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May 1st. 2006
The last two days have been very interesting….Yesterday, we entered the Suez Canal around 6am…..and sailed through the canal all day…..got to the other end around 6pm…..they had expected the transit to be between 14 to 16 hours, but only took 12. We were in a convoy of 17 ships heading northbound….we were number 6. They were all freighters, tankers, Containers etc. not a sign of another Cruise ship. Halfway through the Canal, you came to Bitter Lakes……this is where the South Bound traffic has to pull over and wait for he North bound to go through….so we had right of way….just had to hover around a short time, while we waited for the last of the Southbound to enter the Bitter Lakes. The hovering filled in time, so we didn’t have to anchor. We had a very good lecturer on board, who was in the Bridge half the day and made commentary on what was happening and where we were. We were luckier than some, because our friend Edgar, had sailed the Canal a number of times, and told us everything before the lecturer had a chance.
One side of the canal was just sand dunes…..desert…..with
lots of soldiers on top of the sand dunes with their big nasty guns!
The other side of the Canal, had towns, cultivation and more soldiers with lots of guns….I have seen more weapons on this trip than I have ever seen in my life.
We had the perfect vantage spot for the transit…..every “sea day” we go to the Horizon Lounge for most of the day…..We sit at the front window, and I have been sewing, and John reading……so on Canal Transit day, we did he same…after breakfast, up to the lounge, and we sat there all day….when ever a photo opportunity came up, I would go out on the open deck…take a photo…..go back in, to my nice comfy arm chair, order a drink….and keep sewing! This went on for 12 hours…..of course in that time we also had lunch and afternoon tea! We actually chose NOT to have the Galley Lunch that day as we didn’t want to miss any of the Transit….we actually thought it was a rather silly day to put on the Galley Lunch…..the day before was a sea day, with nothing to see….so would have been a better idea to have the lunch
that day.
We then sailed towards Alexandria, arriving around 6am. We had Room Service for breakfast, as we had to be “dockside” at 7.45 for our trip to Cairo. However at 7.45am we hadn’t cleared Egyptian Customs…….some of the Egyptian Officers were polishing off all our doughnuts, and weren’t in a big hurry! Before we could go ashore, all the people leaving the ship in Alexandria, had to have their luggage taken off…and there was miles of it…..there were only 70 people staying on board. Eventually it was time for us to disembark, then an announcement was made that the Egyptians had decided that we all had to carry our Passports all day….so it was back upstairs to collect Passports. This was the first time we had to take Passports with us. The ship has arranged for all the Visas etc, except for India, which we did before we left home. I don’t know if we have to pay for all the Visas, so far none of the Visa fees have appeared on our account!
Finally got off the ship, and onto a bus for the trip to Cairo. At first we were told that we would be in
a convoy of buses, which is what I have heard happens on the Alexandria to Cairo Road, but then they changed their mind, and we set off alone. We had two police motor bikes in front of the bus, a police car behind the bus and two Security blokes inside the bus. Alexandria is a filthy city…..I saw people doing their washing in a fountain in the middle of a roundabout…and one person, using the same fountain as a toilet….and I’m not talking about a quick pee! The rubbish situation is probably worse than India. After we left the city, the two motor bikes disappeared, but we had the police car behind us all day…..even when we shopped or went for lunch.
All across the desert was rubbish, it was really dreadful. Hardly any buildings are completed, because once they are, they have to pay a property tax…..this of course makes the whole place look like a building site. My suggestion is to tax the unfinished ones higher! At least the Country would look a bit better. Our guide was very good, and talked for about half the 3 hours it took to cross the desert. Just as we got
to the outskirts of Cairo, we got our first glimpse of the pyramids. As we got to the parking spot at the pyramids, our guide told us what to be aware of when dealing with any of the hawkers…..John still managed to get fleeced within minutes! One of the tricks is to charge a couple of dollars to have a photo taken on a camel, but then they don’t let you get off until you pay a lot more! John got asked to change some money….he lost $10 in the transaction.
Of course the pyramids were amazing, but I had imagined them to be way out in the desert, not almost in the middle of town. We had a couple of stops, for different views of the pyramids, then went off to see the Sphinx. There is some restoration work being done on the Sphinx, and it was in better condition than I had thought it would be, but probably wasn’t quite as big as I had imagined. We then had a shopping stop, but was at a very expensive shop, …..some bought jewellery etc. Our lunch was at the Mena House, and the hotel is really beautiful. We sat
in the dining room, looking out at the pyramids! Our lunch was beef broth, beef stroganoff, and cake with berries….not really very Egyptian…..
It was then time to set off back across the desert……the closer we go to Alexandria, the faster the driver went….he must have been late for dinner or something. Of course I kept thinking about the bus crash recently that killed so many Aussies, on that road…..I was very happy to reach the dock in one piece……but then it was time for the hawkers to start on us again…I am sure we have “sucker” tattooed on our foreheads! One kept trying to sell us stuffed camels…..I ended up trying to get the Security Guards to buy them.
Back to the safety of our “home”. We had missed the safety drill for all the new passengers, so didn’t get to see what they all looked like!
We went up on deck for the sail away, but it was very cold, so we didn’t stay long…..first time we have been cold on the entire trip. Only met two of the new passengers, a very nice couple from San Francisco.
2nd May……We have just received an invitation to dine
with the Captain tonight…I was wondering when he was going to get around to it! It’s a Formal night…..hope they don’t notice that Johns trousers don’t mach his Tuxedo jacket! Those trousers no longer fit him!
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