Nearing the End

Today is our last day at sea. We are now off the coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf after passing through the Straits of Hormuz earlier today. This morning we passed close to Oman and the city of Ras Al Hadd which is on the eastern most tip of Oman's coast. 

Last night we partook of Robbie Burns Day festivities with our Scottish friends. We addressed and hailed the mighty Haggis, toasted the lads and lassies, and of course there was a wee bit of scotch to celebrate.

The past few days have mainly been spent cementing new friendships, reading and  watching the ocean go by preparatory to a LLOOONNGGG day of travel on Monday. This will likely be my last post until we get home when I will add some photos and other thoughts.  Thanks for following along - we hope you may have learned a thing or two along the way and had some fun in armchair travel whereever this may have found you.

Slainte!

I have been adding pictures

I have been adding some pictures to the blog pages. they are not posting where I try to put them so you will find a lot of them at the bottom of posts. Scroll down to check the whole post for pics!  i am working from most recent to least recent. Please bear with me...

Somewhere in the Indian Ocean

Day Something or another – In the Indian Ocean off the Coast of Oman           

BIG NEWS!!! I have started adding in some photos - the technology gods have finally let me in.  I will try to add something to each page before long.

We have been at sea now for three days with 2 more to go before we get to Dubai.  We are finally starting to unwind and have been spending time with a wonderful couple from Scotland. I am getting my Scottish burr back and Dale is laughing at me.  They split their time between Scotland and Spain and are great fun (not to mention fun to listen to as they are from near Glasgow so their accents are thick to say the least! They are busy tempting us with invitations to travel Spain with them.

We are now in the Indian Ocean having come through the Gulf of Aden last night. Since late Tuesday we have been accompanied by various military watercraft – frigates, destroyers and once even a carrier – from the international group that is patrolling these waters. We are also on blackout restrictions from 6pm onwards when the ship goes ‘dark’ so as not to be spotted by would be pirates. Apparently the situation is stabilizing though it is obvious that it is still taken extremely seriously. The last attempt was nearly a year ago though there are 2 or 3 cargo vessels still being held for ransom in Somali waters.

The pirate issue should be behind us late today as we enter the Arabian Sea and head to the Persian Gulf.  Entering the Indian Ocean means that we have now sailed on every ocean in the world except the Arctic Ocean. We have now also traveled to all continents but one – Australia.  It will be very difficult to combine those missing pieces into one trip! Weather has been fair though windy. The ocean and the air are both about 26˚C, the humidity around 70%. 

We are now working very hard at total relaxation as the end of this trip is now in sight. Just to keep us from melting entirely into useless puddles we are also doing some laundry today (just in case you think we are total bums…). Tonight is Robbie Burns night so there may be a wee bit o’ scotch tasting and haggis worship goin’ on.  Haggis, neaps and taties are on the menu in the dining room (neaps – is turnips and taties is potatoes). Beyond that we are looking forward to just sitting back and watching the world go by. We reach Dubai on Sunday and start the process of flying home on Tuesday. We will cross the International Date Line on our flight home so Tuesday will be around 32 hours long. UGH! On the other hand – all these hours they have stolen from us during this trip we will get back, which is a bonus.  Interestingly, we will be flying East from Dubai meaning that when we get to Calgary we will have gone entirely around the globe (and in less than 80 days!). 

I can only imagine the reception we are going to have in Regina when we are reunited with the Mutt…

Till later -

Valley of the Kings; trip of the Plebians

Day 13 (or so, I have lost track) – a bit about Upper Egypt

Eastern Desert - Red Sea Range

Yesterday I filled you in on the pleasures and fascinations of Cairo and Giza. That night we raised anchor late due to the mysteries of Egyptian Officialdom. This was the start of our understandings of Egyptian time keeping. We arrived the next morning an hour later than scheduled at Sofraga. That delay made everything for the whole day go insane apparently.

We docked uneventfully and at that time we were already well up and waiting to be told when we could disembark for our trip to the Valley of the Kings and Luxor. Organization was completely gone and it was chaos from the get go. We all managed to get onto buses and finally set off across the Eastern Desert. This part of the Eastern Desert is very beautiful and rugged with weird and fantastic rock formations and sand everywhere else. This is the part of the desert inhabited by Bedouin. We did learn a bit about them. The Bedouin people are the nomads of the deserts of the Middle East and Africa.  None of them are Egyptian – their origins are Libya, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Bedouin living in Egypt carry Egyptian ID but citizenship is of the other nations. They are tribal and do not marry outside their tribe. They roam the deserts herding their cattle and camels. Women do everything – herd and milk the cattle and camels, bear children, cook and prepare food, prepare fabrics and hides for the tents, build the tents, find water sources, dig the wells by hand and so on and so on. The men sit in the tents and smoke and talk. Their only other role (besides fathering children) is to approve of girls for their sons to marry and to negotiate dowry amounts. Girls are to be married no later than 18 years of age. Once married a couple must live together for 4 years. At that time the wife has the right to choose another wife for her husband. This gives her the right to stop doing all the daily work.  Yes – to all the men reading this who think that sounds fantastic – remember you would have to sit in a black tent in the very nowhereness of nowhere in daytime temperatures exceeding 50˚C and when not doing that, spend the rest of your time walking around the desert and living in one room with several wives, all your children and some goats. At least the first wife gets a break…

Enough about them – We continued trekking across the desert which is in every sense a true desert. Average rainfall in the South is less than an inch. In Luxor it rains in January once every 5 years or so. There is virtually no vegetation of visible life anywhere. Occasionally you see a tamarack tree – this is the indication to the Bedouin of water. They have been known to dig wells at these sites (by HAND) up to 110 metres in depth. That is over 350 feet for anyone counting. Occasionally you will see a few weeds that looked like small Russian thistles at the side of the road. Their green looked almost garish because it came so rarely.

tamarak tree (oasis)

Egyptian transport options

Once we crossed the desert and approached the Nile valley you cross into irrigated farm country and you drive through what is essentially one LONG endless village along the Nile.  At each change in village there is a checkpoint at which you have to slow down or stop. These come as often as every couple of miles and are very annoying and make the trip endless. We passed miles and miles of sugarcane, cotton, onion, potato and tomato fields. The average farm size in Egypt is very small – less than 5 acres at the largest.  They still farm in many cases exactly like they did a thousand years ago. There is a patient donkey and cart at one end and people hand cutting cane and stacking it on the cart. We saw one-bottom donkey drawn plows. The tractors are obviously prized possessions and most were Belarus, made in Russia.  Most would not exceed 100hp. They are, for the most part, brightly decorated with flashing lights, chromed highlights, decorative designs and even brightly embroidered curtains and fringes. 

Every little village has a mosque and minarets and the calls to prayer come 5 times a day. As you get further south in Egypt the people, both Muslim and Coptic Christians, become more devout and observant.

Eventually we arrived at the Valley of the Kings at 12:45, many hours later than planned. There we learned that we would not be allowed to even carry our cameras into the valley. Strictly no pictures allowed and very large fines if caught trying to circumvent this. The Valley contains 63 known tombs and they are still seeking more as they know of Pharaohs that died and were buried somewhere in the region whose tombs have never been located.  We were only allowed to visit 3 tombs and were only there for a little over one hour. The tombs are indescribable. The weird thing is that most of us have seen so many images over the years of Egyptian tomb stuff that when you see the real thing – it looks fake.  It was very hard to comprehend what we were seeing and the age and importance of it all. The colours are amazingly bright and fresh. Apparently 70 years of tourists with sweaty bodies and cameras have done more damage than the previous 2000 years of weather and sand.  They have not restored any paintings or cartouches because they have never been able to successfully reproduce the colours and quality of the plaster used. As near as they can tell it was a complex mixture of pigments, hide glue and some kind of gelatin derived from the lips of cattle and goats. Notably it is VERY hot in the Valley of the Kings. I can not imagine ever being there in the summer and having to work away at carving some tomb for a king.  On the other hand, painting inside one doesn’t seem to be too bad a job. At least you would be out of the sun!



3 Colossi??

 From the Valley of the Kings we made our way past several temple ruins and monuments including the Mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut (famous for killing off 2 husbands and then ruling in her own right while wearing a false beard. She is also the mother of Cleopatra). This temple is high in a hillside due West of the temple of Karnak. It is many stories and all carved into the stone of the mountainside and was used only once for the mummification of the Queen’s body when she died.  We also saw a pair of Colossi (enormous carved figures) which are the last nearly complete ones on earth. Then we made our way into Luxor to the Temple of the Queen’s and then finally to the Temple of Karnak.  Note how I have not said that we stopped at anytime for food – we didn’t. They made a decision that since we were late in arriving we would have to skip lunch so we didn’t miss any sites.  Thankfully they saved Karnak for last. It is truly worth all the pain, exhaustion, heat and effort to see. It is a huge complex built over time by different kings of the New Kingdom (everything in the Luxor region is newer than the pyramids and temples at Giza).  A seemingly endless double row of rams head sphinxes draw you into the temple. Huge walls of pink granite surround the temple proper. The Avenue of the Sphinxes once ran straight for over ½ a mile between the Kings’ and Queens’ temples. The Avenue is no longer complete but remnants remain and additional sphinxes have been moved into the temple.



avenue of Sphinxes, Luxor



temple of Karnak Hall of columns

 Once you enter there is an enormous courtyard which leads to a long east-west oriented corridor or avenue. Everything is oriented this way in ancient Egyptian structures because it all referred to the Sun God and the passage of the sun.  In the temple there is a vast hall filled with huge columns all carved and coloured an lined up in astonishingly straight rows – 132 of them.  Through this stunning hall you follow the avenue to the oldest portions of the temple where the oldest and best preserved obelisks known stand. There are acres of carvings and cartouches and many complete and partially complete statues and figures guarding entrances and guiding souls to varying spots.  We could have spent many hours there but were only granted a mere hour and a half.  All I can say is it was stunning, and magical, and so worth the visit.

guardians of the temple, Karnak

By 6:30pm they finally hauled our very dry, very dusty selves to “lunch” and gave us a whole ½ hour to gobble it. Then it was back on the buses for the long trek back. We were told it would take not more than 3 hours. It took four and a half and all of us were exhausted beyond belief by the time we finally arrived back at the Port – 3 hours later than scheduled. Cunard must have been forewarned because we were greeted at the gangway by a long line of staff with trays of champagne and juice, hot towels to remove the dirt of ages and friendly greetings.  Our usual Head Waiter, Luis was there. Luis gives me the menu for the next day every evening and guards my dining so nothing that I am allergic to gets anywhere near my plate. He worries when I am dining elsewhere because there is no one to check that my food is safe.  He handed me 2 glasses of juice and I gave him a hug. You wouldn’t believe how wonderful a friendly face was after that long a day with Egyptian craziness.

We are glad we were able to see these sites but it is neither easy nor relaxing to do it. This is very much a third world country even though much of the “first” world travels there each year. We did get to ask some questions about the revolution and the aftermath of the changes that Egypt has seen in the past 2 years. We were told that it was good we would not be in the country on the 25^th which is the 2^nd anniversary of the revolution. Many with whom we spoke were preparing to go stand in Tahrir Square once again.

But more about that in another posting.  For now I am going to find my book, gaze out at the Red Sea and lurk so no pirates spot us.

Pyramids, Sphinx and tourist torment

Days 11 and 12 (I think) – Ancient and not so ancient sights…

Where was I? Oh yes, I had put you off until after we had spent 2 HUGE days looking at really old stuff and considering this place that is Egypt.  I may have sounded tired in the hurried note I left as my last post. Turns out I wasn’t tired at all – after yesterday, Sunday was a walk in the park!  But – all things in order first day in first place – pyramids and the Sphinx –

 

downtown Cairo





typical egyptian construction

We arrived at the Port of Sohkna late Saturday evening and woke before the birds and most Egyptians and were dressed and off the ship and onto a bus by 6:30am.  The drive from port to Cairo is about an hour and a half through the Eastern Desert. There is nothing there but sand, rock and the occasional checkpoint with armed militia doing absolutely nothing as near as we could tell. Then you get near Cairo. First you can tell because you see something on the horizon which your eyes say is either a fog bank or a sand storm. After a couple of minutes you realize it is worse – it is smog- thick, ugly and all encompassing. A couple of minutes later you start to see buildings; thousands of them all between three and 10 stories in height; all of them in varying stages of completion, none of them complete.  They are all constructed the same way: there is a substructure of poured concrete floors, pillars and a staircase – very similar to what we would see in highrise construction in North America. Then the wheels fall off. In the open spaces between concrete columns and floors, bricks are laid. Picture a concrete frame, now fill it in with mud brick. Now forget half the mortar. Now knock a few bricks out and let some lie in curved rows and leave the occasional space for a window. Stack them around the stairs so you can still see the side profile of the stairs as you gaze at the structure. That is Egyptian building – virtually all the buildings except some banks and the odd government courthouse are constructed in this exact way. The final stage is to plaster over the whole outside and maybe make it smooth – or not. Or colourful – or not – as it will all become one uniform sand colour after the first sand storm anyway.  It is amazing more people do not die simply by returning home in this country.  Each family owns a home, it is rare to rent in Egypt. A couple will start to build a home and they will, in Muslim tradition, strive to have many sons. They will finish enough of the home for them to live in with small children and will build above that but not complete it. Upper floors are completed as children grow up and marry. So Son marries and then moves into 2^nd floor and so on. No one moves away except girls. When girls are married they move to their husbands’ family homes.  I never had a chance to ask how all this works out as generations pass on. It seems there must be a point at which someone has to move and start all over again but I do not have the answer to that question.

step pyramid

Ok – you get a mental picture of the buildings now picture every third ground level space filled with a store of some description – vegetables, coffee house, smoke shop, corner market, butcher, whatever.  Sitting around outside of all these shops are the Arabic men. Most are smoking, many are smoking hookahs (the traditional water pipes of the Middle East). None of them are actually DOING anything. The women are scurrying around in full Burkhas with usually only the eyes showing, occasionally a whole face. Children run around in whatever is thrown on them. Girls wear bright colours until they are married (average age 14-18) from which point on they must wear only black in public.  To this busy street scene you may now add every kind of beat up and disastrous vehicle you have ever seen – mini vans brightly decorated, tractors with curtains, donkey carts, horse carts, ox carts, bicycles, mopeds, motorbikes, three-wheel cars, scooters, tiny Datsun trucks, large Mercedes lorries, buses, and every kind of car imaginable with a communist era look about them.

We are almost there now – add in some indescribably filthy canals, open sewers, unfinished overpasses and garbage everywhere in heaps and blowing around. Mix in some feral dogs lounging in the shade and a couple of Palm trees. Oh, now lift your head from that, look west and through the haze of the smog slowly come to realize that what you are seeing is the three great Pyramids of Giza towering above everything – right there!  That is Cairo. It is one CRAZY city.

We drove through all of that and eventually made it to the Giza plateau where first we went to what is called a Mustaba Tomb. This is an in-ground tomb complex where kings and nobility were buried. All of it is below ground and it is not all that large – perhaps 1000 square feet or so. There are cartouches (wall carvings of hieroglyphics), an altar for the Ka or spirit of the dead person and a tomb chamber. This is where we were introduced to Egyptian bureaucracy and had to wait around for 20 minutes for the right official to show up and unlock the tomb so we could see it. There was a lot of loud shouting in Arabic and very little action though a guy with his donkey was trying to do brisk business in tourist photos. This is the earliest type of stone tomb known in Egypt and dates back nearly 5000 years – and it is still there! It was so hard to get one’s mind to grasp how OLD everything is in this country.  Standing fairly near this tomb is the first pyramid known to have been built in Egypt – the Step Pyramid – so called because it is built sort of like a layer cake with smaller and smaller levels leaving step like sides. This was revolutionary in Egyptian architecture as it was the first above ground stone structure the Egyptians built. Everything prior to that had been made of mud brick.  They are doing reconstruction work on the Step pyramid which is controversial as there are archeologists opposed to rebuilding any antiquities arguing that it should be stabilized and left as is, not reconstructed. At this time they seem to be going ahead with full reconstruction but who knows since the Egyptian government is hardly stable at the moment. Also associated with the Step Pyramid is a temple complex which ruins we also toured.  It is huge and sprawls over many acres and was built for the sole purpose of mummifying the king’s body. The mummification process takes 72 days. Building the temple took approximately 30 years.  They seemed to have not much sense of time and budget management!

In the distance and to the north from this site we had a view of the Bent Pyramid. It gets its name from its shape as well. A king started to build it and discovered that the angle of the sides was too steep and the whole thing would fall down so part way through he altered the angle of construction making the sides looked bent.  Also nearby is a pyramid known as the “Scrambled” pyramid. It is an example of what happens to your pyramid if you get the angles wrong. Basically it has collapsed on itself.

From here we traveled the short distance to Giza and had lunch at a posh hotel right by the Pyramids. The only notable thing there was the weirdest welcome party ever which I think I may have mentioned in my last post – three Egyptians dressed in fake Pharoh robes playing a drum, a trumpet and complete-with-plaid bagpipes. Weird, man!!

After lunch we made the short drive to the pyramids. They are truly amazing and indescribable. It is true that if you have seen pictures you have no idea what these amazing structures actually look like. They are ever so much bigger than you can imagine. They estimate the number of 5 ton blocks in the Great Pyramid of Cheops (the largest, first and most perfect) to be over 2.3 MILLION. Your brain just sort of gives up on believing it. 

This is also where we had our first experiences with the truly unique breed of human known as the “Egyptian Tourist Crap Huckster”. Those of you who have been to Egypt will have experienced this and know of what I speak. Those of you who have not – well, you really should try to see the pyramids in your lifetime – it IS worth it and when you do you will meet these individuals too. I am certain they have been there as long as the pyramids. There is no one more pushy and offensive than a crap salesman on the Giza Plateau. They surround you immediately and shove things in your hands and talk non-stop and try to take your camera saying they will take your photo for you when in fact they will take the photo and then keep your camera until you pay them something for it.  All manner of fake tourist crap is offered from tiny pyramids to camels rides. The camel guys are the worst – they have been know to force people onto camels for pictures and then refuse to let them off until the tourist pays something for the privilege. They are more relentless than Saskatchewan mosquitoes and a whole lot more annoying.  Apparently the situation is worse since the revolution as now there are all over the plateau with apparently no restrictions so there is no where you can go to avoid them. It is a dreadful part of the experience and many, many people were unfairly taken advantage of. I have the luck of being a quick study in languages and learned what “No NO” is in Arabic. When I used it apparently my accent was perfect and they assumed I was Egyptian and left me alone (of course until the next one came along). It is all very exhausting.  Anyway – we admired the awesomeness of the pyramids from many angles and viewpoints (and yes, I WILL post photos when we get home) and then set off for the Sphinx which, as it turns out, is right there. You can’t see it at all from the plateau because it is carved down into the local bedrock – not built UP like the pyramids. 

The Pyramids were much larger than we imagined. The Sphinx is smaller. It was sort of weird. Still it IS the Sphinx and there is much to be admired even though it is missing its nose.  Which, by the way, was done in antiquity by people who likely hated the king who had it carved (they do not know which King).  The ancient Egyptians believed that your spirit exits and enters your body through the nose so if you removed the nose the spirit would be confused and would not be able to travel safely to the afterlife and paradise.  There were more, worse hucksters here and we had a disappointing experience with the armed guard from our bus (each bus had one, supposedly for our protection) when he ended up hitting us up for Baksheesh as well (baksheesh is tip money or bribe payment).

We ended the day with the mandatory tour through a Papyrus “Institute” where they demonstrate the process of making papyrus into paper and then try to sell it to you.  We were then “guided” into a gift shop where a slightly less pushy but no less annoying group of salesmen pestered you to buy souvenirs. We declined the invitation though I did want a small scarab beetle of some sort. I never did get one because shopping in Egypt is just too exhausting and irritating. Then it was back on the bus and back through the desert to our ship. We hoisted anchor and set off for the next port  - Safraga. It was from Safraga that we traveled to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings yesterday. But I will save that story for tomorrow. I am still too exhausted to go back over it all.

Egypt – what a place! I will most likely NEVER come back but am so glad we came.

Till tomorrow -



Camel at Sakkara



Man meets Sphinx

old and new cairo



Tourist on the Giza Plateau



temple courtyard Sakkara



at the base of Great Pyramid of Cheops

camel jockeys Giza

obelisks, Karnak

hall of columns, Karnak



Dirt, dust and pyramids

Just a quick note for today. We got up at 5:30 and were off by shortly after 6 for a LONG day of driving around deserts and clambering up and down rocks and wading through sand. Pyramids are awesome. And big. And they look just like all the photos you've seen only BIGGER. The Sphinx weirdly is smaller than one might think - but still pretty cool. We looked at 17 different pyramids and one sphinx and a VERY dirty and crazy city and it took ALL day and now we need to wash of some sand, camel poo and sweat and go eat something and drink LOTS. I will give a full overview after tomorrow when we do another 15 hour day to Luxor and Karnak.  I am posting a photo on FB though for those of you with access..

a Canadian in Egypt

Sweet dreams

From Med to Red through the Suez Canal







Day 10 – From Med to Red: Passing through the Suez Canal   

Today we entered Africa courtesy of the Egyptians and the French engineers who built the Suez Canal. We entered the canal at around 1am and Dale was up half the night checking on progress from our balcony (he paid for it, he didn’t want to miss anything) which was a bit trying on the OTHER person who was trying to sleep…



west bank farming



By sunrise we were well into the canal channel and headed southbound as part of our convoy.  At first the view was fog and lots off it but that soon burned off and we were introduced to the contrasts that make up so much of Egypt. More than 90 percent of this country is desert and that means DESERT – just like the pictures we all know but really can’t comprehend. Sand in dunes as far as the eye can see; in a warm golden colour but certainly not looking very friendly. The East Bank of the canal can be largely described this way with the occasional road, village or military emplacement to break the monotony and give some sense of scale. Fences run the length of the canal and all crossings are closely guarded by the Egyptian armed forces.  In contrast, the West Bank has more irrigation and has very lush and productive green spaces. Amazing what water can do! A lot of the winter fruits and vegetables sold in Europe are grown here and the agriculture is absolutely dependent upon the network of canals and tributaries of the Nile Delta for survival.

northbound convoy passing our ship

As I mentioned yesterday, passage through the canal is very regulated. Near the half-way point we met the northbound convoy and were “parked” while they passed. We then headed the southbound convoy through the remainder of the canal. Ships are spaced at ½ kilometer separation for safety and so that the ferries crossing the canal can run between.  There are 2 bridges and 1 tunnel that cross the canal but to reach those may require long detours so many still depend upon the ferries. In addition, oil tankers are not allowed to use the tunnel and must cross by ferry so long lines of these form waiting for small ferries to run them across. Only 3 tankers fit on a ferry and we saw lines of 20 or more tankers so it must mean long, hot days for the drivers.

tankers and car carriers waiting for the ferry

And the sun came out! Apparently passing from the Mediterranean to the Red Sea allows for a welcome weather shift. We actually got to sit on deck in shorts in the sun for the first time. The nice thing about traveling with mostly Brits is that we don’t even look pale compared to most of them!

jellyfish in the Suez waters

All in all it was an interesting day watching the ships of the world glide by, marveling at large schools of jellyfish that seem to inhabit the canal and looking at all that sand.  Once into the Red Sea we made for Sohkna which is the port from which we set forth in the wee hours tomorrow morning for the Giza plateau, the great pyramids and the Sphinx. We are tied up to the pier as I write this and the port is busy with a grain terminal right next to us. There are downsides to moving a hotel into a port – the two types of commerce rarely meld easily! Oh well, hopefully we will fall asleep to the tune of the cranes and forklifts.  The sun has set and the temperature has dropped dramatically. Tomorrow: tombs and kings and temples!

yom kippur war monument

We have arrived in Egypt!

Day 9 – Off to Africa and the ancient secrets of Egypt

The weather is starting to warm up as we have been headed in a southerly direction all day. We can tell we are finally in Southern latitudes because the sun now comes up around 6:30am which is a welcome change as I am still struggling with my brain and body as to what time it is.  As I write this it is late evening and we have just returned from dinner. We are currently at anchor just outside of Port Said, Egypt and the mouth of the Suez Canal.  The Suez operates on strict time codes and there are 2 southbound convoys and 1 northbound each day. The 2 southbound leave at 1am and 7 am – we get the early shift which is a little disappointing as it means we miss seeing some of the more interesting bits. However – we will report on what we do experience. Dale has just come in off our balcony and reports at least 16 other ships at anchor near us so our convoy is apt to be quite large.  It is a little unreal to now be so close to where so much unrest and war carries on every year. When you are spoiled and lazy on a ship it is hard to imagine all the issues of the Middle East as near and present.

This is our 6^th cruise and we have now been in nearly every ocean (Indian Ocean next week) and been very far South and very far North and also spent time at the middle bits. We have crossed the equator and rounded Cape Horn, been to the South Pole and sailed down the Amazon. We are used to the rhythm of life on a ship and are used to lifeboat safety drills, people reminding us to sanitize things and Dale eating his way between ports. Well – today we had a new experience – our very first Piracy Drill. Yup – piracy drill. As you may or may not be aware, after the Suez Canal we enter the Red Sea and from there the Indian Ocean through the Gulf of Aden right off the coast of Somalia where most pirates in this area originate. We are not particularly concerned as they are known to target high value, low personnel cargo ships, not passenger ships. Still – it does make you sit up and take notice when you are drilled in what to do in case of boarding by pirates. The drill is not the only precaution – once we leave Egypt’s territorial waters we will be ‘going dark’ at nights with blackout conditions and no lights save essential navigational lighting. The decks will be completely off limits at night and will have armed guards on them with night vision capability. So – this IS serious stuff. We will be charting a course that is under patrol by a United Nations fleet for added security.  We are not sure to what extent this lasts and how far into the Arabian Sea we will be before conditions are relaxed.

However – before all that happens we are off to see the “other canal” then traipsing across the desert to see pointy pyramids, a big man-headed lion and some other ruins as well as gliding down the Nile to see what’s what there.  That is Sunday. On Monday we will again trek through the desert – this time to Karnak and the Valley of the Kings to see if we can maybe find some treasure… well, maybe not – wouldn’t want to have all those valuables along with pirates being the next thing on the agenda!

We should have much to pass on the next few days. Sorry the google geeks are still frustrating my attempts to add photos. I promise I will add them when we get home.

Inshallah…

Ancient Ruins on Crete

Day 8 – Crete and the Palace of Knossos

Crete? You ask – well yes, it seems the weather gods were playing for keeps and high winds kept us from making port at Piraeus near Athens. Instead we carried on Eastward and made port at Heraklion (ear-ACK-lee-on) on the island of Crete. Crete is now a Greek island but is one of those little bits of the planet that nations fight over – it has been occupied by the Darians, the Romans, the Saracens, the Venetians, and the Turks. It obtained independence at the turn of the 20^th century and then joined with Greece in 1913. It was last occupied by the Germans in 1941-44. This pile of stone in the Mediterranean is so popular because it is located strategically at the intersection of three continents – Europe, Asia and Africa. It is amazing they have anything at all! Crete is also the heart of much of what is known of ancient Minoan civilizations. It is said to be the birthplace of Zeus and it is here that Theseus with Ariadne that the Minotaur was mythically slain and the people of Athens freed from sacrificing 14 of their children every year. The Minotaur was half bull, half man and ate Athenians (not sure why) and lived underground in a labyrinth.  (Hey – I don’t make this stuff up!). Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of thread so he could find his way back out of the Labyrinth. This is the reason embroiderers are so fond of her. Leave it to a woman and her thread to rescue everyone!

Palace of Knossos, Crete

reconstructed rooms, there are over 1000 rooms

Gryphon Fresco in the King's Throne room

The Queen's Bath Room

BIG pots...

looking up across the palace from the lowest level

So – we set foot on land – storied and ancient land. And went off in search of some ruins. We found some at the top of a mountain overlooking the city of Heraklion – the Palace of Knossos. The palace is a ruin from Minoan times (approx. 3000BC) and is the most complete building known from that period. It was discovered by several archeologists and then the land was purchased by a wealthy British archeologist by the name of Sir Arthur Evans.  He spent the next 30 some years of his life excavating and recreating portions of the palace. By the time he died he had unearthed the remains of more than 1000 rooms and much more remains hidden and is still being uncovered today. Sir Arthur took some liberties with reconstruction and with interpretation and they are still trying to sort fact from fiction nowadays. It is an amazing place and being here in January meant we were free from the crowds that swarm here in the summer.  There are some wonderful reconstructed bits and pieces including frescos that are in situ. The real things are in the National Archeological Museum in Heraklion. Amazing stuff for people who come from a place where there is little evidence of those who have gone before save for the odd teepee ring or arrowhead.

After exploring the many levels of the palace we headed back into Heraklion and did a little exploring on food. Many Greek Tavernas and the wonderful smell of charcoal grilled lamb everywhere! Also – a taxi drivers strike to protest the EU treatment of Greece (just to keep us in the 21^st century).  I managed to strike gold with a lovely hand embroidered tablecloth in original Cretan designs made right here, to add to my little collection of textiles from around the world.  The sun came out and it was nice though the wind which prevented us from seeing Athens has followed us and is now blowing briskly across the decks.



In the city of Heraklion - old meets new



We shall haul anchor shortly and set forth for Egypt and the Suez Canal. Till then – Adeeo from Crete.

Days 6 and 7 – Messing about in boats on the Med

Well, just one boat – er, ship (what’s the difference, you ask? You can put a boat on a ship but you cannot put a ship on a boat…)

Ahem. Yes – here we are afloat on the Mediterranean and it is a lovely Mediterranean blue though not as warm as we had hoped. In fact – looking online we discover that we are having very similar weather to home which is disappointing since it means we can not gloat.  Today is about 5˚C with gale force wind at our stern and rain all around.  Since we left Spain we have made a southeasterly course passing Sardinia, Sicily and Malta and are now in the Ionian Sea. Winds are so strong that they have warned us that we may not be able to make port tomorrow morning. Those of you who have followed other travels know that missing ports is something that happens to us quite regularly and we are philosophical about it as there is no point in getting upset. It usually means a credit to our accounts which helps cover Dale’s scotch habit and, of course,  it frees up more time to read!

Should all that bore us to tears there is much to do on board – gambling (never have, never will), library, pubs, clubs, theatres, the only floating planetarium, eating (Dale’s hobby), lectures, courses and, since this is a British ship, some pretty high end shopping including an on board branch of Harrod’s (where I bought Dale a natty silk tie in purple with little foxes on it…) and a Cartier shop. I don’t anticipate buying much!

As to photos, last time I checked Google was still resisting my efforts to post them but I shall keep trying. For those of you linked to me through (curse word here) FaceBook I have posted a few photos there.

Hopefully tomorrow we will have an informative and pithy posting on the marvels of Greece and the glories of their ancient culture… or you may be waiting until Egypt. It appears these things are out of our hands.

On the other hand – we look forward to dining each evening with our new friends from Oxford – Pam and Pete Round. They are a lovely couple in their 70s who are excellent fun. Pete and Dale are convinced that they could have easily stood in for Daniel Craig in the latest Bond film and no one would be the wiser (this is the effect that wearing tuxedoes has on men apparently). Pam and I wisely keep our counsel.  The Rounds have been most impressed (horrified?) at Dale’s intake ability and his habit of ordering 2 entrees for his already 5 course dinner.  Our sommelier is Russian with the last name of Smirnoff (yes, really!) and she is great fun and seems to enjoy our little table of fools as Dale’s scotch now appears to be triples rather than doubles. I remain boring with a standard order of Perrier with lime.  We have discussed families, jobs and loved ones (yes, pictures of Rupert HAVE appeared) and await many more evenings of fun and mutual exchange.

Till then – hope this finds you well!

Day 4 – Sierra Madre mountains and coastal Spain

It is Day three at sea and the weather is beautiful and sunny. We have been able to sit out on deck and read without getting chilled! All day the coastline of Spain has been featured off our balcony…it is beautiful and rugged with the snowcapped Sierra Madre range in sight. It has been another quiet day at sea and we are resting up for a big day of exploring Barcelona tomorrow.  We now have our sea legs so the land will likely be heaving once we set foot on it – that is an interesting side effect of spending days at sea.  We have met many interesting people from all over the UK and are hearing stories from all over the world. By the end of three weeks who knows how much we will have crammed into our brains?

More later – hope all is well and not to cold back in Saskatchewan or wherever this may find you.

Day 5 – Barcelona, Spain

stained glass in la Sagrada Familia

Nativity Facade, La Sagrada Familia

Figures on the Passion Facade, La Sagrada Familia

tree-like support pillars inside the Nave, La Sagrada Familia

Barcelona was founded by Romans and is now the capital of Catalonia. The first language spoken and taught here is Catalan, not Spanish, and the Catalans are very protective of their culture (think parallels with Quebec in Canada). The city is both ancient and very modern which makes it very interesting. The highlights, architecturally speaking, are without doubt the buildings designed and/or inspired by Antonio Gaudi. Top of the list was La Sagrada Familia – which is an amazing modernista cathedral designed by Gaudi and still not completed. Portions of it were burned and ravaged during the Spanish Civil war in the 1930s. Ongoing restoration work as well as new construction carry on today. The whole building looks a bit like someone’s over-the-top version of a wedding cake – there are curves and smooth lines and brightly coloured bits where you least expect them and then added to it all are some amazing Art Nouveau ironwork and wood carvings and spectacular stained glass in a full rainbow of colours. This is “cathedral meets fairytales” and is crazy, gorgeous and fascinating all at once. We went up the “bell torres” (bell tower) to dizzying heights above the city. What a view! When completed the cathedral will have 12 towers representing the 12 apostles and 6 more representing 4 evangelists, the Virgin Mary and Christ for a total of 18. Capacity of the cathedral is 13000 souls! We explored from bell tower to crypts. It is really worth the visit should fate land you in Barcelona.



View over Barcelona from the Bell Tower (over 800 feet up)



From La Sagrada Familia we hopped a bus to tour around the city a bit and hopped off again in the Barri Gotic – the mediaeval heart of Barcelona where tiny little streets wind and curve all over the place and it is incredibly easy to get VERY lost!  The first thing we did was go to a supermercado(supermarket) to buy laundry soap…yup – that was my big Spanish purchase! I spent a whole 3 Euros.  Dale did better and bought himself a very nice jacket to round out his dress clothing collection a bit more (who knew I married such a clothes horse??).  We wandered the streets of the old town and La Rambla – which is a main pedestrian thoroughfare of shops, cafes, tapas bars and pretty much everything and everyone you can think of. By siesta time we were both tired and cold as there was a nasty wind blowing down from the mountains into the city (yes, I am just SAYING, not complaining. We know we could be at home where it is…well, you know).

Art Nouveau store front along Las Ramblas, Barcelona

Anyway – the day was lovely but a bit chilly so we couldn’t bask in the Spanish sun (you can laugh all you want – we still have Greece and Egypt) but then again we weren’t dying of heat exhaustion or fighting huge crowds so it all comes out in the wash so to speak.  I am still cursing the techno-geeks regarding photos. It all worked fine at home so I don’t know what the issue is now. But I will keep trying. Worse case scenario I will post them when we get home. So Adios (Spanish) or Adéu (Catalan) until something new occurs!