Two Days at Sea after Israel

Friday April 24 2009 - Two weeks left in our trip around the world and after weeks of virtually calm seas, as we head North West in the Eastern Mediterranean, the water is a little rougher this morning. The barf bags have been set out in the hallways, a sure sign of rough weather even though, currently, It’s sunny and clear with a forecast high of 18 degC (65 degF). Our next stop, Istanbul is 400 miles to the North. We slept in ‘til 11.00am this morning, went up to play trivia, then after lunch, spent the afternoon in the casino with varying success, before getting ready for a captains cocktail party at 05.00pm. He went through the usual speech, gave out the awards for long time cruisers, warned about the coming rough weather and said he was looking forward to our arrival in Rome as he was leaving the ship for some time off at home. We arrived late for the party and only had time for one free drink, a disappointing outcome since the quality of a CCP is directly related to the number of free drinks you can drink in the allocated time.


Doreen and Bob



Saturday April 25 2009 - It’s cold today, sunny with a high of 14 degC (57 degF), the rough seas didn’t materialize and it’s still fairly calm. The afternoon’s highlight was an advance birthday party for Maine Bob at 04.30pm, his wife Doreen had arranged everything in what we called ‘smokers corner’ on deck nine. He was shocked when he turned up to find about 40 people waiting for him and even more shocked when we all sang ‘Happy Birthday to You’ followed by ‘When I’m 64’ . Doreen had beer and wine laid on as well as finger foods and the whole thing went off very well, Bob was feeling no pain by the time it broke up around 07.00pm. Istanbul is just over 100 miles to the East over the Sea of Marmara and we’re scheduled to arrive there at 07.00am tomorrow morning.

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Ashdod - Israel

Thursday April 23 2009 - Because we left Egypt late last night, there was some confusion as to when we would arrive in Israel, so we went to sleep not knowing when our shore excursion would be leaving. I set the alarm for 07.00am and when we got up, we found that we were scheduled to go through Israeli immigration and start our tour at 08.00am. We rushed breakfast and went up to the Royal Lounge at 07.55am where we waited 20 minutes for the officials to arrive then after a series of waits we made it on board our bus and started off about 08.45am.

guard on the street outside the port area




View over Jerusalem



We made a brief photo stop at a high point overlooking Jerusalem then headed down to the Dead Sea, 400 metres below sea level, my ears popped as we passed the sea level mark and continued lower, then along the coastal road to the Fortress of Masada. It was an imposing sight, a mountain block detached from the rest of the escarpment, its’ plateau 450 metres (1400 feet) above the level of the Dead Sea.

Me at the top of Masada




View from the top of Masada with cable car at the bottom left



The history of Masada is fascinating in that it was laid siege to in the first century by 8000 Roman troops, the 960 defenders of the rock, when all hope of holding out was lost, decide it was better to die by their own hand than become slaves of the Romans, subsequently they killed all their families then each other until the last person killed themselves. We took the cable car to the top and our guide, Helen, led us around describing the purpose and history of each building, there are lots of buildings still standing or reconstructed per the original. After a while, we took off ourselves having arranged to meet the guide at the bottom around 02.00pm. It is a very interesting site, much more has survived than I had imagined and much more was there in its’ time.
We met the guide back at the bottom and moved on to the Lot Hotel and Spa on the shoreline for lunch and a close up visit to the Dead Sea.

The beach area at the Dead Sea



Lunch was buffet style and was not too bad and after we had eaten, we went down to the waters edge where we had free time for a swim. We were warned not to stay in the water too long as it can cause undesirable physical effects on you, the chemicals in the water can also damage your skin and destroy any clothing immersed in it and you should make sure you don’t swallow any or get any in your eyes. It is also very important that you thoroughly wash and rinse yourself after bathing. We had about 2 and a half hours at the beach front and Izzy and I spent most of it swinging in a big hammock, we returned to the bus at 05.45pm and made the two and a half hour trip back to the ship.

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Port Said - the Pyramids

Wednesday April 22 2009 - Up at 04.45am this morning for an early start, we were to be on the bus by 06.00am. We were the last bus in our convoy which had a pick-up at front and back of the column, each pick-up had two police officers in the front and three armed soldiers in the back on seats set into the bed. On our bus and presumably the same on the other buses, in addition to the driver there was our business suited armed security guy, an Egytologist/guide and a representative from Memphis Tours. As we left the town of Port Said, each cross street was blocked and traffic held by a policeman so that the convoy never had to stop, our lead vehicle used his siren frequently to announce our coming. We left the dock area at 06.10am and arrived at the Giza Plateau just before 10.00am so it was a long journey, about an hour into it as we came through a police checkpoint, we had a few nervous moments when as the last bus, we were separated from the rest and pulled off the road as the convoy took off without us. Our tour representative got off and exchanged words with the police and after some arm waving we were back on the road. I wouldn’t want to give the impression that the people were not friendly toward us, because in general, they were, people occasionally waved and smiled as we drove by and we reciprocated.


Izzy climbed the Great Pyramid




The Great Pyramid of Cheops, with Izzy at front



We stopped for about half an hour at the great pyramid of Cheops and were able to climb part of it, it was spectacular to see and even more massive than in pictures. The vendors in the area were very aggressive, one came up and pulled off Izzy’s headgear and started to rearrange it, as he said, in the correct way, meanwhile another guy was loading me down with ‘free’ gifts, ’no charge’, he insisted it was purely a gift, then when I began to walk off he suggested I should give him a gift, just a small one, I said I had no money whatsoever and he was quick to take all his gifts back.

Izzy and friend on the high plateau




Overlooking the Giza Plateau



We then moved up to a higher plateau which gave a good view of the great pyramid, the Chephren pyramid and the Mykerinos pyramid, once again were bombarded by aggressive vendors, but the view was excellent, unfortunately we didn’t have time to ride a camel across the sands, maybe next time.

The Sphinx




Me and the Sphinx with Cephren's pyramid behind



Next we moved down to the area of the Sphinx, east of the Cephren pyramid, the Sphinx’s face is thought to be in the likeness of Cephren and is believed to have been the guardian of his tomb.
It was now about noon but before heading for lunch at a local ‘5 star’ restaurant, we stopped at a jewellery maker where several people onboard had ordered cartouches made, the quality of the cartouches was so bad that no-one would accept them.

Me, Izzy and Pat in the restaurant



Lunch as buffet style and the best that can be said is that it was edible, though I must say the restaurant staff were extremely gracious and help[ful. After lunch we made a one hour visit to the Museum of Egyptian Antiqueties, 120,000 artefacts from the pre-dynastic era to the time of the Pharaohs, then the long drive back to the ship, we reformed in convoy about half way back, arriving dockside around 06.00pm. I liked Cairo, the people were generally friendly and welcoming, but the city is an open sewer in places and poverty is everywhere, it’s a shame that the area around these major world renowned antiqueties is so poorly maintained, it might serve well to clean the place up a bit.
We ordered room service on board, then as we ate our food, an announcement was made by the captain, the canal was backed up with shipping heading South, so we weren‘t able to depart at our scheduled time, our most likely new departure time 10.00pm.

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Red Sea day and Suez Canal

A comfortable position to view the suez canal



Monday April 20 2009 - Quiet day at sea after our long day in Upper Egypt, as we sailed North in the Red Sea. I spent some time around the pool and in the evening we watched the movie ‘Body of Lies’


Tuesday April 21 2009 - We were up early this morning and had our breakfast on deck 5 as we would be spending the whole day travelling through the Suez Canal. It was something I’d always wanted to do and we planned to spend the whole day on deck, Jim and Lucy joined us and we were happy to have a great location to watch the passing scenery. Early on we travelled through the outskirts of the town of Suez, mostly industrial buildings along the canal’s edge.

Ferry crossing area, typical several places along the canal



The town quickly gave way to sandy banks, some places built up 20 or 20 feet other places only a few feet above the water line. We moved to the starboard (East) side of the ship to take advantage of the rising sun and waved to the occasional military personel stationed along the bank. The canal is 119 miles long and shortly before lunch, we were in Great Bitter Lake where water from the Mediterranean meets water from the Red Sea and evaporates allowing a constant flow of water into the canal from both sides. The canal has no locks and at places it is only wide enough for single transits, though there are wider sections allowing ships to pass.

Jim and Jim about to sample the Chinese liquor



We were joined by Pat and Jim and the six of us sat eating and drinking the day away, by 03.00 we were sampling Jims Chinese liquor, he had paid 75 cents a bottle in Shanghai and it was eminently drinkable and also quite potent and we soon were singing to anyone who would listen, including a boatload of Egyptians who passed us by.

Mosque on the canal bank, close to Port Said



Half way along we passed the town of Ismailia but otherwise it was all sandy banks with occasional ferry crossings and bridges in two places, one place had a massive open grandstand where about two or three thousand soldiers were marching to an accompanying band. We reached the edges of Port Said around 04.00pm and by 05.00 we were tied up to the dock, which was covered with vendors’ stalls selling all kinds of souvenirs. I really enjoyed the transit and it was all the better for the company and the brilliant warm comfortable weather and the accompanying beverages, of course.

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Safaga - Luxor - Egypt

Sunday April 19 2009 - We had taken advantage of an offer of a private tour arranged by Pete and Leslie, two other passengers, for less than half the price of the same tour operated by Princess. Our tour also included a half hour boat ride on the Nile, something not in the Princess tour, and it all worked out great, we were very happy with the arrangements provided by the tour company, Memphis Tours.
It was advertised that it would take from 2½ to 3½ hours each way by bus from the dock to Luxor, in fact it took 3 hours and 45 minutes approximately each way. We were up at 05.00am for a quick breakfast, the ship docked about 06.00am, and after a lot of waiting around our convoy moved off shortly before 08.00am.

Our escort vehicle on the way to Luxor




Our government supplied security guard



Our bus was first in line directly after the lead security vehicle, we sat directly behind the security guard who was smartly dressed in a nice business suit and had an automatic weapon slung over his shoulder, under his jacket so that it wasn’t too obvious, we named him Rambo. In addition to our driver, we also had a back-up driver, a representative from Memphis Tours and an Egyptologist/guide named Islam also employed by Memphis Tours. We started off slowly winding through town, allowing the other buses to stay with us, occasionally the security vehicle would sound his siren to encourage traffic ahead to pull over a bit to allow us to pass. As we moved out of town and into the desert landscape, sandstone hills and sandy flats, I couldn’t help but think, here we were in the first bus, most likely to be first into trouble if any arose, sitting behind the most likely target of any attack, the armed security guard. After an hour or so we stopped at a roadside café for a washroom break, all kinds of souvenirs were for sale at hugely inflated prices, Izzy looked at a local head dress, $35, the guy asked, eventually she paid $5, it was probably worth $2 or $3. By the roadside several women and children with donkeys, or camels, or goats posed for pictures for $1, they got a few takers, but most people sneeked a quick pic while they weren’t looking.
Our journey continued, every 5 or 10 miles we passed through a check point where the road was blocked by a chicane of barriers with armed police manning each post, sometimes with an elevated watch tower with a machine gun projecting out an opening, sometimes with a couple of policemen seemingly asleep in their vehicle.


Izzy, Pat and Jim at the Valley of the Kings




On the trolley at Valley of the Kings



When we arrived in Luxor, it was almost noon, our first stop was the Valley of the Kings and it was hot, 100 degF and the sun was brilliant white reflecting off everything around, we entered the reception building and reviewed the photographs and 3D model of the tomb locations, then boarded the little electric trolley to take us up the long drive to the location of the tomb entrances. Our entrance ticket allowed us to visit any 3 of the several tombs open to visitors and we chose those of Ramses 4th, 9th and 1st, the tomb of King Tutankamun was not open to visitors and we were told it was quite plain and contained nothing other than his stone sarcophagus.

Me at the Valley of the Kings with several tomb entrances visible behind




Excavation work continues



The tombs we did visit were basically all similar with complete wall and ceiling decoration pictures and hieroglyphics, that of Ramses 4th was different in that the walls were not protected by glass and, surprisingly, you could actually touch the paintings. All the tombs were amazingly bright and clean, easily accessible by stairs or ramps, no photography was allowed in any of them.


Shell talking to one of the guards at the Valley of the Queens



Next, we moved on to the Valley of the Queens, the location of the spectacular Temple of Queen Hatshepsut rising out of the desert plain in a series of terraces merging with the sheer limestone cliffs surrounding it.

Queen Hatshepsut's temple at Valley of the Queens



Our guide suggested that her name is easily remembered if you think ‘hat cheap suit’. The Valley of Queens is also memorable for the 1997 terrorist attack where 58 tourists and 4 Egyptians were killed, it was strange to be there, remembering back to the reports on tv, now the area appears to be somewhat protected. Izzy decided to forego the long climb to the top of the temple and relaxed in the coffee shop near the entrance while I climbed to the top. I made sure I was back at the coffee shop 10 minutes ahead of schedule so that I could get a drink, the price of which varied from $2 to $4 depending on who you asked, I opted for a $2 ice cream bar.

Our transport on the Nile




Arriving at the Sofitel hotel for lunch



We moved on, making a brief photo stop at the colossal statues of Amenhotep III, then on to the banks of the Nile where we enjoyed a relaxing half hour boat trip to our lunch stop at the Sonesta Sofitel hotel.

The avenue of huge columns at Karnak - it was the busiest place we visited




Inside the temple complex at Karnak



Lunch was edible and by the time we were finished it was after 03.00pm so we wasted no time in moving on to the world famous complex of temples at Karnak, built over a period of 2,000 years by generation after generation of pharaohs. Although the complex has been completely rebuilt in modern times, it is particularly nicely preserved, in fact it’s so clean and tidy that it reminded me of Disneyland, I almost expected to see a roller coaster winding through the top of the columns.

Sunset on the drive back to the ship



We left Karnak around 05.30pm, driving back to Safaga, I watched the passing scenes of life and fell asleep before we arrived back at the ship around 09.15pm, we were scheduled to sail at 10.00pm. Back on board, we had a late dinner then watched the sail away before going down to our cabin.

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