Blogpost 15 Suez Canal, Port Said and Crete

Blogpost 15 Suez Canal, Port Said and Crete

We are among the first cruise ships to make a passage through the new Suez Canal, which was opened last October. It will soon have the capacity to take 97 ships of almost unlimited size daily, without queuing, rather than only 49 until now. The entrance at the Suez end is unprepossessing but the major works soon become apparent. We were lucky to pass through in daylight and see the extraordinary contrast between the lush green on the Nile side and the sand desert on the other bank.

 

The transit took about 8 hours non stop, and we had a day free to explore Port Said at the Med end. It looked plain from what we could see on the approach that Port Said had little to offer the keen sightseer and so it proved the following morning when we walked somewhat aimlessly around the town initially looking for the i shown on our map which proved non-existent. 

There were police and military everywhere especially near the ship. This provided one moment of hilarity when John asked a policeman armed with a loaded machine gun for some help in finding the tourist information office. He did not understand a word and started to raise his gun, so John stuck both hands in the air with a big grin which caused the 8 or so police lounging around in two cars nearby to fall apart laughing! [Luckily].

We had a splendid feast on the after deck in the evening of departure followed by a show given by local dancers including an amazing whirling dervish – a man of many skirts and tambourines who twirled very fast for a very long time. The photo shows some melons carved by one of the chefs – as well as the dragon and Red Indian chief you can see there were flowers and camels.

We had done our homework on the Minoan Palace at Iraklion in Crete, by some way home to the oldest known civilisation in the world which left a written record, and numerous examples of their artefacts. Nothing quite prepares you for their artistic achievement and the scale of the Palace remains, which cover 5 acres. The modern town shows no sign of the Greek recession. Lots of smart shops and a complete contrast with everything we have seen since leaving Mozambique.

Soon we shall be in Malta where John lived for a year in 1961 and where we hope to meet up with an old school friend. Will we recognise each other after nearly 60 years? We are looking forward to it very much but unfortunately our stay is for only a few hours. See the next instalment!