of the tracks & footprints
take you to nowhere and you loose time. |
| |
Keep your
hands free; you might need them to support
yourself, especially the first bit. |
 |
Make sure
that you include this trip, if you're at Nuweiba,
Dahab, Sharm El-sheikh or
St.Cathrine's.
The trip from Cairo is much longer: through
the tunnel underneath the Suez Canal (approx.
2 hours) it will take in total about 5 hours
to reach the Coloured Canyon. |
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