Suez to Greece

Cruise 2 Day 11 – Suez Canal

A canal was originally excavated between the Nile River delta and the Red Sea around the 13^th 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!