Well, if we thought we were "ruined " after Lebanon, we didn`t know what we were talking about. NOW we are "ruined"after visiting Israel, Egypt and a River Nile cruise, visiting all the famous sites. Now we have seen more sticks, stones, rocks, bones and relics than you could possibly poke a stick at! But back to where we last posted; on leaving Beirut we overnighted to Haifa and what must have been a nightmare for the Israeli border security organisation who are anxious to track, identify and communicate with all vessels approaching their territory. This at the same time as the UN naval presence attempted to regulate all traffic entering and leaving Lebanese waters. The end result was a comical round of radio calls and miscommunication, but finally the Israeli navy patrol vessels visually identified and spoke with us all and we were then allowed to berth in a fishing harbour, some yachts rafting together ten deep. Haifa, which we had visited on our last cruise to Israel, was again a lovely city to experience. While there we hired a car and toured northern Israel and the Golan heights where we saw much evidence of Israel`s battles with its neighbours in past conflicts and we eaily recognised the strategic nature of those heights, territory which could not possibly be given up without cast iron guarantees of security. Another seemingly insurmountable hurdle to peace in the middle east. From Haifa we sailed south to another Israeli marina at Ashkelon near Gaza. From there we toured via Beer Sheba and Eilat to Aquaba in Jordan and then on to Petra; fantastic and a must-see; and to Wadi Rum where we took a 4WD into the desert; surprisingly interesting [there were seven of us and guess how many camels, set up for riding, we came across in a remote wadi] and the site of much of the filming of Lawrence of Arabia.
Next began our Egyptian adventure. From Ashkelon we sailed overnight in a good breeze to Port Said. Within 30 miles of the port,in the dark, we met a fleet, quite literally, of 300 Egyptian trawlers all working their nets within a close area. Quite a challenge to navigate under sail through their midst. All 50-odd yachts gathered off the entrance to the Suez Canal and when formed into a column, the canal was closed and we entered and berthed stern to the quay in the arsenal basin. By now it was HOT, over 40C. Then the Nile trip. A convoy of four buses, each with a civilian attired security man with a machine pistol under his jacket, and armed police vehicles in front and behind with sirens blaring drove us to Cairo. We could not have appeared more conspicuous if we had tried. We took the overnight sleeping train to Aswan where we joined our cruise ship. For three days we cruised downstream to Luxor visiting all the famous sites enroute. The cruise ship was fabulous, air conditioned, swimming pool and excellent facilities. The overnight train took us back to Cairo and the pyramids and the Egyptian museum before we again convoyed by bus to Port Said. Boy, was it hot up the Nile. We were very late in the season which wraps up for the summer, it being just too hot. And now, impressions of Egypt. An amazing country; beset by all sorts of problems, having a wonderful ancient history, [you do wonder where all that knowledge disappeared to]. We were atonished to see the squalor in which many , if not most of the people live. There appears to be no effective garbage collection service anywhere and the locals discard their rubbish in the streets. Beside a really polluted canal in Cairo enroute to the pyramids a dead horse rotted in the sun and had clearly been there for some days. Cairo is a city of 20 million and seethes with its people. In the cities as well as the countryside animals are a major form of transport and labour. Wooden ploughs and cattle raising irrigation water by walking endlessly around a water wheel. And poverty and constant irritating demands for backsheesh. We`re glad we saw it but won`t hurry back.
From Port Said we have returned to Israel, this time to Herzliya just north of Tel Aviv, and the rally is now officially over, with yachts beginning to depart for places north for the remainder of the season. Jack Tar`s crew is indulging in some R & R before we do the same, a three day trip to Turkey. After Egypt three of the crew succumbed to "mal de Nile", only the skipper`s usually sensitive stomach proving to be of cast iron. A good many others in the fleet suffered similarly. When we are all again healthy, we will depart.
