Another year cruising, this will be our eighth, and still there are places to see and waterways to cruise. Plus a few friends and family still to visit and experience this way of life. We travelled to Sable by a rather involved and extended route, instead of the normal 27 hour flight to Paris. We took a shorter flight to Dubai where we embarked on a three week cruise through the Suez Canal to Turkey.
A different experience for us and one in which the jury is still out. We met many lovely people; and some weird ones too. But as far as we could tell we were the only ones on board experiencing their first ever cruise. A quick tour of Dubai and a meal with a family friend before boarding the cruise boat Azamara Quest then on to the first stop, Muscat, Oman.
We took a tour inland to the ancient capital of Nizwa visiting two of the old forts so saw a lot more of the country than the immediate port. It was then seven days at sea as we travelled past the coastline of Oman and Yemen into the Red Sea. Security was tight, the threat of pirates is taken very seriously, we had blackouts every night and several armed security guards were taken on board, a great bonus for them as their usual assignment is oil tankers with no four-course meals or discos every night.
At the entrance to the Canal was a flotilla of tankers and cargo ships all waiting to be allotted a position in the sequence of ships allowed to go through. Behind us as far as we could see were a line of vessels, 49 a day are allowed through one way only. It accounts for 7. It is miles long and has been open since They are now building a second canal beside it for about half the distance so plenty of earth works and construction sights to see plus always the Egyptian army on watch.
The new 43km section of canal will allow convoys to simultaneously enter the canal from each end and pass in the middle. Had to think that it would be a difficult thing to see in our country, a group of Bikies heading for a place of worship.
