A canal was originally excavated between the Nile River
delta and the Red Sea around the 13th Century BC but was neglected
on and off for centuries before being re-excavated in 1859. The current Suez
Canal opened on 17 November 1869 at a cost of $100 million. An international
convention signed in 1888 allowed all nations to use the canal, without
discrimination, in peace and in war, but this didn’t stop nations quibbling
over it for decades. However now, around 7.5% of the world’s sea trade is
carried via the canal which is 163 kms long.
Today we are second in a convoy of 21 ships heading north and
11 ships are heading south on the first of two passages - all in all, 58 ships will
traverse the canal today.
The land on the port side of the ship is fenced in brick along
the canal just metres in from the water’s edge. Among the green vegetation, properties consisting of flat-topped mud-brick looking homes are surrounded by
healthy crops. Every few kilometres a cylindrical-shaped sand-coloured watch
tower breaks the fence line and in the distance brown sandy mountains so
synonymous with the Middle East stretch the length of the canal.
Then there are the towns with their modern homes and high-rise
apartments as well as the odd mosque and luxury resort. We sail past one
densely populated city, half of its hundreds of multi-storey brick buildings
appearing unfinished or empty. Now and then the canal breaks into two lanes to
allows ships to pass and then we see banks of sand on both sides of the ship,
and along with the enormous barges and container ships we are literally ships
in the desert.
During our 10 hour voyage up the canal, cruising at 8 knots,
we pass two large lakes, the Little Bitter and the Great Bitter. And we sail
under the Al Salam Peace Bridge, at 3.9 kms long, the longest single-span
bridge in the world with a top height of 70 metres. On the starboard side of
the ship the sand stretches on forever. Occasionally there are buildings, even
the odd town, but mostly there is desert, and it is all so fascinating!
The city of Suez
The channel with ships heading south
Memorial in the shape of an AK47
The halfway mark
Al Salam Peace Bridge
Still using horse and cart
One of many cities we passed
Port Said, the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea
Cruise 2 Day 13 – Piraeus, Greece
Today we chose to see Piraeus instead of the capital, so we
took a ‘train’ to the city and walked the old port area. Unfortunately it was
Orthodox Easter Monday so most businesses were closed but there were plenty of
coffee shops and tavernas open. We discovered Piraeus has some lovely homes
and apartments, and some very expensive boats moored in its harbour.
After an hour or so we stopped in at the very modern Gazi
College café for a very strong Greek coffee. We followed this up, after a walk
through the city, with calamari and taramasalata whitebait, and a delicious
glass of Greek wine in a lovely outdoor setting at the Belle Amie taverna.
Around Piraeus
The very modern Gazi College Cafe
Bell Amie Taverna
Our transport for the day
Celebrating Kevin's birthday back on board the ship at QSine Restaurant
Cruise 2 Day 14 – Katakolon, Greece
Having seen the ancient city of Olympia previously we
decided to stay in Katakolon, and what a great decision. We walked with Terri,
John (and Kevin) into the village, one of the most picturesque we’ve seen since
the Greek Islands. Right on the water, it is packed full of interesting
well-presented shops selling a huge variety of reasonably priced goods.
A visit to the Museum of Ancient Greek Technology was a must
and what a fascinating place it was. The ancient Greeks used all manner of pulleys,
gears and chains with water and fire to create cutting edge technology like
clocks, wine pourers, music boxes, measuring instruments, farm machinery and
even defence weapons. Fascinating.
We lunched at a taverna right on the water and were
serenaded by a guitarist and piano accordionist as we enjoyed outstanding local
Greek food and wine. Then we shopped ‘til we dropped and came back to the ship
carrying bags of goodies.
The weather in Greece has been amazing; around 21 degrees
with blue skies and lots of sunshine, perfect for getting out and mixing with
the friendly locals. And we couldn’t leave Greece without adopting one of their
beautiful little donkeys so Dionysius (Dion for short) now joins Caramel on our
journey.
The Museum of Ancient Greek Technology
Enjoying coffee in a quirky coffee shop
Around Katakolon
Caramel with Dion (Dionysius)
and with Kevin!
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