The Suez Canal

After leaving Jordan, we sailed back down the Gulf of Aqaba to return to the Red Sea and headed north into the Gulf of Suez to enter the Suez Canal.  During the night the ship reached the southern entry to the canal where we dropped anchor to wait for our turn to enter.  The canal is operated by the Egyptians since it traverses their country with the mainland on the west side and the Sinai peninsula on the east side.  Egyptian officials inspect each ship before they permit it to enter.  We were cleared to enter the canal very early in the morning on Monday, April 21st.  We were up on the front deck before 6:00 a.m. to watch the process.  We entered the canal at Port Suez behind a cargo ship and had a line of ships coming in behind us.  It was cool to watch. 

Unlike the Panama Canal, there are no locks on the Suez Canal because the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea are at the same level.  Essentially, the Suez Canal is a long ditch connecting 2 seas.  It goes for 101 miles through Egypt and has been in operation since 1869.  It took us the whole day to pass through the canal.  Brian spent almost the entire day out on the front deck.  He recalled his father speaking of going through the Suez Canal during World War II.  All along the way, armed Egyptian guards have posts and are standing guard over the canal.  The guards waved to us as we passed by, but they each held a rifle in their other hand.  There are a few cities along the canal, including the port cities at the south and north ends.  The canal is fairly narrow so in most places it is too narrow for 2 ships to pass, thus there are by-pass canals along the route so ships to wait while other ships pass.  The landscape on the Sinai Peninsula side of the canal is fairly barren most of the way -- lots of sand!

We exited the canal into the Mediterranean Sea at about 5:30 p.m.  The canal functions like clockwork with an average of 50 vessels per day passing through.  It's one of the world's most significant waterways with a whopping 8%  of the world's shipping traffic passing through.  We don't know how much Seabourn paid in fees for our passage, but we were told by a lecturer that a cruise ship that he was on a couple of years ago paid a fee of $89,000.00 for passage.  The canal is a vital link for commercial and passenger transport - no wonder the Egyptians guard it so carefully.

All the passengers thoroughly enjoyed the experience of transiting the Suez Canal.  We will never forget this day.  Good bye Red Sea, hello Mediterranean Sea!

Lining up to enter the Canal

Entering the Canal at 7:00 a.m.

Ships following us into the Canal

  

City of Suez, Egypt

Egyptian guards on duty

 

Lots of weapons

Pontoons for building

temporary bridges, if needed

Remembering Dad in the Canal

(1943 in the Royal Navy)

Sinai Peninsula

Egyptian World War I Memorial

 

Egyptian memorial to 1967 War with Israel

 

Our Egyptian Drive-by

Railway swing bridge used when needed

Cargo ship stuck in the desert?

--Not!  It's in a bypass canal waiting its turn

Bridge to nowhere

 

Almost there

 Welcome to the Mediterranean Sea

 

Our transit through the Suez Canal was our only experience with Egypt.  Due to the unrest in that country, Seabourn wisely dropped it from our itinerary.  Hopefully, someday in the future we will get a chance to visit Egypt and see the pyramids.  In the meantime, we enjoyed our drive-by. 

Aqaba, Jordan

Leaving Salalah, Oman, we traveled south entering the Gulf of Aden and rounded the southern tip of Yemen into the Red Sea.  We sailed north in the Red Sea past Yemen and Saudi Arabia on the east side of our ship and past Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt on the other side of our ship.  We left the Red Sea and sailed up an inlet called the Gulf of Aqaba headed to Aqaba, Jordan.  Our stop in Jordan was a much anticipated highlight of our world cruise because visiting the nearby ancient city of Petra was a Bucket List item for us.

Our sail through the notorious waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea was very interesting.  Seabourn took added security measures during this leg of our cruise.  These precautions are understandable in light of the fact that in 2005 the Seabourn Spirit was attacked by Somali pirates and suffered damage from RPGs and small arms fire.  Fortunately, the Spirit escaped the pirates and no injuries occurred.  Our ship is equipped with water canons, high frequency sound deterrents and an extra propeller for boosted speed.  In spite of all the defensive equipment, in Oman four armed security guards boarded our ship to accompany us through this region.  The extra guards were private security guards that regularly patrol these waters protecting cruise ships and cargo ships from pirates or other security threats.  We spoke to a couple of the guards while they were on board ship.  The two guards that we met were former British commandos now working private security in this region.  They were dressed in black uniforms and looked very much the part.  These highly trained and physically fit experts took their jobs very seriously.  Once the ship reached a point where we were 24 miles beyond the point of the last attempted attack, the guards were picked up by a zodiac to return to their headquarters, a small ship in the middle of the Red Sea, where they await their next assignment to accompany the next ship requesting security through the area.  It was all very James Bond like and entertained us passengers.  Our captain told us that the "boys" enjoyed their 2 day stay aboard our luxury cruise ship because they typically spend their time on cargo ships.  They were well fed by Seabourn and the captain gave them a bottle of champagne to take back to their headquarters.

Zodiac coming to pick up our

Security Team in the Red Sea

 

Off loading the weapons

The Security Team exiting our ship

Leaving us in the "safe zone" of the Red Sea

 

We arrived in Aqaba, Jordan on Saturday, April 19th.  As we sailed into the port, we could see Egypt, Israel and Jordan from the front deck of the ship since their borders all come together at this point on the Gulf.  Jordan has only a small waterfront border on the Gulf.  Early that morning, 8 tour buses loaded with passengers and crew members traveled to the ancient city of Petra which was a 2 hour drive from the port.  As we drove through the barren countryside, we saw the tent villages of the Bedouins, an Arab nomadic tribe that still exists today.  The Bedouins mainly exist by herding livestock so they must migrate to areas where they can find water for their herds of goats, sheep, camels, horses and cows.  It is hard to believe the migratory lifestyle of the Bedouin people is still in existence.  Our tour guide was from a Bedouin Village and gave us a lot of insight into their unusual way of life.

 

We spent the day hiking through the spectacular red, white and pink sandstone canyons in the prehistoric city of Petra to see the amazing ancient ruins dating back to the 2nd Century, B.C.  Petra is a UNESCO World Heritage site and has been designated as one of the new seven wonders of the world.  The area flourished under an ancient Arab tribe called the Nabeteans who controlled this link in the trade routes between Arabia and Syria and charged the traders a fee for safe passage through the route.  The tribe faded away during Roman and Byzantine rule.  Petra came to be occupied by the Bedouins.  In the early 1800s, the area was rediscovered by a European who disguised himself as a Bedouin. Hiking through the high walled canyon area called the "Siq" reminded us of the hiking we have done in Utah's red rock slot canyons. The highlight of the hike is the famous ancient monument called "The Treasury" featured in the Indiana Jones movie. 

This Corinthian columned façade which is 130 feet high presents itself dramatically as you come out of the narrow Siq section of the hike -- a "WOW" moment.  We explored other magnificent features of this ancient city which goes for miles and miles, but only saw a small part of it all.  In addition to the spectacular natural beauty of the area and the ruins, we also enjoyed the action around us with the colorful Arabian cowboys guiding tourists on horseback or camels or carriages through the canyons at breakneck speed narrowly missing tourists along the way.  It was a true Arabian experience.  After a few hours in the canyon, we hiked out then enjoyed a great buffet lunch of Middle Eastern cuisine and cold Jordanian beer before starting the drive back to the ship. 





Our long drive back to the ship was broken up by a stop at a shop located on a hillside overlooking the vast valleys and hills of the Jordanian countryside.  To our surprise, Seabourn sent a crew out to meet us to serve us champagne and caviar in true Seabourn fashion.  It was a great treat to cap off our memorable visit to Petra.  We can check Petra off the Bucket List!

The Port of Aqaba, Jordan

Bedouins' Tent

Gate of Petra Archaeological Park

Carriages available for non-hikers

Ruins at the entry to Petra

 

Entering The Siq narrows

The Siq narrows

Hiking through The Siq

First glimpse of The Treasury

The Treasury

 

Camel Ride

Beware of the tourist on a camel

The Theater

The Royal Tombs

Beautiful countryside of Jordan

 

 

Now, on to the Suez Canal!

Oman

After leaving Mumbai, India, we sailed southwesterly across the Arabian Sea to the port city of Salalah on the south end of Oman, near the border of Yemen.  Frankly, we knew nothing about Oman before the trip.  It was our first stop in the Middle East and we were intrigued to learn about this country of 3.9 million people which is bordered by Yemen to the south, Saudi Arabia to the west, the United Arab Emirates to the west and the Arabian Sea to the east. 

The sail into the port was beautiful and we immediately felt a difference from our stops in southeast Asia and India.  The water was sparkling clean and glistened against the backdrop of the stark white limestone landscape.  The area is arid and dry this time of the year so we saw very little greenery in the flat, sandy coastal area near the port and on the mountains in the background.  As we watched the entry from the front deck of the ship we were greeted by dolphins, stingrays and a sea turtle as we approached the docks.  The port was recently expanded so it was very clean, orderly and quiet which was totally different from the bustling ports we had just left in India.

We took a 1/2 day tour of the City and surrounding area.  We learned that Oman is ruled by Sultan Qaboos bin Said (pronounced, Sultan "Caboose") who is now 73 years old.  He took over the country in 1970 in a coup against his own father, who was apparently shot in the foot during the takeover and was exiled to England.  Sultan Qaboos is a good looking, British educated Sultan who has been a major reformer of the country and is very popular here.  During his reign the quality of life for the Omanis has greatly improved and the country has progressed with improved infrastructure and educational opportunities.

As we drove around in the afternoon, it was very quiet in the City and surrounding area because the businesses close from 1:00 to 4:00 each day due to the heat.  The shops (called "souks") re-open at 4:00.  We visited Taqah Castle, a historic compound in the area that was the former home of the Sultan's mother.  Next, we drove out to an archaeological site called Sumhuram that was the location of an ancient trading post for the frankincense trade and reportedly a port for the Queen of Sheba.  Archaeologists from all over the world come to this area to dig, recover and preserve the ancient ruins.  The site was very interesting and sits up on a bluff overlooking the Arabian Sea.  There were lots of wild dromedary (one hump) camels running around the site which added to the whole Arabian mystique.

Next, we visited a history museum and learned a lot about the country's trading history, especially the exportation of frankincense, from the exhibits and our knowledgeable tour guide.  There was a grove of frankincense trees on the property.  We learned a lot about frankincense!  We also drove around the center of the City and saw the elaborate compound of the Sultan's palace which is his home when he visits Salalah from the capital of Muscat.  Clearly, it is good to be king because the large walled compound was very luxurious with palm trees, green grass and beautiful, modern streetscaping all around.  Unfortunately, the Sultan did not invite us in for tea.

Our last stop at the end of the day was to visit the marketplace for a shopping opportunity.  There was plenty of frankincense for sale.  We bought some costume pieces to wear at an upcoming Arabian Party on board ship.  Brian bought a new hat called a "taqiyah".  It is perfect for the Arabian Party, but we're not sure how much wear he'll get out of it when we return home.  Oh well, we're both getting better at the expected price haggling thing so we hope that we got a bargain on the taqiyah.

We enjoyed our first visit to an Arab country.  It seemed safe and clean and orderly here even though we are in a volatile part of the world.  It was a great introduction to the Arabian and Muslim cultures.
We look forward to our other upcoming stop in Aqaba, Jordan.

Port of Salalah, Oman

Street scene of Salalah

Beach scene of Salalah

Historic Taqah Castle

 

Taqah Castle

 

Archaeological site

Dromedary Camel

Wild camels

Museum of Frankincense Land

Frankincense trees

Sultan's palace

 

Sultan's Palace

Sultan's Palace

 

Sultan's Mosque

 

Brian's new taqiyah