Gulf of Suez Tuesday 18 June 2013

Hello to all

 
It is Tuesday afternoon and a very easy day today,  We have had two very busy days, on Sunday we docked in Safaga in Egypt, a very early start to the day 6.45 in the Princess Theatre then all organised onto the buses for the 3 ½ hour journey to The Valley of The Kings, this impressive wadi has been carved out of a bleak landscape and it is here the great Pharaohs buried their dead.  There were three tombs open for us to explore and amazing really that we can go and see these at all, they do not always have the same three tombs open, they alternate them so as so save the beautiful colours that have been used in the elaborate paintings.  How they built these tombs and carved and painted is mind boggling. We had lunch all 800 or so of us in a hotel, we just wandered thru the hotel to have a look at the pool which was situated on the Nile, quite lovely really.  There are dozens of river cruise boats on the Nile.  Our guide was excellent, so much information.  There are four levels of people in Egpyt, the people who live in Cairo, they are basically like ourselves, live as we do, marry whom they please etc, then peasants who live in the country, they still abide by all the rules and regs they have always lived by, and they live a very poverty stricken life, hard to believe really.  Their housing, their farming methods all pre the Industrial Revolution, one would wonder, this was such a rich country, 1000s of years ago of course and they took it all to the tombs which were eventually plundered, and now the poor devils have less than nothing.   We then drove to Luxor to the Temple, now this was fascinating I enjoyed this immensely.  We left there at 4.30 for the drive back to Safaga, anor 3 ½ hrs and we arrived back to the ship at 8.00 pm had a bit of dinner and went to bed.  The ship then sailed for Aqaba, where at least 1000 boatpeople went to Petra (the Lost City).  Sam did go on this tour, I had cancelled my going a few days previously, that was a huge day as well, 11 hours, long drive, very long walk to the lost city and back.  I caught the shuttle bus into Aqaba, had a bit of a wander, then caught the shuttle back to the ship. Had a cocktail and a very easy day.  We then sailed at about 9.30 pm to head towards the Suez Canal, we are slowly making our way there now, only travelling at about 9 knots as our Captain wants us to sail thru during the day, the Suez is about 100 or miles long and it takes pretty much the whole day as it is very slow, we can see all the ships getting ready to go in convoy. It was a very beautiful sight last night leaving, Jordan on one side and then Israel on the other side, then a little further down we sail past Saudi Arabia.
 
Sam visited Petra, it was built by the Nabataeans who flourished in northern Arabia during the time of the Roman Empire. Petra lived up to Sam’s expectations, it was fantastic to see the buildings carved out of the solid rock and then only be occupied for about 200 years, first by the Nabataeans who did the carvings and then enlarged by the Romans before being abandoned when the civilisation was destroyed for reasons which are not clear.  It was then forgotten until discovered by a Swiss explorer in the early 1800’s.  It was well worth the visit and the highlight of the trip for Sam so far.

We arrive in Ashdod on June 20 and we have a tour to Jerusalem and Bethlehem along with an intimate group of probably a thousand or so of our cruise buddies. 

 
We have been very fortunate with our weather, it was 32 on both days and it could  easily have been in the 40s. 
 
It is good having a balcony, we can sit there and improve our tans as Sabine is at the minute working on bits that she would probably not do on the open deck.
 
We hope all is well and will keep up with the info as we go along.  All the best Sabine and Sam  XXX