The Friday Photo: Texting on Mount Sinai
This is a timeless scene. A Bedouin man in traditional scarf and djellaba reclines in the sun on the top of Mount Sinai, the place where his namesake Moses received the Ten Commandments.
And what’s he doing?
Texting.
The BBC argued lately that internet and phone access is spoiling the adventure of remote places. And, while I would never want to deny the Bedouin, or other tribal peoples, the access to family, friends, medical services and education that mobile coverage brings, I love the distance of places where modern communications do not reach.
And I’ll be sad when the communications networks spans the globe and there’s no place left unplugged. How about you?
‘spoiling the adventure of remote places’ for who? it reeks of keep the third world a third world place for the decadent..
I think that is a problem with the BBC article, Leslie, in that it’s about adventure for the traveller rather than the lifestyles of those within it.
On the other hand… Taking an extreme case, do the few uncontacted tribes remaining in the Brazilian Amazon need to be dragged into the third world from their own world, or can they be left in peace?
And, actually, I’d apply the argument to remote places within the first world too. There are swathes of the Australian outback with no mobile phone coverage — you need sat phone or radio — and I think it is nice that there are places where the phone simply cannot ring.
It is great being away sometimes, and I think even more so in the desert. Our own desert is different, but we’re lucky enough to have our good share of cathedral sized soft sand dunes and hidden away beaches hours away from the reach of phone towers or paved (or even unpaved) roads. It just feels when you stand there that you’re the only one that has ever been there and looked the world from that spot, even if that is far from true, it just feels endless, the sky looks so much bigger and you can see for miles.
I’ve been avidly following your trip and loving all the photos, such an amazing place. Keep having fun!
Alyssa – Lima, Peru.
We are definitely having fun, Alyssa, so thanks for your kind words and good wishes. I haven’t been to Peru, and I’d love to see your desert. You’re so right about the feeling of being alone that you get in the desert, the silence, the size of the sky: I loved that in the deep Sahara, and also in Sinai.
Whenever I go on longer adventures I always leave the cell phone at home. Just because others have them doesn’t mean I always want to be contactable (and I mean geez there’s always email if there’s a true emergency).
I do remember though a few years ago when I was in a remote village in South Africa and a cell phone went off during a performance- I felt embarassed on behalf of the tourist I assumed was so disrespectful, but then one of the teenage girls jumped up and ran off to answer it. Then had a pow-wow with her friends over the contents of the text. I thought it was an awesome reminder of how similar we all are at the end of the day really. 🙂
I have one, in fact, and family have the number, and it’s always on (largely because few people have the number, so no one calls me) but back in the day when I had a normal work and home base, I would always have my phone off when travelling. And BlackBerries/email on the go? Eeek!
But, yes, I love the common similarities. And, of course, much as one would like to see Mousa, the guy in the pic, as a romantic figure scaling a mountain, he is, of course, a tourist guide, doing his job.
Love it, Theodora!
Thank you, Catherine! The poor man does, of course, do this on most days, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t be bored and texting, but still…
I dunno. I called my grandmother from the top of Mount Sinai. She was thrilled to pieces. And asked me if I’d found any tablet lying around. But then, that was my grandmother… It didn’t take away from the experience to me – it added to it.
Yes, I guess I’m just old school: I can imagine that made your grandmother’s day!
Some places just feel like they SHOULD be offline to me. But, give me time, and I’ll be complaining about the absence of fast wifi in XYZ oasis.