What is the most adventurous experience you've had while traveling?

Buckle up, I never thought I'd share this story.

Going to Cairo the first time was kind of a culture shock no matter where you've been before. From the moment the plane lands and the door opens you can tell you're in for it, some good some bad. There's a kind of haze that hangs over the city, a culmination of the 25 million people packed into the city designed to hold 5 million. Probably that's also the reason the security guards for the airport are military, and carry automatic weapons at the ready. The streets have traffic lights and pedestrian crossing lights, but not all of them work. Not that the pedestrian crossing lights would be used anyway even if they did. There are lines on the road but they were forgotten about 10 million people ago. 5 lanes of traffic weaves through two lane roads, anywhere a car can fit is where you can find a car. And keep an open mind about the places a car can fit, or you'll be in for a shock.

To cross the street you simply tuck your chin and start walking at a fairly brisk pace. The traffic will not stop but they will go around you. Don't run, or they won't see you in time. Don't go too slow, or you'll really make them mad.

Anyway, so we were there enjoying the culture, getting to know amazing people. Dancing, long conversations over tables filled with food, hookahs and espresso heated by sand. Riding camels through the desert, crowded buses through the city, longboats down the Nile. After the second day the most surprising thing was that their Pizza Hut is a 5 star lounge. 

Then came the trip to Mount Sinai.

Quick 'in case you didn't know': if you aren't from around there you should have a thought as to whether or not you should drink the tap water. This goes for Mexico and Brazil as far as I'm aware as well. Everything in the world has bacteria in it and the water in these areas has different bacteria. It isn't harmful, but if your guts aren't accustomed to it you are going to have some issues at first. For this reason they don't recommend drinking the tap water unless you plan on staying for a while and have somewhere to hunker down while you "acclimate".

After the second week you might forget to close your mouth during a shower.

So it's 4:00am after a two hour bus ride to the base of Mount Sinai when the first rumble hits. The guide is explaining to us that there are very limited options for bathrooms from this point on and it's kind of already too late to do anything major about it now, but there are a few stops up the way at some of the stations you can find.

Cool.

6:00am at the second station is the first 'bathroom'. It is a hole in the ground with actual sticks shoddily secured to eachother to make a privacy fence. Paid to get in because beggars can't be choosers. From inside I'm being blinded by the groups of other peoples' flashlights as they go up the mountain between the large gaps in the sticks. Eye contact is made with one of the mountaineers and I recognize sadly that I just don't have the nerve.

8:00am, sunrise at the top of Mount Sinai. Moses came here to speak with God and I myself am reaching enlightenment as I fight nature. The phone is ringing so aggressively I'm sure it's upsetting the neighbors, but I refuse to answer the call. The blazing sun reduces the cloud cover to wisps, bathing the entire mountain in golden light. We did it, victory!

Now the four hour descent and the two hour bus ride back.

I'm so heavily dissociated by the time we make it back to the hotel I wave away the suggestion to join everyone for a group breakfast where we can all sit down and talk about the surreal and heavenly the experience was, how close we felt to God and whether or not we heard him whisper. 

I do not join in for the breakfast, or the lunch.

Fortunately, after taking a day or two to recuperate I was able to rejoin the party and enjoy what Egypt had to offer.

Once when I was backpacking through a wilderness hike I had some bears paw at my tent. Bears are doing what they usually do and were investigating the new thing in their territory, probably never seen a tent or nothing before. Still scared the pants off of me.

Another time I'm pretty sure I saw some ghosts or zombies or something between the trees, maybe a sasquatch if you believe in any of that. All I know is it wasn't normal. There one second, gone the next, hearing footsteps with no source, voices and such. Still love the outdoors.

Oh wow that's awesome!

I was picturing something like a Slingshot thrill ride you sometimes see in tourist areas