The Suez Canal....Road between the Seas

May 9, 2015

On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas was officially opened in a lavish ceremony at Egypt’s Port Said.

The canal took more than 15 years to plan and build, and its construction was repeatedly hindered by political disputes, labor shortages and even a deadly cholera outbreak.

When finally completed, the 101-mile-long waterway permanently transformed international shipping by allowing vessels to skip the long and treacherous transit around the southern tip of Africa.


The cost for our ship to transit the canal was $300,000.
That's right; $300k..... amazing.














We had a welcoming party as we entered the canal area. A pod of Dolphins rode our bow wake.

We entered at the south end, at the city of Suez. The canal authority has you queue up with other ships over-night. At around 10:00 in the morning, we convoyed northward with 20-30 other ships. The canal is single lane with passing places in the "Ballah By-Pass" and the Great Bitter Lake. It contains no locks; seawater flows freely through it. In general, the canal north of the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. The current south of the lakes changes with the tide at Suez

Every transit vessel has a pilot assigned to guide the ship through the narrow passage.

There are several ways to get across the canal. 




You can take a ferry.

There's a car / truck bridge.

A railroad bridge.

Or you could row your ass off. 

But if you do, you need to look out for big ships.





Playing chicken with ships.













The canal security is everywhere. There are armed guard posts every 3-5 miles of the 101 mile canal.

Canal Enlargement Project.

The Suez Canal is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia, it is an alternative to rounding Africa at the Cape of Good Hope.

The enlarged canal will allow ships to sail in both directions at the same time over much of the canal's length.

This is expected to decrease waiting hours from 11 to 3 hours for most ships and to double the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships a day.


Next Stop is Athens for a one-day tour of the new Parthenon Museum and then a flight to Istanbul.

Lawrence of Arabia & Indiana Jones

Wadi Rum - May 7, 20115

Wadi Rum also known as The Valley of the Moon is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in southern Jordan 60 km (37 mi) to the east of Aqaba; it is the largest wadi in Jordan.

The name Rum most likely comes from an Aramaic root meaning 'high' or 'elevated'. To reflect its proper Arabic pronunciation, archaeologists transcribe it as Wadi Ramm.

Wadi Rum has been inhabited by many human cultures since prehistoric times, with many cultures–including the Nabateans–leaving their mark in the form of rock paintings, graffiti, and pictographs.






In the West, Wadi Rum may be best known for its connection with British officer T. E. Lawrence, who passed through several times during the Arab Revolt of 1917–18. Here's a T.E Lawrence carving made by the Bedouin's on the side of a mountain wall.












In the 1980s one of the rock formations in Wadi Rum was named "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" after Lawrence's book penned in the aftermath of the war, though the 'Seven Pillars' referred to in the book have no connection with Rum.







There are lots of camel in the rum. The camel is called "the ship of the dessert".

The camel crossing signs can be very helpful when driving unfamiliar roads.

We really liked the open dessert of the Wadi Rum

Petra

Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the southern Jordanian and is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system.

Another name for Petra is the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved.












There are 3 ways to get into this ancient site: walk, horse back, or horse-drawn cart. The first thing you see is the famous treasury building.
Established possibly as early as 312 BC as the capital city of the Nabataeans, It is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction.


Here's a view from the Siq. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Siq ('gorge') would be massively impressive even if it were nothing more than a rock formation. It was created when the mountain split into two and gradually, over millennia, the waters of the Wadi Musa carved and smoothed its sides.

It is believed that Petra was home to roughly 30,000 people and was abandoned in the year 106 A.D. The reasons for the abandonment of Petra still remain unknown today. Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.

We saw Indiana Jones in front of the Treasury...... well, sort of.

View of the Royal Tombs in Petra. The first of the so called Royal Tombs is the Urn Tomb. This tomb is built high on the mountain side, and requires climbing up a number of flights of stairs. It was suggested that this is the tomb of Nabataean King Malchus II who died in 70 AD. On the other hand it is considered the tomb of Aretas IV.

It is preceded by a deep courtyard with colonnades on two sides. High up in the facade there are 3 niches which give on to small burial chambers. Their inaccessibility would have made them relatively safe from tomb robbers.

  A view of the Temple ruins.

Here's some local kid who was selling rocks.

Petra declined rapidly under Roman rule, in large part from the revision of sea-based trade routes. In 363 an earthquake destroyed many buildings, and crippled the vital water management system.

The last inhabitants abandoned the city (further weakened by another major earthquake in 551) when the Arabs conquered the region in 663. The ruins of Petra were an object of curiosity in the Middle Ages and were visited by Sultan Baibars of Egypt towards the end of the 13th century. The first European to describe them was Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt in 1812.

 There are kids selling things everywhere. This guy was so cute that I had to buy some post cards. 

Next stop Hurgada, Egypt and the Suez Canal.

Holy Moses

May 6th, 2015

We arrived on the Sinai Peninsula at Sharm El Sheikh, a popular sea-side resort town in Egypt.

This place has some of the best SCUBA diving in the world.




Greeting us were a few locals.......bearing gifts.

We all got on the tour bus and headed for Mt. Sinai.

St. Catherine's Monastery

The Orthodox Monastery of St Catherine stands at the foot of Mount Horeb where, the Old Testament records, Moses received the Tablets of the Law. 

The entire area is sacred to three world religions: Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The Monastery, founded in the 6th century, is the oldest Christian monastery still in use for its initial function.

The walls and buildings are of great significance to studies of Byzantine architecture and the Monastery houses outstanding collections of early Christian manuscripts and icons.

The rugged mountainous landscape, containing numerous archaeological and religious sites and monuments, forms a perfect backdrop to the Monastery.


The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush (also known as "Saint Helen's Chapel") ordered to be built by Helena, the mother of Constantine I, at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush.

The living bush on the grounds is purportedly the one seen by Moses. Here's Bill in front of that same burning bush. It's actually the bush on the right.

The monastery library preserves the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library. It contains Greek, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Hebrew, Georgian, and Aramaic texts.

In May 1844, Konstantin von Tischendorf visited the monastery for research and discovered the Codex Sinaiticus, dating from the 4th Century, at the time the oldest almost completely preserved manuscript of the Bible.

It left the monastery in the 19th century for Russia, in circumstances that are now disputed. It was later bought by the British Government from Russia and is now in the British Library, London, where it is normally on public display. Prior to September 1, 2009, a previously unseen fragment of Codex Sinaiticus was discovered in the monastery's library.The complex houses irreplaceable works of art: mosaics, the best collection of early icons in the world, many in en-caustic, as well as liturgical objects, chalices and reliquaries, and church buildings. The large icon collection begins with a few dating to the 5th (possibly) and 6th centuries, which are unique survivals, the monastery having been untouched by Byzantine iconoclasm, and never sacked. The oldest icon on an Old Testament theme is also preserved there. A project to catalog the collections has been ongoing since the 1960's. The monastery was an important center for the development of the hybrid style of Crusader art, and still retains over 120 icons created in the style, by far the largest collection in existence. Many were evidently created by Latins, probably monks, based in or around the monastery in the 13th century.

Here's Lynne and "the" burning bush.
Again, its the bush on the right.

The walk from parking lot to the Monastery is about a mile, up-hill. Some folks walk, others opt for a taxi, a few use a camel.

You can see Mt Sinai in the distance.

Next stop, Aqaba, Jordan for Petra and Wadi Rum.   Stay tuned as I try to catch up.

Luxor : Valley of the Kings.... and Queens

May 5th and 6th, 2015

Luxor means "Palaces" and it is the premier travel destination in Upper (southern) Egypt and the Nile Valley. 

The dynastic and religious capital of Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom Egypt, Luxor has much for travelers to enjoy: vast temples, ancient royal tombs, spectacular desert and river scenery and a bustling modern life.


Karnak Temple

The Karnak temple complex is huge, covering a site almost a mile by two miles in area. There are over 25 temples and chapels in the complex, including separate shrines for the three boats that took the statues of the gods on their annual trip on the flooding Nile. Sanctuaries, obelisks, and groups of columns all feature accounts of the heroic deeds of the sponsoring pharaoh.  

The key difference between Karnak and most of the other temples and sites in Egypt is the length of time over which it was developed and used. Approximately 30 pharaohs contributed to the buildings, enabling it to reach a size, complexity and diversity not seen elsewhere. Few of the individual features of Karnak are unique, but the sheer size and number of features makes it one of the most impressive temple complexes in Egypt.

Luxor Temple

Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the Nile River in the city today known as Luxor and was founded in 1400 BC.

Bill is ready to go digging.

 The entrance to the temple itself is known as the first pylon. It was built by Ramesses II and was decorated with scenes of his military expeditions, in particular his triumph at the battle of Kadesh. The pylon towers originally supported four huge cedar flag masts from which banners would have fluttered in the breeze.

Statue of King Tut and Mrs. Tut

 Many of the columns still have the brightly painted hieroglyphics.

Construction work on the temple began during the reign of Amenhotep III in the 14th century BC. Horemheb and Tutankhamun added columns, statues, and friezes, and Akhenaten had earlier obliterated his father's cartouches and installed a shrine to the Aten.

However, the only major expansion effort took place under Ramses II some 100 years after the first stones were put in place. Luxor is thus unique among the main Egyptian temple complexes in having only two pharaohs leave their mark on its architectural structure.

   

An avenue of human headed sphinxes of over one and a half miles (3 km) once connected the temples of Karnak and Luxor

Around 1,350 sphinx statues are thought to have lined this road together with barque chapels stocked with offerings. Queen Hatshepsut (1479-1425 BC) built six of these chapels.

Valley of the Kings-  on the west bank of the Nile we we not able to take any pictures in the valley of the kings.  Here are a few stock pics:  a tomb entrance and one of the painted ceilings. For 500 yrs, from 16th to 11th century BC, the pharaohs chose their burial sites and the next 25 yrs would be spent digging out the mountain and decorating with carved/painted hieroglyphs.  The pyramids had found to be not good burial grounds because they advertised great wealth for robbing so this became the more advanced means of burial.

We did see 4 tombs on this day including King Tut's.  Our guide is an Egyptologist, and he spent 8 years working on the excavation. He even accompanied the most recent tour of the King Tut tomb items to Seattle and told us he loved it- especially the rain. Here we see Bill posing with some old statues while wearing a Masters golf cap. The Egyptologist said he liked the hat, so in keeping with the local custom, Bill gave him the hat. He was crying he was so happy.





We loved the tombs more than the temples- they were beautiful inside and so well preserved- except for all the missing items.  These tombs have been robbed as well.  

Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut (pronounced "Hot Chicken Soup"): 

Queen H ruled from 1503-1482 BC.  She started out as a regent for her son- but she soon just took over. Considered to be one of the most successful of the pharaohs  who did considerable building and re-established trade routes.

She had herself depicted with the kilt and beard of the pharaohs.  Interestingly, this is the location of the 1997 terrorist attack when 58 tourists and 4 guards were killed on the middle terrace. We stood there........ there have been no attacks on tourists since then. The site now is heavily guarded.  

  

Queen H's sarcophagus at her temple.

Lunch on the Nile

Our final event this day was a lunch on a feluca in groups of 8- the classic boat of the Nile.
Unfortunately, we did not have enough wind to set the sail but we had a lot of police boat protections.

Welcome back on board- next stop the Sinai peninsula......

Here's the captain (rt) and the dining room manager.