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March 2010
March 31, 2010
March 30, 2010
Monday, March 29 ~ Alexandria, Egypt
OUR RETURN TO THE CITY FOUNDED BY ALEXANDER THE GREAT AND OUR VOYAGER CLUB SHORE EVENT
We docked in Alexandria early morning and greeted by our Abercrombie and Kent team, one of our Virtuoso On-Sites in Egypt who were responsible for our Virtuoso Voyager Club Exclusive Shore Event in Alexandria.
Our fabulous guide, El Zahraa Abel (El Zahraa means, "The Flower"), brought smiles to our group as we started out on our exploration of Alexandria. Among all of the sights in this very historical city named after Alexander the Great, we always visualize the Great Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World in ancient times built in 270BC.
What is remaining is the Citidel, the huge base of the lighthouse which finally crashed into the Bay during an earthquake in approximately 1326AD. They now have a small replica at the entrance to the harbor and, according to guide Zahraa, there is a possibility of a new one to be constructed exactly the same size as the original, but in a slightly different location.
The other important and wonderful attraction is the Alexandria Biblioteca or the Library of Alexandria. This modern marvel is very modern in design and the interior is enormous.
One of the amazing features of the Library is the wide screen computer which houses all of the documents of the Libarary. You can go to this website and literally see everything in the Library in your own home, where ever you are in the world. The Library website is www.bibalex.org. A wonderful journey through history!
THE BIG STORY IN EGYPT.....the overwhelming friendliness of the Egyptian people, especially the children and young adults! We were mobbed by very curious and excited young Egyptians and "Welcome to Egypt" came off the lips of everyone within hearing distance. We have NEVER seen anything like it! Ambassador Marc Gisberg said he has never seen this phenomenon before and he once lived in Egypt! We were told that welcoming tourists, especially Americans, is now taught in schools and we heard that "Welcoming Tourists" and "Basic Tourism" is compulsory in schools now. Tourism is, after all, one of the leading factors of the Egyptian economy.
Our morning ended at the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel on the waterfront for our Voyager Club luncheon with entertainment. We have seen several belly dancers throughout the Middle East and now that we are in the Mediterranean and close to our last Middle Eastern country, we were probably seen our last belly dancer although Turkey is on the horizon! Speaking of Turkey, our whirling dervish was one of the best we have seen including his brilliant "light show".
OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY........
"I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well" - Alexander the Great
Sunday, March 28 ~ Transit the Suez Canal
THE SUEZ CANAL - THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM
The history of the Suez Canal and dreams of completing it started in 619BC, but it wasn't until the mid-19th Century that the Canal was completed. However, many possessions by the English, French, and Persians including many battles would continue like a chess game until recently. Today over 100 ships transit the Canal every day carrying over 14% of the world's trade.
We were up early this morning to see our arrival at the Suez Canal and the small towns on our port side with their early call to prayer from the many mosques.
Once we were up and about, we gathered on the bow for a great view of the Canal. Our passage was not to be without incident, however, as we had to stall in Bitter Lake because a freighter went aground ahead of us.
In the Palm Court this morning we very much enjoyed a narration by a Suez Canal expert, Sherine Barakat, who was very entertaining with her narrative. Sherine has been aboard many Crystal cruises through the Canal and she is a great asset to all of the guests and their understanding of this marvelous passageway between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean. Most of our day was spent listening to Sherine and getting caught up with our Voyager Club members and their experiences in Petra and Luxor including the Valley of the Kings. It was a great day today with so much history behind us and more to come!
OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....
"Work for your future as if you are going to live forever, for your afterlife as if you are going to die tomorrow" - Arabian Proverb
March 28, 2010
Saturday, March 27 ~ Safaga (Luxor), Egypt
SAFAGA DAY 2 AND SAILING FOR THE SUEZ CANAL
Last night, we enjoyed having our reunion dinner in Silk Road with Ambassador Marc Ginsberg and his wife, Janet. Two years ago, we also had dinner together in Silk Road with Marc and Janet!
After dinner, we went down to the Crystal Plaza and ran into lecturer, Dinesh D'Sousa, his wife, Dixie, and daughters and said goodbye to Dinesh and family who disembarked this morning and were returning to San Diego, California where they live.
Both Marc and Dinesh have stated they would very much look forward to coming to Santa Barbara and speaking to our Santa Barbara Channel City Club.
OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....
"Happiness is a by-product of what we share with others."
March 26, 2010
FRIDAY, MARCH 26 ~ SAFAGA, EGYPT (LUXOR)
SAFAGA - GATEWAY TO THE UPPER NILE AND LUXOR
Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and now Egypt. Jeddah, Aqaba, Safaga all have something in common - all three ports are minimal in interest, but lead to three of the greatest or important destinations in the world. These are the three gateways to Mecca, Petra, and Luxor and the Upper Nile in that order. Our arrival in Safaga this morning was a very familiar sight to us being our third visit here in four years - 2007, 2008 and now.
The water is a brilliant blue, the air is clear, the mountains are a reddish brown and the city of Safaga is the same as in the past including the sounds of morning prayer being blasted out of the city from the many minerets. Today was especially loud being a Friday - the day of prayer in the Muslim faith.
Each dock we throw our ropes too has an interesting shade of life in action and this morning was no exception. Approximately 100 large carts were being offloaded from a ferry and forming a line into a building. Being curious about his activity, we went up to the LIdo Cafe for breakfast to find the usual characters having breakfast as guests of Crystal Cruises - the Port Agents. They explained to us that these people are returning from Saudi Arabia with the ferry from Jeddah to Safaga after being away for two years working in Saudi Arabia. On these carts are not only everything they own, but goods they purchased or traded in Saudi Arabia and now will be returning to Cairo where they will sell most of the goods.
The Port Agents stated that these people are the same as 2000 years ago and are the caravans of merchant traders in the region with the exception that they now use ferries and buses instead of camels. Most say that camels are easier because they could pack up once and unload once whereas now they have to pack and unpack several times with different modes of transportation, customs, etc. They were stay with the camels, but there is a problem - the camels cost more than a car and certainly more than just getting a ticket on the ferry and the buses. Renting a camel is out of the question! Yes, this is more of a "gateway" than we estimated. As stated yesterday, we spent some time in the Upper Nile with our group from Santa Barbara several years ago, so will be getting caught up with many other projects today and tomorrow.
Two years ago, Brian went scuba diving in Safaga and has the shirt to prove it! Approximately 70 percent of the people went to the Upper Nile today, 10 percent went to Hergada to play golf (an hour by taxi to the north) and the rest are staying on the ship and taking the small shuttle into the little town of Safaga.
Next year is Brian's 50th Anniversary in the travel industry and when he started, the little travel agency on the dock reminded him of year's past!
OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY.....
"When your dreams turn to dust, vacuum."
Thursday, March 25 ~ AQABA, JORDAN (PETRA)
AQABA, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, AND THE TREASURES OF PETRA
This is one of our favorite ports which brings back so many memories! Three years ago, we docked in Aqaba and started a journey into the past starting with the history of Aqaba and its importance as a strategic gateway to the City of Petra on the caravan traderoute.
Lawrence of Arabia's story is fascinating, especially in the area of Wadi Rum and the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
When we visited Wadi Rum in 2007, we were right at home with camels so much like Lawrence's camel, "Jedha" (a spendid beast).
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom were so vivid remembering T.E. Lawrence's book of the same name.
Further to the north of Wadi Rum is the Rose City of Petra, basking in the sun full of tourists, but once considered the "Las Vegas of Roman times" where caravans would stop there for food, drink, parties, and brothels.
As we sat on our favorite corner in Aqaba at the Ali Baba Restaurant, we enjoyed talking to the locals and talking about our experiences in Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra. This area of Jordan is truely one of the highlights of any world cruise and a destination not to be missed, no matter which ship or caravan.
OUR THOUGHT FOR THE DAY....
"When we dream alone, it is only a dream. But when we dream together, it is the beginning of a new reality."
March 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 24 ~ Cruising in the Red Sea Enroute to Aqaba, Jordan
PREPARATIONS FOR PETRA AND LUXOR WITH PROFESSOR JEAN-PIERRE ISBOUTS FROM OUR HOME TOWN, SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA
Two of the most historical and important sites of early civilizations are on the horizon with Petra in Jordan and Luxor in Egypt. We have been to both including a travel experience of Brian’s when he was only 26 on a trip to the Middle East including Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel only a few weeks before the 6 Day War in 1967. That complete and amazing story of “getting too close for comfort” can wait for another time, but part of it included sleeping in caves in Petra when there were no hotels, etc. in the area 43 years ago! We visited Petra in 2007 and will include a few pictures of that wonderful journey tomorrow. We also visited Egypt with a small group from Santa Barbara in 1996 for two weeks including a very memorable cruise on the Nile including 2 days in Luxor. We will not be returning to these two sites on this trip, but rather do some other exploring on our own and getting ready for our Virtuoso Voyager Club event in Alexandria and our big day in Israel with a private guide for the whole day and ending at the Crystal World Cruise Event that evening. Back to today, Prof. Jean-Pierre Isbouts is an author including a beautiful coffee table book with National Geographic, historian, and an award winning filmmaker.
Jean-Pierre delivered two very important lectures today including his first, “All Roads Lead to Petra – A virtual tour of the amazing sites of Petra, the leading city of Roman Arabia and the terminus for caravans from the East.” His big slide presentation was excellent and a great preparation for those going to Petra for the first time.
His second lecture was “Luxor, the Triumph of the New Kingdom. After the great upheaval of the Hyksos Revolt, Themes became the capital of the New Kingdom.” His slides gave us a great visual tour of the astonishing works built in Luxor and Karnak by leading Pharaohs from Hatshepsut to Rames II.” For those on the ship going to both of these most impressive and important destinations, they had better rest up tonight – both of these are long days and there is no day to rest in between!
CAPTAIN’S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY…..
“If you don’t have anything nice to say to someone, then you don’t know them well enough to say anything”.
Tuesday, March 23 ~ Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
JEDDAH - THE GATEWAY TO MECCA
As we approach our dock in Jeddah, we see a very large industrial port all around us. It makes sense when we realize Jeddah is the major crossroads of commerce in Saudi Arabia. Shipping in and out of Jeddah is major and at every level from cars to textiles, to camels.
Most importantly, this is the gateway to Mecca (above painting), the heart of Islam. Every year, over 3 million faithful Muslims make the pilgramage to Mecca and most of them come by ship to Jeddah to to then continue the 100 mile trek to Mecca. In the Islamic faith, all Muslims must, if at all possible, attend the Hajj in Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Based on the Islamic calendar, in 2009 the Hajj was at the end of our November. We are here in Jeddah and saying this is "the crossroads" is an understatement.
We got our appropriate attire on, got our passports, and started the day out on our motorcoach tour of Jeddah. We had to be on a tour here - no independent travel or even a shuttle bus into the city! Our fabulous Shore Excursion Manager, James, was hard at work making sure we got on our correct coach.
We found ours and our great guide for the day and off we went into Jeddah.
We didn't see anything really unusual about Jeddah until we saw some very strange architecture and modern artwork along the streets. As we were driving into the city, we passed a new shopping center nearing completion and thought we were back in the shipyard. No, we were 5 miles into the city and there it was, a big ship to soon be a shopping center! At first glance, we may have found The Ark? In any case, this is an exclamation point on Jeddah and the importance of shipping to this city! There were several Shore Excursions being offered by Crystal Cruises today and most were only half day. Most included a camel market, old souk, fish market, and a drive along the corniche. The full day tour included all of these plus the beautiful museum.
We decided to pass on the fish and the camels and go on the "Artistic Jeddah" tour and see the magnificent Abdul Rauf Khalil Museum and out front we walked past a magnificent miniture city where Judy wanted our world traveling, "Coco" to examine.
Consisting of 10,000 items reflecting Jeddah's history, the museum is divided into three sections: Old Saudi heritage, the Ottoman Empire, and European development.
We went into the courtyard and visited with our guide about more of the history of the Museum. The outside of the Museum with its alleyways and corridors was very picturesque with an elaborate decorative design over the entire Museum. Our friend, Jessica Stockwell, whom we introduced yesterday in our post, so vividly described this to us and once we were there, we knew we had made the right choice of tours!. Upon returning to the Crystal Serenity, we were sorry to hear from so many passengers that this was not one of their most popular ports-of-call on our world cruise. Once again, this was the largest group of Americans and other nationalities that Jeddah has ever seen outside of the millions passing through Jeddah on their way to Mecca. For basic sightseeing of Jeddah, there are limitations. But we agree that the immigration at the pier took way too long - almost a half hour in both directions. On the return, the ladies had to go through a separate room to be "patted down" which was not pleasant. This was similar to the procedure in Iran.
Women can not drive in Saudi Arabia and the Religious Police were out in force. You can see men picking up their children from school and also in the grocery stores with women not able to drive. For our women aboard ship, most were somewhat intimidated with the requirement of wearing the traditional Hijab (headscarf) and Abaya (long black gown to be worn over a proper outfit), or face the religious police. For photography, just like Iran, we did not know which buildings were off limits for photography and you could not take pictures of anyone without their permission. This made it tricky when you were trying to get a good image of a street or souk scene. As for alcohol, we had to lock up all bottles on the ship before entering the harbor. Yes, this country is "dry"! And the Saudis want more tourists? From our prospective, they have a long way to go before they are even close to improving tourism. We are discussing this fact with Jessica who is very involved with the emphasis on improved tourism. Unfortunately, traditional customs of Wahabe Islam will not change in the forseeable future and tourism will most likely take a back seat for years to come.
As for us, we loved Jeddah and the Saudis! They were very friendly and were most welcoming. To date, we have found all of the countries on our world cruise itinerary have been most hospitable and have open arms for Americans including Iran and Saudi Arabia!
"The rule for traveling abroad is to take our common sense with us, and leave our prejudices behind." - William Hazlit
