OMAN, JORDAN, DEAD SEA and SUEZ CANAL
April 4 -12, 2017
This 'tunnel' is like looking into the future; limited by natural vision.
Spiritual vision gives us courage to trust the unknown;
led by faith where God knows and plans the way.
Map of where I'll be for the next eight days, covered in this blog post.
A little information and history of Muscat, Oman first. It sits between Africa and Asia on the Gulf of Oman surrounded by mountains and desert. With history dating back to antiquity, it mixes high-rises and upscale shopping malls with clifftop landmarks such as the 16th-century Portuguese forts, Al Jalali and Mirani, looming over Muscat Harbor.
It is also the seat of government and largest city in the Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Center for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the total population of Muscat Governorate reached 1.56 million as of September 2015.
Known since the early 1st century CE as an important trading port between the west and the east, Muscat was ruled by various indigenous tribes as well as foreign powers such as the Persians, the Portuguese Empire and the Ottoman Empire at various points in its history. A regional military power in the 18th century, Muscat's influence extended as far as East Africa and Zanzibar. As an important port-town in the Gulf of Oman, Muscat attracted foreign tradesmen and settlers such as the Persians and the Balochis. Since the ascension of Qaboos bin Said as Sultan of Oman in 1970, Muscat has experienced rapid infrastructural development that has led to the growth of a vibrant economy and a multi-ethnic society.
The rocky Western Al Hajar Mountains dominate the landscape of Muscat. The city lies on the Arabian Sea along the Gulf of Oman and is in the proximity of the strategic Straits of Hormuz. Low-lying white buildings typify most of Muscat's urban landscape, while the port-district of Mutrah, with its cornice and harbor, form the north-eastern periphery of the city. Muscat's economy is dominated by trade, petroleum and porting.
Fort Al-Mirani
And here are all the buses waiting to take us into and around Muscat on our Tours.
If I am limited on time and want to get a good overview of an area, I will take the Hop On/Hop Off buses. These are very nice, as you can get on and off as many times as you like if you want to spend more time at a given location. Also, they have great commentary all along the way of what we are seeing. Some even have a live person giving the descriptions. Since we only had eight hours here in Muscat, this is what I decided to do. Good choice!
Oman Rial: In 1986, the rate was 1 rial = $2.6008 USD, which translates to approximately $1 USD = 0.384497 rial. It is the third-highest-valued currency unit after the Kuwaiti dinar and the Bahraini dinar. In 1970, the rial Saidi (not to be confused with Saudi riyal) was made the currency of Oman. It was equal to the British pound and replaced the Gulf rupee at a rate of approximately 21 rupees to the rial. The new rial was subdivided into 1000 baisa. The rial Omanire placed the rial Saidi at par in 1973.
The city is surprisingly tidy and clean (almost spotless) with colorful flowers all over.
Ghalya's Museum of Modern Art
Mosque of the Great Prophet at Mutrah corniche
The driving was very good here, however, using crosswalks didn't happen too often...
Al Mina roundabout
Al Harthy Complex Mall
Asma Mosque
The Royal Opera House
Hotel Crown Plaza above the Shatti Al Qurm Beach
Beautiful architecture
Ameen Mosque
Engineering Company
Looks like it could be anywhere USA.... automobile dealers
Beautiful wide, clean streets, and not loads of traffic.
Well, well, well Look at this!!!
Beautiful glimpses of the beach traversing the roads around and through the rugged mountains.
Coffee pots
Majlis, Oman, parliament building
Al Bustan Roundabout, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, Arabia, Middle East. This renovated dhow Sohar at Al Bustan roundabout in front of the parliament complex, traveled from Oman to China in the 8th century—and not a single nail used to build it.
No earth so to speak of, just rough and rugged hills for a backdrop
Mosques everywhere
Building right in the rocks
The National Museum of Oman
And now we have arrived at the Sultan's Palace. Several photo's taken here.
The Al Alam Palace is the ceremonial palace of Sultan Qaboos of Oman.
The Al Alam Palace is the ceremonial palace of Sultan Qaboos of Oman
Corridor at Al Alam Palace.
The Al Alam Palace is the ceremonial palace of Sultan Qaboos of Oman.
Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque. Has real Persian carpet, and can accommodate 20,000 people
Fort Al Jalali
Masjid al-Khor at Al-Mirani
Beautiful and clean
Corniche Mutrah
Giant Incense burner
Coming back to the port
Sultan Qaboos's Yacht
Now time for a bit of refreshment. This was all different fruits blended separately with ice, the poured into the glass for a beautiful as well as a very yummy refreshment.
My hair is still a giant mess. I always ride outside on the top of the bus if possible as the view is much better and also enables me to take photos. The downside of that is my hair takes a beating. Also, the wind kept blowing my hat off, so much of the time I didn't have it on, and got a bit of a sunburn on my face this day, especially my nose. It eventually did peel.
Well, nothing I couldn't live without, so didn't purchase anything but a mug in Oman.
Soon we would be setting sail, so was time to head back to the ship. This is the part I really like about cruising to all these different places. I get to go do my touring, but can return to the same bed at the end of the day. Have a swim in either the outdoor or indoor pool, always knew where dinner and something to drink was. I don't get so involved in all the ship activities, but other than that, I really think it is a great way to get to see many places and have almost 'Everything done for you'. I don't have to make hotel reservations, find restaurants, find transportation, research and get Entry Visa's, etc. Also, if anything happens, the ship company and US government is there to take care of it. Great way to travel, at least to the places available. There are many more inland places I want to visit, and won't be able to cruise too, but will do as much as I can this way. Doing my own planning in Egypt and Dubai was great, but required a lot of preparation before I left.
This is the first cruise where I didn't have a balcony room. I usually cruise with friends or family, but when I cruise alone, I have to pay for double occupancy, so it was just too expensive to have a balcony room this time. I wasn't sure how I would do with this as I have a bit of claustrophobia, but it turned out fine. I did miss the balcony, for other reasons, like hanging my wet swimsuit to dry, sitting out and having my early morning coffee, etc., but I just spent more time on the pool deck and in the pool. Got nice and tan at least ☺
My stateroom attendant, Janice, was from the Philippines and was the sweetest lady. We had a few good visits along the way. She also took very good care of me, making sure I had extra towels, shampoo, etc., and made me towel art every evening on my bed.
April 4th
Also, in my stateroom, was this bottle of champagne and this "Happy Birthday" note. Still celebrating! That was nice, however, that's a lot of champagne for one person! As for celebrating, for me this whole three and half weeks was my birthday gift to myself. So yes, let the celebration continue ☺
And yet another drink made to honor my birthday when I went to get some bottled water.
Now, as the sun set over the Arabian Sea, we set sail around Saudi Arabia.
After Muscat, Oman, we had five days at sea until we were to arrive in Aqaba, Jordan. This was a nice resting time for me as I had been traveling and touring already for eight days. Felt really good to 'take a vacation' while I was taking a vacation ☺
When we first boarded the ship back in Dubai, this notice about Pirates in the Gulf of Aden, was on my bed. I guess they wanted to give us a chance to leave the ship then, if we had a major concern about this. We even had to do a practice drill the first day after we left Muscat, Oman. We had to leave our staterooms and congregate into the center/inner hallways of the ship, away from any windows. In addition, while we were cruising through this area for five days, it was with lights out, and all cabin curtains had to be securely closed, by six pm, as well as all balcony lights had to be kept off.
*INDIA Hindustan Times, by Rahul Sing, April 11, 2017 09:13 IST
Indian, Chinese, Pak warships rescue bulk carrier from pirates in Gulf of Aden. The Tuvalu-flagged bulk carrier (OS 35) was travelling from Kelang in Malaysia to Aden when it was attacked by pirates. Warships from India, China and Pakistan operated jointly in the Gulf of Aden to rescue a merchant vessel attacked by Somali pirates on Saturday night. Immediately after receiving an SOS from the vessel, the Indian Navy diverted two of its warships -- INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash -- in the direction of the merchant ship. The two warships were part of an Indian fleet of four vessels heading for an overseas deployment. The Indian warships contacted the captain of the merchant vessel who along with the crew had locked themselves in a strong room on board, the navy said in a press statement. Chinese, Pakistani and Italian warships that were in the vicinity also reached the spot. The Chinese navy sent a team of 18 men to sanitize the 178-meter merchant vessel, with the Indian Navy providing the communication link and air cover with its helicopters. The Chinese navy’s Yulin guided missile frigate also took part in the operation. On receiving the all-clear signal, some crew gradually emerged from the strong room and searched the ship and confirmed the pirates had fled at night, the statement said. The merchant vessel sailed to safety due to a joint effort, Indian Navy spokesperson captain DK Sharma said. There was a lull in the Gulf of Aden for some time but now the pirates seem to be active again. Earlier this month, they seized a small boat and its 11 Indian crew as the vessel passed through the narrow channel between Socotra Island and Somalia’s coast. In March, Somali pirates hijacked a Comoros-flagged oil tanker, marking the first such seizure of a large commercial vessel since 2012. They later released the vessel and its Sri Lankan crew without conditions. Piracy off Somalia’s coast was once a serious threat to the global shipping industry. It has lessened in recent years after an international effort to patrol near the country, whose weak government has been trying to assert itself after a quarter-century of conflict. In December, NATO ended its anti-piracy mission off Somalia’s waters. But frustration has been rising among Somali fishermen, including former pirates, at what they say are foreign fishermen illegally fishing in local waters.
Towel Art on my bed each evening when I returned from dinner.
Other than the ship itself, this is pretty much what I saw night and day for five days. Lovely!
Towel Art on my bed when I returned each evening from dinner.
A few other fun things on the ship, like meeting and visiting with people. I met a man and his wife, Mitch and Kelli Mitchell, from the east coast of USA. He was a retired Air Force pilot and when he asked me where I was from, I said, 'near Seattle', as no one seemed to know there was even a State called Washington in the USA. They all thought immediately DC. So because of this, I would always say, 'near Seattle'. Well Mitch said, "where?" So I said on the east side of the mountains. Again, he said, "where?" So this time, I said, "Moses Lake". I was really shocked when he said he knew where that was, and had flown into our Airport there many times during his Air Force career. For some time they had lived in Seattle, then San Diego, now in S. Carolina. Anyway, they were a great couple and I really enjoyed visiting with them. I have a photo of Kelli, but failed to get one of them together.
Vivien, me & Kelli
These lovely folks, Vivien & Gordon are from the UK and we had dinner together almost every evening. Great couple... hope to see them again sometime. We have kept in touch.
Another great couple at our dinner table, Phil and Jan, also from the UK. Loved bantering with Phil. We talked a lot of controversial subjects at dinner and we were both having great fun with it. He promised he would go home and do his research. Great mind! Easy to talk with!
One of the activities on the ship was where they had a contest and people had to make boats that would actually sail, out of junk they found on the ship. I watched it from the 11th inside deck so I could get a better view when they put them in the pool for the 'race'. Just amazing how they made them all out of bottles and things. Some had really great sails.
Some beautiful sailing days, just soaking up the wonderful sun. Sea as flat as a pancake.
I had also met another couple from Mexico City, and one day we played Shuffleboard together for a couple hours. Then I met a whole family from Puerto Rico. Parents and all their grown children & spouses and grandchildren. More than anything, I love visiting with people. It was great to get acquainted with all these nice folks, since we were together for more than two weeks.
Each evening and throughout the day, they had different live music being played in the Centrum. They played all the 'good oldies' and I actually enjoyed it. Usually I can't stand listening to music, because it is so obnoxious, so this was nice to have some 'real music' to hear from time to time. One evening, representatives of the crew and staff showcased all the countries they were from. There were 800 employees on the ship, and they would tell how many from each country, then a few from that country would perform a short dance or something. It was fun to watch. Nothing elaborate, just a recognition and clapping in the crowd who were also from said country.
Loved the sea days, as it gave me time to rest between tours when we arrived in the ports. Most of my time was spending all day on the tours, then coming back to the ship and getting ready for the next one... of course this also usually involved a quick swim to relax, before hitting the shower and bed. They did have shows in the theater each evening, but I think I only watched two the whole time. Just wasn't my interest. Anyway, I'll let this be all I post about the cruise, as most everyone has cruised and know what it is all about. These were just a few of my highlights. Mostly my blog is about my time visiting all the different countries... the reason I was even cruising to begin with ☺.
Aqaba, Jordan and The Dead Sea, April 10th
2017 marks the 100th year since Battle of Aqaba 1917 with Lawrence of Arabia.
If you are interested to read about it, here is the link:
https://attwiw.com/2016/07/06/today-in-middle-eastern-history-the-battle-of-aqaba-1917/
We arrived in Aqaba about 9A.M.
Port of Aqaba. Really hazy and wasn't able to get a good photo as we were coming into port.
The exchange rate of the Jordanian Dinar to the US dollar is fixed at USD 1 = JD 0.709.
Modern day Aqaba. Aqaba's location next to Wadi Rum and Petra has placed it in Jordan's golden triangle of tourism, which strengthened the city's location on the world map and made it one of the major tourist attractions in Jordan. The city is administered by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, which has turned Aqaba into a low-tax, duty-free city, attracting several mega projects like Ayla Oasis, Saraya Aqaba, Marsa Zayed and expansion of the Port of Aqaba. They are expected to turn the city into a major tourism hub in the region. However, industrial and commercial activities remain important, due to the strategic location of the city as the country's only seaport. Because of this, when we left the city, we had to pass through a security check point to make sure we weren't purchasing things in Aqaba and taking them 'across the country' to sell at a marked up price. They came on our bus and looked.
Now this is the more recent Aqaba, and it has beautiful roads, and is very modern, however...
Almost immediately we headed out of the city, and this is the 'old city' of Aqaba.
As we continued on, you can see we are heading directly into the desert, going to the Dead Sea.
Camels
Desert and mountains... seems at odds with each other
Housing provided for the Bedouins, but very few choose to live in them, preferring their tents.
Goat herders. Reminds me of that hymn we sing that says "A waste and howling wilderness"
A village where several live. There are also schools here.
The Bedouins
We stopped along the way after about two hours at this station and store, to use the facilities and get something to eat. They also had souvenirs in this shop. We still had an hour and half to go.
Just shortly after this stop, we headed into the mountains, to cross over to the Dead Sea
Beautiful Rock formations
After we crossed over, we came into a much more fertile area, where they have access to water.
Reminds me of where we read that Moses and Lot went their separate ways and Lot chose the "well watered plains of Jordan"
Lots of fresh vegetables and fruits sold along the highway
Dates are a very big part of the Middle East diet and you see date palm trees aplenty
Just at the edge of the Dead Sea
The Dead Sea
Known in the Bible as the “Salt Sea” or the “Sea of the Arabah,” this inland body of water is appropriately named because its high mineral content allows nothing to live in its waters. Other post-biblical names for the Dead Sea include the “Sea of Sodom,” the “Sea of Lot,” the “Sea of Asphalt” and the “Stinking Sea.” In the Crusader period, it was sometimes called the “Devil’s Sea.” All of these names reflect something of the nature of this lake. The Dead Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. It’s a hyper saline lake that is truly one of Earth’s unique places. The surface and shores of the Dead Sea are 1,388 ft (423 meters) below sea level, making it Earth’s lowest elevation on land. The Dead Sea is 1237 ft (377m) deep, making it the deepest hyper saline lake in the world. A hyper saline lake is a landlocked body of water that contains significant concentrations of sodium chloride or other mineral salts, with saline levels surpassing that of ocean water. The Dead Sea is 42 miles (67 kilometers) long and 11 miles (18 kilometers) wide at its widest point. It lies in the Jordan Rift Valley and its main tributary is the Jordan River. An unusual feature of the Dead Sea is its discharge of asphalt. From deep seeps, the Dead Sea constantly spits up small pebbles and blocks of the black substance. Asphalt coated figurines and bitumen coated Neolithic skulls from archaeological sites have been found. Egyptian mummification processes used asphalt imported from the Dead Sea region.
The Dead Sea is located in the Syro-African Rift, a 4000-mile fault line in the earth’s crust. The lowest point of dry land on earth is the shoreline of the Dead Sea at 1300 feet below sea level. That the lake is at the lowest point means that water does not drain from this lake. Daily 7 million tons of water evaporate but the minerals remain, causing the salt content to increase. The world’s lowest road, Highway 90, runs along the Israeli and West Bank shores of the Dead Sea at 1289 ft (393 m) below sea level.
The unique concentration of the Dead Sea waters has long been known to have medicinal value. Aristotle, Queen of Sheba, King Solomon and Cleopatra were all familiar with this and modern doctors as well often prescribe patients with skin ailments to soak in the waters of the Dead Sea. Biblically, the Dead Sea was a place of refuge for King David. It was one of the world’s first health resorts (for Herod the Great), and it has been the supplier of a wide variety of products, from balms for Egyptian mummification.
Well, this mineral rich mud is suppose to do something for you I guess, but all it did was make me itch! Very salty for sure. Then I got in the sea, and was trying to rub it off, when I tried to crack my eyes to just peak... boy oh boy. I've had salt in my eyes before from sweating, but this stuff was so bad I thought it had burned my eyes. I made it to the shore quickly and they had a water hose running there, so I rinsed my eyes with that. Thankfully it dissipated quickly, and I felt fine afterwards.
The beautiful resort we went to, where we had a wonderful huge big buffet lunch, and then they gave us towels to take to the beach area.
After we played in the mud and salty sea, there were showers available. We could also swim in their regular pools, so after an hour at the sea, I did just that. It was a lovely day spent here. There was also a gift shop where I purchased a 'Dead Sea' mug.
Biblical archaeologist Dr. Bryant Wood of Associates for Biblical Research located city gates, crushed graves, towers, a temple, the water supply, and thick city walls. Uninhabitable since the destruction, the remains were identified by Dr. Wood as Sodom and Gomorrah. Creation geologist Dr. Steve Austin studied the geological evidence, including the fault zone, the burn layer, the bitumen that erupted, and the city’s calamitous fall to its ruin. Together, they have confirmed the truthfulness of the Genesis account. http://www.icr.org/article/have-sodom-gomorrah-been-discovered
Because of the dropping level of the Dead Sea, the southern end is no longer under water, except for that which is channeled by aqueducts for the purpose of extracting minerals.
Big industry at the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea Works company on the southwest side of the lake employs 1600 people around the clock to harvest the valuable minerals from the water. Dead Sea Works is the world's fourth-largest producer and supplier of potash products. The company also produces magnesium chloride, industrial salts, de-icers, bath salts, table salt, and raw materials for the cosmetic industry. It has customers in over 60 countries. Dead Sea Works is part of the Fertilizers Division of Israel Chemicals Ltd. It is located in the southern basin of the Dead Sea and the extracted chemicals are exported around the world. Rather than extracting potash and other minerals from the Dead Sea by mining them directly, the company makes use of solar evaporation with 2-meter deep evaporation ponds. Dead Sea Works has been blamed by conservationists for polluting the environment and contributing to the Dead Sea's slow evaporation.
It was almost 9 P.M. by the time we arrived back at the Port and returned to our ship. We were set to sail at 9:45P.M. and we did.
Goodnight and Goodbye Jordan, until we meet again.
Thought of my friend Fay while I was here today, as this is where they lived after fleeing from Iraq. I sent her a message this day.
Thought of my friend Fay while I was here today, as this is where they lived after fleeing from Iraq. I sent her a message this day.
The Red Sea
Suez Canal, April 11-12
History of the Suez Canal: On November 17, 1869, the Suez Canal connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas was officially opened in a lavish ceremony at Egypt’s Port Said. The canal took more than 15 years to plan and build, and its construction was repeatedly hindered by political disputes, labor shortages and even a deadly cholera outbreak. When finally completed, the 119-mile-long waterway permanently transformed international shipping by allowing vessels to skip the long and treacherous transit around the southern tip of Africa.
Check out ten surprising facts about the canal that links the Eastern and Western worlds.
*I have interspersed these ten points throughout these next photos.
As we neared the Canal, I started seeing many ships. Some were traveling faster than us and would eventually 'crawl' ahead. This continued all the first day.
So glad I got up early and took these photos, as the wind started blowing and the sand and dust started moving. The last really clear and good photos I got all day.
1. Its origins date back to ancient Egypt.
The modern Suez Canal is only the most recent of several man made waterways that once snaked their way across Egypt. The Egyptian Pharaoh Senusret III may have built an early canal connecting the Red Sea and the Nile River around 1850 B.C., and according to ancient sources, the Pharaoh Necho II and the Persian conqueror Darius both began and then abandoned work on a similar project. The canal was supposedly finished in the 3rd century B.C. during the Ptolemaic Dynasty, and many historical figures including Cleopatra may have traveled on it. Rather than the direct link offered by the modern Suez Canal, this ancient “Canal of the Pharaohs” would have wound its way the through the desert to the Nile River, which was then used to access the Mediterranean. 
2. Napoleon Bonaparte considered building it.
After conquering Egypt in 1798, the French military commander Napoleon Bonaparte sent a team of surveyors to investigate the feasibility of cutting the Isthmus of Suez and building a canal from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean. But following four separate excursions to the region, his scouts incorrectly concluded that the Red Sea was at least 30 feet higher than the Mediterranean. Any attempt to create a canal, they warned, could result in catastrophic flooding across the Nile Delta. The surveyors’ faulty calculations were enough to scare Napoleon away from the project, and plans for a canal stalled until 1847, when a team of researchers finally confirmed that there was no serious difference in altitude between the Mediterranean and Red Seas.
3. The British government was strongly opposed to its construction.
Planning for the Suez Canal officially began in 1854, when a French former diplomat named Ferdinand de Lesseps negotiated an agreement with the Egyptian viceroy to form the Suez Canal Company. Since Lesseps’ proposed canal had the support of the French Emperor Napoleon III, many British statesmen considered its construction a political scheme designed to undermine their dominance of global shipping. The British ambassador to France argued that supporting the canal would be a “suicidal act,” and when Lesseps tried to sell shares in the canal company, British papers labeled the project “a flagrant robbery gotten up to despoil the simple people.” Lesseps went on to engage in a public war of words with British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, and even challenged railway engineer Robert Stephenson to a duel after he condemned the project in Parliament. The British Empire continued to criticize the canal during its construction, but it later bought a 44 percent stake in the waterway after the cash-strapped Egyptian government auctioned off its shares in 1875.
4. It was built using a combination of forced peasant labor and state-of-the-art machinery.
Building the Suez Canal required massive manpower, and the Egyptian government initially supplied most of the labor by forcing the poor to work for nominal pay and under threat of violence. Beginning in late-1861, tens of thousands of peasants used picks and shovels to dig the early portions of the canal by hand. Progress was painfully slow, and the project hit a snag after Egyptian ruler Ismail Pasha abruptly banned the use of forced labor in 1863. Faced with a critical shortage of workers, Lesseps and the Suez Canal Company changed their strategy and began using several hundred custom-made steam- and coal-powered shovels and dredgers to dig the canal. The new technology gave the project the boost it needed, and the company went on to make rapid progress during the last two years of construction. Of the 75 million cubic meters of sand eventually moved during the construction of the main canal, some three-fourths of it was handled by heavy machinery.
5. The Statue of Liberty was originally intended for the canal.
As the Suez Canal neared completion in 1869, French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi tried to convince Ferdinand de Lesseps and the Egyptian government to let him build a sculpture called “Egypt Bringing Light to Asia” at its Mediterranean entrance. Inspired by the ancient Colossus of Rhodes, Bartholdi envisioned a 90-foot-tall statue of a woman clothed in Egyptian peasant robes and holding a massive torch, which would also serve as a lighthouse to guide ships into the canal. The project never materialized, but Bartholdi continued shopping the idea for his statue, and in 1886 he finally unveiled a completed version in New York Harbor. Officially called “Liberty Enlightening the World,” the monument has since become better known as the Statue of Liberty.
6. Its creator later tried—and failed—to build the Panama Canal.
Having silenced his critics by completing the Suez Canal, Ferdinand de Lesseps later turned his attention toward cutting a canal across the Isthmus of Panama in Central America. Work began in 1881, but despite Lesseps’ prediction that the new canal would be “easier to make, easier to complete, and easier to keep up” than the Suez, the project eventually descended into chaos. Thousands died during construction in the sweltering, disease-ridden jungle, and the team burned through nearly $260 million without ever completing the project. The company finally went belly up in 1889, triggering a massive scandal that saw Lesseps and several others—including Eiffel Tower designer Gustave Eiffel, who had been hired to design canal locks—convicted of fraud and conspiracy. It would take another 25 years before the Panama Canal was finally completed in a decade-long, American-led construction project.
7. The canal played a crucial role in a Cold War-era crisis.
In 1956, the Suez Canal was at the center of a brief war between Egypt and the combined forces of Britain, France and Israel. The conflict had its origins in Britain’s military occupation of the canal zone, which had continued even after Egypt gained independence in 1922. Many Egyptians resented the lingering colonial influence, and tensions finally boiled over in July 1956, when Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, supposedly to help fund a dam across the Nile River. In what became known as the Suez Crisis, a combined British, Israeli and French force launched an attack on Egypt in October 1956. The Europeans succeeded in advancing close to the canal, but later withdrew from Egypt in disgrace following condemnation from the United States and the threat of nuclear retaliation from the Soviet Union. British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigned in the wake of the scandal, and the Suez Canal was left under Egyptian control.
8. A fleet of ships was once stranded in the canal for more than eight years.
During June 1967’s Six Day War between Egypt and Israel, the Suez Canal was shut down by the Egyptian government and blocked on either side by mines and scuttled ships. At the time of the closure, 15 international shipping vessels were moored at the canal’s midpoint at the Great Bitter Lake. They would remain stranded in the waterway for eight years, eventually earning the nickname the “Yellow Fleet” for the desert sands that caked their decks. Most of the crew members were rotated on and off the stranded vessels on 3-month assignments, but the rest passed the time by forming their own floating community and hosting sporting and social events. As the years passed, the fleet even developed its own stamps and internal system of trade. The 15 marooned ships were finally allowed to leave the canal in 1975. By then, only two of the vessels were still seaworthy enough to make the voyage under their own power.
The convoy behind the ship
9. It’s about to get a major overhaul.
The Suez Canal has enjoyed increased traffic in recent years, with roughly 50 ships passing through its waters every day. Shipping tolls allow Egypt to rake in around $5 billion annually, but the canal is still hampered by its narrow width and shallow depth, which are insufficient to accommodate two-way traffic from modern tanker ships. In August 2014, Egypt’s Suez Canal Authority announced an ambitious plan to deepen the canal and create a new 22-mile lane branching off the main channel. Preliminary work has already begun on the $8.5 billion project, which Egyptian authorities claim could more than double the canal’s annual revenue by 2023.
10. The canal is 110 plus miles long and without any locks so the water within is an uninterrupted continuation of the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea. As per the design engineers and architects, when it was constructed, the Earth's supposed curvature was not taken into account, it was dug along a horizontal datum line 26 feet below sea-level, passing through several lakes from one sea to the other, with the datum line and the water's surface running perfectly parallel over the 100 miles. The average level of the Mediterranean is 6 inches above the Red Sea, while the flood tides in the Red Sea rise 4 feet above the highest and drop 3 feet below the lowest in the Mediterranean, making the half-tide level of the Red Sea, the surface of the Mediterranean Sea, and the 100 miles of water in the canal, all a clear continuation of the same horizontal line. If there was curvature, the water in the center of the canal would be 1666 feet (502 x 8 inches = 1666 feet 8 inches) above the respective Seas on either side. These next two photos not mine. http://www.atlanteanconspiracy.com/2015/05/architects-engineers-for-flat-earth.html
The El Ferdan Railway Bridge. Due to the the second channel being dug now, this swing bridge is no longer usable.
At this point in the day, I was really starting to notice a change in the water color, from the Deep Blue of the Red Sea, now taking on the turquoise color of the Mediterranean.
On 24 February 2016, the Suez Canal Authority officially opened the new side channel.
The visibility was get less and less as the day progressed.
Al-Salam Bridge
The bridge connects the northern Sinai Peninsula with the rest of Egypt.
Everyone, I think was on deck taking photos, and the wind was still whipping!
And here we are, nearing the end of our journey through the Suez Canal as we enter the Mediterranean Sea.
I was actually quite happy to see the Mediterranean.. felt a bit like home to me.
Looking back... amazing how quickly the shoreline receded.
Now, evening is setting in and it is starting to rain in earnest. That will be good for settling the dust.
Now, it was time for me to settle in for the evening and night and just enjoy, as we cruise toward Israel tonight. Was getting close to dinner time, etc., so headed to my cabin to get cleaned up after being wind blown most of the day, as I loved being on the deck while we were cruising the Canal. Also spent a couple hours playing shuffle board with the couple from Mexico City, since we were on the deck anyway. The wind didn't help the game any, also the dust on the deck was getting sprinkled from time to time, so it was really making the pucks sluggish, but we were mainly just killing time, as we were just hanging on the deck anyway. One more thing off my 'bucket list' !
Now after dinner this evening of April 12th, it was off to bed early for me, as the next two days will be tour days with very early morning start times. I was really looking forward to Jerusalem and other cities in Israel and Palestine. Another place I had always wanted to go to.
So my next blog post will be Israel. The post of Israel might take me a few extra days, as there is much to tell about there. In addition, tomorrow is Saturday, so I need to get my Italian prepared for Sunday church; an all day process (usually 3 days!) for me! Also on Saturday, I have three young ladies coming to visit from Australia for a few days, so I better do a bit of grocery shopping. Then on Tuesday, a couple from Switzerland will arrive for a few days, so after today and all next week I probably won't get much done on my blog.
Today is Cinco de Mayo! Only 17 days until I leave again... pressure is on to get these posts done, also, I have to prepare my Permesso and get it filed before I leave. ☺
Thanks again friend for the amazing tour...you are tireless!
ReplyDeleteHug,
Cindy