Sharm el-Sheikh - October 29

Sharm el-Sheikh is a holiday destination on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula.  There was nothing much there until 1968 when the tourist trade made it a popular spot.  It is also a place where international conferences often take place.  Next month there is going to be one on climate.

We were supposed to get in at 7am and our group (an excursion set up on Cruise Critic) was supposed to meet at 7:30 so I got up at 5:45. I wasn't sure about lunch so I went to the Lido and had an orange juice and a very good pancake.  As it turned out we did not get into port until 7:30 and were not cleared by the Egyptian authorities until 8:30.  

We were finally let off the ship and had to put our things through the x-ray machine (binoculars were not allowed) and were patted down.  The vans finally set off at 9:30.  

The first stop was at the Ras Mohammad National Park.  The entire area looks like a moonscape but at the park there were some beautiful bodies of water as well as small plants popular with the wild camels that populate the area.  We had a short stop for tea and a bathroom break at a Bedouin camp.

After about two hours at the camp we returned to the city where we visited a Coptic Orthodox Cathedral.  It was built recently and the entire interior was painted with Bible stories by two artists.

Lunch at a seafood restaurant was next and we had a huge meal for $20.

We walked by the large Mosque but could not go in because it was prayer time.  Instead, we were given time to shop and then returned to the ship.

I went up on deck and read before time for sail-away.

At dinner we all talked about our day.  Judy and Bob had gone snorkeling and Pete and Sherry had gone on a glass-bottomed boat.

I did not go to the show because I needed to finish the blog, we lose an hour tonight to get on Jordanian time, and my tour meets at 7am!

Smooth sailing until next time!

most of the inland area looks like this

Mangrove trees in the National Park

a cleft, open underground to the sea, caused by an earthquake hundreds of years ago

Hidden Lake was popular for swimming

 ???

Two of the wild camels (which were smaller than most camels) that live in the park and eat those little bushes

swimming and boating in the park

the Bedouin Camp shere they had put little cushions on the ground for us (I sat in a chair)

One of the WCs in the park

entrance/exit of the park

 

a building that housed Israeli soldiers when they controlled the area

???

the logo of "Sharm" which is what they use for advertising

we saw lots of these made with rocks (anybody read Arabic?)

murals along the side of the highway

How the other half lives - top picture is the low rent district and bottom picture is the high rent district

one of the many Beach Clubs along the waterfront

the beautiful Coptic Orthodox Cathedral

above and below are interior shots of the cathedral

the plates of ?? (I think one was hummus) on the table, the seafood soup and the salad

the seafood main course

tasty citrusy drink for dessert

seafood display at the restaurant

???

Two views of the mosque (above) and the area around the mosque (below)

note the man making the mosaic sidewalk

at the mosque

two of the four kitties I saw today

the view at the harbor at sail-away

 

 

Suez Canal - October 28

Somewhere around 5:30 am we entered the canal (I was told this - I was still asleep).  I was up by 8am and quickly dressed to go out on deck and get some pictures.  I went out on the bow for a while as we went under the Suez Canal bridge.

This was my second trip through the Suez Canal (2014 World Voyage was my first).  Time for another short history lesson (once a teacher, always a teacher).  The building of the canal was spearheaded by a French man, Ferdinand de Lesseps, and was built between 1859 and 1869.  The canal is at sea level so there are no locks (de Lesseps tried to repeat his success by building a canal through Central America but there was no way to do it without locks, though he tried).  The canal reduces the distance between Asia and Europe by about 5000 miles.

The west side of the canal is more inhabited and the east side, which is part of the Sinai Peninsula, is mostly desert.  This is actually part of Asia and the Suez Canal Bridge links the two continents.

We had commentary from Jeremy (the Cruise and Travel Director) and the bow was open to the passengers.   Just like the Panama Canal, it is a place you need to go to different parts of the ship to catch all of the sights.

While all of this was going on I carried on with my normal activities.  With people watching the canal, I was able to find a team that needed one more person for 1pm trivia.  We finished the transit at about 3:30 when we passed the city of Suez and entered the Red Sea.  Jeremy told us that our transit cost $350,589 (which is over $200 per person).

Afternoon trivia was music from the 50's.  I played alone and was able to get 17 out of 24 points.  Usually, I do much worse on music trivia.  

Afterwards I walked 5 laps around the deck since I had done a lot of sitting today.

We had to pick up our passports between 7 and 9 because the Egyptian authorities require this.

There were only three of us for dinner and I skipped the show because I needed to get things together for tomorrow and finish some items on Cruise Critic. 

Sharm El-Sheikh tomorrow and I have a tour that was arranged on our roll call with the company, Across Africa.

1pm trivia - we had 11/18, winners had 13

1.  How many walking legs does a lobster have?

2.  Which two countries have the longest border?

3.  What is a "haboob"?

4.  What is the most popular car color?

5.  What was the first animal to go into space?

6.  How many tentacles does a squid have? 

1.  8

2.  US - Canada

3.  sandstorm or windstorm

4.  white

5.  dog

6.  10

Smooth sailing until next time!

one of the many ferries 

The Suez Canal Bridge - African side

Asian side

many fishermen were out on the water

the ship that followed us

train

the railway swing bridge (African side)

workers on the Asian side of the swing bridge

the city of Suez where the canal ends

red skies over the Red Sea