Andrew Lowton of Leicestershire writes to tell us of his climb to the summit of Egypt’s Mount Sinai with his wife. It turns out they got more than they asked for.

I had no more clothes in my pack – I had them all on. Sheltering in the stone cover of the teahouse, like a slightly slimmer version of Michelin man, I moved to the doorway when an excited cry came from outside. It was snowing!

My wife danced as huge fluffy flakes settled on the hillside. We were halfway up Egypt’s Mount Sinai, in the last hours of Christmas Eve, and it was snowing. Marvellous.

After a punishing nine-hour bus ride from Cairo we had arrived at St Catherine’s Monastery, set at the foot of the mountain, at 9.30pm. We’d hoped to stay at the hostel but there were no places left. That left two choices: go to the nearby village or start walking up the mountain. There was a full moon and we had food and water, so we started to walk.

The views… The empty trail… It was magical. Then the rain started. And we didn’t have raincoats. Who brings raincoats to Egypt? Then rain turned to snow. Fortunately, it didn’t last long and we trod the unblemished white carpet towards the place where it is believed Moses gave out the Ten Commandments.

The final path to the summit was covered in ice and looked dodgy. We retreated to a teahouse, snuck in, lay on the hard floor and tried to sleep.

A couple of hours after midnight the door banged open and in marched what looked to be Daley Thompson! The spitting image of the great British Olympian was actually Salama, an Egyptian who was leading a group of Finnish tourists.

His arrival woke the sleeping teahouse owner, and soon the fire was stoked and tea was made. We followed Salama and the Finns further up the mountain to his teahouse, which was perched on a small plateau that had thick cloud lapping at its edges. We sat on a bench and gratefully accepted blankets.

As sunrise approached, we set off for the summit. The top was heaving with pilgrims – Christians, Jews, Muslims – mixing freely. There was no view. Then, just for a moment, the clouds parted to reveal the valley below and rocks bathed in gold.

During the following ten days we visited many of the finest sights in Egypt – the Pyramids of Giza, the Valley of the Kings, Abu Simbel – but our abiding memory of the country was trekking up Mount Sinai. On Christmas Eve. In the snow.

Edition 48: Autumn 2009