Blogpost 14 Red Sea

Blog Post 14 – Red Sea, Petra, Sharm El Sheikh

Tuesday 1^st March

This morning we pass into the Red Sea through a very narrow channel – Yemen on one side, Eritrea on the other. This is the last sensitive area in terms of piracy that Boudicca is passing through and we are at full speed. Since the Seychelles we have had special security men on board with the necessary kit, plus barbed wire and water cannons on both the port and starboard sides.

Wednesday 2^nd March

A tug comes alongside early in the morning and the special kit is offloaded. We are now officially out of the sensitive area. Life on board continues with lectures – very interesting ones by ex RN Commodore who is an expert on the Middle East, a concert by an excellent classical guitarist, entertainment from a talented young jazz singer, swimming, walking round the deck, Jan singing in choir performance and John giving his second talk ‘A light history of recorded music 1878 – 1960s’ which was well attended and was very well received.

Friday 4^th March

Mid morning we enjoy sailing up the Gulf of Aqaba approaching to the town of Aqaba at lunchtime. We are surrounded by 4 countries all in close proximity – on the port side Egypt and Israel and on the starboard side Jordan and Saudi Arabia. The desert consists not of sand but of high and barren mountains, with the Israeli town of Eilat separated from Jordanian Aqaba by a high fence, and both towns built on a narrow seaboard quickly rising into the mountains behind.

 

  In the afternoon we set off on our tour ‘Sunset at Wadi Rum’.  We have a very informative guide who tells us a lot about the history of Jordan. When we reach the Visitor Centre at Wadi Rum we transfer to 4 x 4 open jeeps and off we set into the desert landscape with its stunning sandstone and granite rock formations that rise from the desert floor. Wadi Rum also known as ‘The Valley of the Moon’ became famous during the 1917 Arab revolt in which Lawrence played such a major part – he and the rebelling Arabs took Aqaba by advancing through this mountainous pass, when the Turks in Aqaba expected any attack to come from the sea. We shall have to watch the film again as some of it was shot at Wadi Rum! It is a fantastic experience driving through this landscape in the jeeps. We have a tea stop at a Bedouin tent and then zoom on at a great rate to the vantage point for the sunset. We are given some fizz and canapés to enhance the magic! We loved the whole trip and hope you one or two of the many photos we took!  It is dark by the time we get back to Boudicca which is staying in Aqaba overnight.

 

Saturday 5^th March

This is the day we go to Petra – a major destination on our wish list! It is a two hour drive away so we set off on a Fred Olsen tour at 0800 with another excellent guide who tells us all about the way of life of the Bedouins. We drive along the Kings Way road which has been the route taken over centuries. The landscape becomes more and more dramatic and by the time we make a loo stop we are all agog at the panorama.

We arrive at the town of Petra and we start our walk down to the entrance to the Siq, a natural chasm with walls that tower above us. This path protected the Naboteans from attack as well as being used to collect water. Petra was the capital city of the Naboteans and a very important trading centre. It was built over 2000 years ago but was lost for nearly 12 centuries until it was discovered by a Swiss explorer in 1812. At the end of the Siq we suddenly catch a glimpse of the Treasury. We have seen pictures of it in the past but nevertheless it is breathtaking suddenly seeing the façade in situ and very much bigger than expected. 

We move along and the landscape opens up into a huge arena, which includes a Roman amphitheatre and then the Royal Tombs, hugely impressive burial sites. We are lucky that apart from the Fred Olsen groups there are very few other tourists there. We make our way slowly back up to the town and are given lunch at a Movenpick Hotel. We leave Petra and have another wonderful drive back to the ship. Wow, what a day. We had great expectations and we were not disappointed. Etched in our memory as well as recorded of many photos! You will see John wearing the dishdash he bought in Salalah – very comfortable and cool and the locals loved it and called him ‘my brother’! I had to go and meet the mother of a Bedouin who sold me some silver bracelets at as it turned out “very good price”

 

Sunday 6^th March

We arrive in Sharm el Sheikh early this morning. What an action packed few days! We are booked on a tour that we organised from home on Trip Advisor to go snorkelling.  We link up at 0800 at the port gate with the tour and are taken to the nearby marina. We needn’t have been so early as the boat doesn’t actually leave until 1015. It is full of Egyptian families which is really nice and they are all so friendly and kind to us. The people here are having such a hard time since the Russian plane was blown up and tourists have not been able to come.  We have some excellent snorkelling on nearby coral reef followed by a delicious lunch on board.

 

Later in the early evening we get the shuttle bus into the town. Usually it would be buzzing with tourists but at the moment it is one huge struggle for them. Boudicca stays overnight at Sharm before setting off the following day into the Gulf of Suez. We pass through the Canal on Tuesday 8^th so another excitement in store!