17 -19 June

Sunday 17 June 0600, Alexandria. Egypt 

The ship was running a little late again and we disembarked about 0630 hrs, ½ hour late and met up with our guide who was a young man who spoke English to a high standard.

We travelled through Alexandria which is a large city which dates back to the Roman Empire.  It is a great city and would be worth a visit as Pa who spent the day there showed me fantastic pictures of the Library of Alexandria which is a complex of museums, exhibition area, educational centres, some of the books are centuries old.

Unfortunately we drove straight through Alexandria and headed for Cairo which was about a 3 hour drive inland.  The trip was uneventful and a lot greener than our trip to the Valley of the Kings.  The houses were interesting as we noticed that a lot of the houses didn’t appear to have roofs but just rods sticking up.  It seems that home owners do not have to pay tax until the building is completed.

Cairo is a new city in comparison to Alexandria and is only 10 minutes for the pyramids of Giza.  Of all the Sven Wonders of the Ancient World on the Sphinx and Pyramids remain.

Bit of trivia - The Great Pyramid covers 13 acres, Napoleon calculated that it contains enough stone to build a 10 footwall around all of France.

What did I think of the Pyramids?  My first impression when I first saw them in the distance was WOW.  You saw the largest one first peeping over the buildings and then the second one and then the third.  We drove closer and of course they got bigger and they were exactly as I had expected but they seemed smaller and they were bumpy!

We got out of the bus and we immediately surrounded by dozens of men selling everything from statues, postcards and camel rides.  Egypt has dropped from over 2 million tourists a year to thousands and unfortunately there of heaps of sellers and no buyers and the hawkers have become more aggressive, which in not fun for the tourists.

Close up the pyramids are awe inspiring and it is impossible to comprehend how they built them as there is nothing in the area and everything had to be brought in.  You can go into the Great Pyramid but as everything you had to pay an additional 100 Egyptian Pounds but you could go into the Queen’s Pyramid that is if you walk in backwards and don’t stand up.

We sent about well over 2 hours walking around and looking at the museum and just soaking in the experience.  We then travelled up to a small hill where we could see all the 3 pyramids in a row.

We then moved on to see the Sphinx next.  This lion body with the head of a man guards the tomb of the Pharaoh Cephren. Once again it was everything I expected and more.

We then travelled on the bus to the Nile and boarded a sailboat and travelled the Nile for about an hour and then onto a restaurant for lunch, stopping at a small Bazar for lunch.  The Nile is wonderful, it would be amazing to travel from the top to the bottom, and the Nile empties out into the delta in Alexandria.

Our trip back to the ship was again uneventful although I am glad that I wasn’t driving as the traffic was terrible.

The last few days have been amazing, I have seen the Valley of the Kings, the Treasury, the pyramids and the sphinx.   

Monday 18 June 0700 Mediterranean Sea  We have travelled 3576  Nm   from Dubai and we have to travel 300.5 Nm to our next Port of Myknos.  Heading 337.9 Temperature on desk is 23.7 degrees.  Speeding  knots.  Wind speed 29.8 knots across the deck.

Tueday 19 June 0600 Mediterranean Sea  Mykonos, Greece.

I was getting dressed at 0600 and heard the Captain announce that the ship was not going to stop at Mykonos as the weather was too rough.  The ship was not going to sail into the port and we were going to use the ships’ small boats to take us to shore and back as the weather was too rough and it was too dangerous for the passengers to go ashore.  It was a little disappointing as Mykonos is where a lot of the Greeks in Darwin come from and I was hoping to see the island.  Oh well it just means that we are now about 5 hours ahead of schedule and we will be able to see the Dardanelles in daylight, the ship usually travels this at night.  The Dardanelles is a narrow straight in north western Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara.