Port Said – population 2 million. Egypt – population 18 million.
It is after 3.00am and I am awake mainly due to the Port Said Mosquitoes which have given me a good workover. My brain is buzzing with the experience of the past 24 hours. I am sitting out in the cockpit of Hasan’s Ibis II bobbing gently in the cool breeze. Every so often the bobbing becomes a lot more violent, probably a ship going by in the Suez Canal a few hundred meters away. The city is quiet right now, but I know that soon it will be a cacophony of noise and we will be rushing around as we prepare for our 9.00 am departure for Herzliya Israel, predicted to be a good sail which is a relief as we are all heartily tired of the hours and hours we have motored lately.
A security guard wanders by and I have to say that the security we have been surrounded with since our arrival has been the most stringent anywhere we have gone. Our overnight trip to Cairo and the pyramids in a convoy of 3 large buses and a minibus is an example. Each bus has two armed guards in the front seats. In front and behind the convoy is a truck of probably 8-10 armed soldiers. We stay in tight convoy the whole way and no other vehicle is allowed in. In the city last night we are picked up again in buses and taken to our official Rally dinner with a police car and motorbike in front and back, sirens going and road blocks to let us through. At the dinner children from a local school dressed in costumes dance for us and entertain us, their beautiful faces as innocent and full of intelligence as children the world over. I struggle to comprehend the contrast between the terrible poverty and mountains of rubbish in some of the streets and waterways which we view from the windows of our buses and the sumptuousness with which we are being entertained. I am told that a huge proportion of the population do not get a proper education and wages are low. They live by baksheesh. We can’t help wondering how these people find joy or happiness in their lives? We feel sad and helpless. Wherever we go we are welcomed courteously by the local people but we are more than worlds apart.
Our visit here has been difficult in respect of the price we are charged for our entry visas (cost $29 but noted on them $15), boat fees, pilot fees, fuel, etc. There is a percentage in it for everyone involved and prices more than double what we have been quoted. It has been very hard on the Rally organisers who are promoting Egypt as a great destination for sailing people who are growing in numbers in the Med and looking for new and interesting places to visit.
The baksheesh starts from the moment 50 yachts gather at the entrance to the Suez Canal. We arrive at 4.30 am after a 24 hour sail and anchor for a short rest. At 6.30 am all 50 yachts form a line and motor half a mile in to our marina dressed in our brightly coloured buntings. We are boat No 1 and Pippy has the honour of calling up Port Said Control and letting them know we are ready to come in, then getting the okay to proceed. The pilot boat comes uncomfortably close with their huge bow wave, crew asking us for cigarettes and money. We are soon herded into a naval berthing area and lined up along the quay, surrounded with dusty decaying buildings. The water is a dirty brown but we hear it is much cleaner now than when the Rally first started coming here 9 years ago. Unfortunately one of our yachts fouls a rope and it winds its way right up the shaft and does quite a lot of damage. There is a lot of rubbish floating in the water – a lot.
We have lost a day in Ashkelon Israel due to weather, so our 4 days here are condensed to 3. We soon complete our formalities and Richard and I are off to see the city in the short time we have free. We are told it is a good idea to jump on a horse and cart for a quick overview but choose the wrong one who drives us around in circles and takes us to all his mates who try to sell us things we do not want. We want to see the bazaar but he has a guide waiting to take us through and they all want something from us so we cut this short and escape back behind the security fence, then creep out a little later and go walking which is a much better experience as we find fresh vegetables for dinner on Rumpus to share the tuna they have caught. I have learnt to hide my money when paying for something and have ready just what is needed.
Our trip to Cairo the next day begins with a 5 am start for the 3 hour drive – we take our pillows and sleep most of the way. We have learnt on this trip to grab sleep whenever possible! We are fortunate to visit Mohammed Ali Mosque, Cairo Museum (3 hours) and see the Tutankhamun galleries which are just stunning, then walk for 2-3 hours in the Khan Khalili bazaar – so many shops selling the same thing and too many designer t-shirts. The heat, dust and constant hassling don’t bother us too much as we enjoy the overall experience. We find a good leather man bag for Richard for a very good price and I buy a white muslin scarf to put over my head when visiting the pyramids to protect from the hot sun. We find out later we have been taken to the tourist bazaar. Some of our people find their way into the textile area and have an interesting time. Visiting Cairo Museum is the highlight of this day for us so far, but soon we are having fun sailing on the Nile in Feluccas and marvelling at the lightness and manouverability of the craft.
It is interesting to discover that navigation and sailing on the Nile River dates back to beyond 3,000 BC, by which time shipbuilding techniques were apparently already based on centuries of experience. Vessels moved south to north via the current and north to south via the wind. Fine linen sails were used to sail ships up to 50 meters long to the Med, laden with goods. By 2,300 BC the ancestor to the Suez Canal connected the Red Sea to the Med and huge fleets of brightly coloured Egyptian ships sailed to Lebanon, transporting massive loads of cedar back up the Nile.
We stay in a stay in a “5 star” (…. Well okay probably 3 star) hotel close to the pyramids and (joy of joy) enjoy a hot shower and wonderful white clean sheets. We have not had a shower since Ashkelon as cannot bring ourselves to even look inside the facilities on the marina. (Ibis II has a small head but no shower). (The boat is now jobbling violently as a large police boat goes by and the passarelle bangs against a huge steel bollard on the concrete wharf!).
The pyramids and Sphinx are an overwhelming experience. Everyone is touting for money here too, Soldiers in white uniforms with guns offer to take photos of us then the hands come out for their baksheesh – they are probably paid next to nothing, so need to supplement their income somehow, but it makes us very wary as we are constantly hassled. We miss an opportunity to go inside the pyramids as several times people are late back to the bus and our guide inexplicably herds us into the bus for an hour in the car park while the other two buses go see. There are some interesting antics from tired and irritable cruisers over this incident!
We also hear from Hasan who is very well read and knowledgeable about history in this region, that the Statue of Liberty was originally made in France with the intention it would be placed in Port Said at the start of the Suez Canal. However, for various reasons this did not eventuate and it was kept in France for some time until it was gifted to the USA by France on the occasion of their independence.
Our minds are now very much on our arrival in Herzliya and onwards from there our flight from Tel Aviv to Trieste on 19 June. We will not see Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Petra but hope to come back and spend more time doing these sites another time. We have a boat to see and possibly buy and need to get on with it. She is lying near to Portoroz in Slovenia and we will update the blog with more info once we have seen her and are happy. The roosters are crowing and soon my peace will be shattered so that’s it for now.
(It is 4.00am and the cacophony has started with the calls to prayer coming from all directions – the boat bobs violently – yet again.)
It is after 3.00am and I am awake mainly due to the Port Said Mosquitoes which have given me a good workover. My brain is buzzing with the experience of the past 24 hours. I am sitting out in the cockpit of Hasan’s Ibis II bobbing gently in the cool breeze. Every so often the bobbing becomes a lot more violent, probably a ship going by in the Suez Canal a few hundred meters away. The city is quiet right now, but I know that soon it will be a cacophony of noise and we will be rushing around as we prepare for our 9.00 am departure for Herzliya Israel, predicted to be a good sail which is a relief as we are all heartily tired of the hours and hours we have motored lately.
A security guard wanders by and I have to say that the security we have been surrounded with since our arrival has been the most stringent anywhere we have gone. Our overnight trip to Cairo and the pyramids in a convoy of 3 large buses and a minibus is an example. Each bus has two armed guards in the front seats. In front and behind the convoy is a truck of probably 8-10 armed soldiers. We stay in tight convoy the whole way and no other vehicle is allowed in. In the city last night we are picked up again in buses and taken to our official Rally dinner with a police car and motorbike in front and back, sirens going and road blocks to let us through. At the dinner children from a local school dressed in costumes dance for us and entertain us, their beautiful faces as innocent and full of intelligence as children the world over. I struggle to comprehend the contrast between the terrible poverty and mountains of rubbish in some of the streets and waterways which we view from the windows of our buses and the sumptuousness with which we are being entertained. I am told that a huge proportion of the population do not get a proper education and wages are low. They live by baksheesh. We can’t help wondering how these people find joy or happiness in their lives? We feel sad and helpless. Wherever we go we are welcomed courteously by the local people but we are more than worlds apart.
Our visit here has been difficult in respect of the price we are charged for our entry visas (cost $29 but noted on them $15), boat fees, pilot fees, fuel, etc. There is a percentage in it for everyone involved and prices more than double what we have been quoted. It has been very hard on the Rally organisers who are promoting Egypt as a great destination for sailing people who are growing in numbers in the Med and looking for new and interesting places to visit.
The baksheesh starts from the moment 50 yachts gather at the entrance to the Suez Canal. We arrive at 4.30 am after a 24 hour sail and anchor for a short rest. At 6.30 am all 50 yachts form a line and motor half a mile in to our marina dressed in our brightly coloured buntings. We are boat No 1 and Pippy has the honour of calling up Port Said Control and letting them know we are ready to come in, then getting the okay to proceed. The pilot boat comes uncomfortably close with their huge bow wave, crew asking us for cigarettes and money. We are soon herded into a naval berthing area and lined up along the quay, surrounded with dusty decaying buildings. The water is a dirty brown but we hear it is much cleaner now than when the Rally first started coming here 9 years ago. Unfortunately one of our yachts fouls a rope and it winds its way right up the shaft and does quite a lot of damage. There is a lot of rubbish floating in the water – a lot.
We have lost a day in Ashkelon Israel due to weather, so our 4 days here are condensed to 3. We soon complete our formalities and Richard and I are off to see the city in the short time we have free. We are told it is a good idea to jump on a horse and cart for a quick overview but choose the wrong one who drives us around in circles and takes us to all his mates who try to sell us things we do not want. We want to see the bazaar but he has a guide waiting to take us through and they all want something from us so we cut this short and escape back behind the security fence, then creep out a little later and go walking which is a much better experience as we find fresh vegetables for dinner on Rumpus to share the tuna they have caught. I have learnt to hide my money when paying for something and have ready just what is needed.
Our trip to Cairo the next day begins with a 5 am start for the 3 hour drive – we take our pillows and sleep most of the way. We have learnt on this trip to grab sleep whenever possible! We are fortunate to visit Mohammed Ali Mosque, Cairo Museum (3 hours) and see the Tutankhamun galleries which are just stunning, then walk for 2-3 hours in the Khan Khalili bazaar – so many shops selling the same thing and too many designer t-shirts. The heat, dust and constant hassling don’t bother us too much as we enjoy the overall experience. We find a good leather man bag for Richard for a very good price and I buy a white muslin scarf to put over my head when visiting the pyramids to protect from the hot sun. We find out later we have been taken to the tourist bazaar. Some of our people find their way into the textile area and have an interesting time. Visiting Cairo Museum is the highlight of this day for us so far, but soon we are having fun sailing on the Nile in Feluccas and marvelling at the lightness and manouverability of the craft.
It is interesting to discover that navigation and sailing on the Nile River dates back to beyond 3,000 BC, by which time shipbuilding techniques were apparently already based on centuries of experience. Vessels moved south to north via the current and north to south via the wind. Fine linen sails were used to sail ships up to 50 meters long to the Med, laden with goods. By 2,300 BC the ancestor to the Suez Canal connected the Red Sea to the Med and huge fleets of brightly coloured Egyptian ships sailed to Lebanon, transporting massive loads of cedar back up the Nile.
We stay in a stay in a “5 star” (…. Well okay probably 3 star) hotel close to the pyramids and (joy of joy) enjoy a hot shower and wonderful white clean sheets. We have not had a shower since Ashkelon as cannot bring ourselves to even look inside the facilities on the marina. (Ibis II has a small head but no shower). (The boat is now jobbling violently as a large police boat goes by and the passarelle bangs against a huge steel bollard on the concrete wharf!).
The pyramids and Sphinx are an overwhelming experience. Everyone is touting for money here too, Soldiers in white uniforms with guns offer to take photos of us then the hands come out for their baksheesh – they are probably paid next to nothing, so need to supplement their income somehow, but it makes us very wary as we are constantly hassled. We miss an opportunity to go inside the pyramids as several times people are late back to the bus and our guide inexplicably herds us into the bus for an hour in the car park while the other two buses go see. There are some interesting antics from tired and irritable cruisers over this incident!
We also hear from Hasan who is very well read and knowledgeable about history in this region, that the Statue of Liberty was originally made in France with the intention it would be placed in Port Said at the start of the Suez Canal. However, for various reasons this did not eventuate and it was kept in France for some time until it was gifted to the USA by France on the occasion of their independence.
Our minds are now very much on our arrival in Herzliya and onwards from there our flight from Tel Aviv to Trieste on 19 June. We will not see Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Petra but hope to come back and spend more time doing these sites another time. We have a boat to see and possibly buy and need to get on with it. She is lying near to Portoroz in Slovenia and we will update the blog with more info once we have seen her and are happy. The roosters are crowing and soon my peace will be shattered so that’s it for now.
(It is 4.00am and the cacophony has started with the calls to prayer coming from all directions – the boat bobs violently – yet again.)
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