Frankly, being a young Bedouin (especially if you are male) is a tiresome business. Before you are six months old you must endure several rituals, most of which – come to think of it – all of which are extremely discomforting and probably illegal in most countries.
While the mountains and deserts of southern Sinai are stunningly beautiful, they contain nasty inhabitants known as scorpions. Since the Bedouin do not wish to be troubled by having to cut off various limbs to save them from a painful death in the event of being bitten, they have devised a simple solution.
Their dear mother takes said scorpion and cooks him over a fire. Once cooked, the scorpion is mashed into a paste (along with the scorpion’s sting) and spread over the mother’s breast. Young Mr Bedouin, desiring a breastfeed, happily suckles away at the combination of mother’s milk and mashed scorpion.
The result is that you go very hot for around three days and feel distinctly ill, but now that you have consumed the scorpion s ill-will, you are deemed protected for life from another attack. One Bedouin guide I know has been bitten over 10 times and claims no side affects. I have no idea whether this is medically condoned but the Bedouin are happy to go along with it.
What they are also happy to go along with is the shortening of the dingly-dangly thing. What is the dingly-dangly thing, you ask? It is known medically as the uvula and it is the strange little dangly thing that hangs down from the top of the back of the mouth, just before the throat. I prefer to call it the dingly-dangly thing since that is exactly what it is – at least until the Bedouin get hold of it.
Bedouins pride themselves on never getting thirsty and being able to take hikers through the heat of the summer deserts without needing a drink, especially during Ramadan. They will go for days without water (taking only an occasional tea) and then complain of headaches that remind them they need to rehydrate.
They are able to withstand lack of water because when they are young they have their uvula shortened. Yeah, shortened.
Basically, the bottom bulbous head of the uvula is cut off and this apparently stops them from getting thirsty. It is worth noting that when someone is dehydrating, their uvula expands into the throat and causes a degree of asphyxia.
So next time you join us in the mountains and deserts of south Sinai, you will be happy to know that your Bedouin guide will remain impervious to the effects of lack of water and scorpion bites.
You and I, however, will bring along a lot of bottled water and tread very carefully.
Bedouin Paths runs ethical hiking tours in Sinai. Visit www.bedouinpaths.com for more information.
