You Can Now Hike the Red Sea Mountain Trail in Egypt

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‘The Red Sea Mountain Trail is about rethinking Hurghada’s tourism and creating an industry in which the Bedouin go from service to leadership roles and which ultimately empowers them to show their homeland and heritage to the world,’ Ben Hoffler, one of the founders of the trail, told Lonely Planet Travel News.

Bedouin guides and cameleers will accompany hikers on the route, which takes about 10 days to complete, and traditional food will be provided along the way.

‘Trails are really popular at the moment because they offer that real, immersive experience that gives close contact with other cultures, especially trails like the RSMT, where hikers travel with Bedouin caravans, which support them all the way with water and food,’ Hoffler said.

A fast-moving and tech-focused world has nearly erased the nomadic legacy of the Bedouin, and hikers who tackle the Red Sea Mountain Trail will take a walk into the past – and help protect it for the future.

Bedouin guide on Jebel Um Anab. Photo by: Red Sea Mountain Trail

‘Bedouin heritage is something of great antiquity that was built up over thousands of years and which represents a chapter of our collective human past,’ Hoffler said. ‘It is a cultural treasure for all humanity that is critically endangered, and we hope these trails can encourage people to take steps towards safeguarding it for the future. Bedouin heritage is like a light that has illuminated the desert. Today, it has nearly gone out and I believe we must do all we can – as one of the last generations that will perhaps be able to – to keep it alive in our times.’

Hiker on the Plain of El Radda, near Jebel Gattar. Photo by: Nour El Din

Even though the Red Sea Mountain Trail has just opened, its creators are already looking into making it even more epic by expanding the route into a 1000km path that runs the length of the Red Sea, and a new northern section could be open in just a few years.

by LAUREN KEITH

This article first appeared on http://www.lonelyplanet.com. The original can be read here.