India and the Middle East cruise: May 21-26 Suez Canal and Jerusalem

May 21-25 – Cruising the Red Sea and Suez Canal

After a few easy days cruising through the Red Sea with nothing untoward happening (no pirates attacking us), we entered the Gulf of Suez. However, the day before there was excitement one night when another very new ship in the fleet, Quantum of the Seas, was to pass us heading south on its way to Dubai. So everyone was out on deck to wave and take photos. It's huge ship!

The landscape on either side of the ship is clearly visible as the Gulf is quite narrow in parts. The mountains of the Sinai peninsula on one side, the desert of Egypt on the other.

On one of the sea days we had a tour of the ship's galley. The Sous Chef took us around and explained the different areas and introduced us to some of the kitchen crew who work so hard behind the scenes.

We arrived at the southern end of the Suez Canal in the early evening of the 24^th. Unfortunately, because of the way the canal operates, we were obliged to travel through that night. So we were unable to follow the transit. We awoke next morning (the 25^th) and were already side tracked from the canal in to Port Said.

We had a 'technical stop' here, to attend to some immigration matters for our next stop – Israel. So the remainder of the day was spent going around in circles in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Preparing all the room service trays

The amount of bread baked is phenomenal

Getting ready for some desserts

Trays of smaller items for entree or dessert

Preparing the pineapple upside down cake

The Sous Chef had been brought on the cruise to train a new Sous Chef who was from South Africa

Sailing through the Gulf of Suez

And so the transit begins

By morning we were already in the entrance to Port Said. The canal exit can be seen centre left

Lots of car ferries cross this waterway from one side of Port Said to the other

Huge numbers of flats line the port. Look closely at the patriotic awning top right

Here's a closer look. So many satellites in the part of the world

The welcome mat was out and down below they were ready to no avail - no-one was getting off the ship

Fishing boats returning to the harbour

Busy local authorities and merchants!

As well as security personnal

Captain Gustavo bringing the ship alongside

Checking the instruments

This is the monument erected to celebrate the opening of the Canal. The statue of Ferdinand de Lesseps has long since been destroyed

Small boat harbour

The promenade behind the beachfront

Looking across to the beachfront

The beach extends into the distance. The 'boat' in the foreground I suppose could be a restaurant. It's certainly not beached

A ship leaving the main canal

The fishing boats are all so colourfully decorated

May 26 – Jerusalem

Today we had hoped to go up to Tel Aviv, Jaffa and Caesarea, but our tour could not be filled so instead we bought the ship transfer into Jerusalem for a more relaxed walk around this ancient city. The guide on the bus provided us with some ideas of things we could do which took in some places we had been unable to visit on our last tour of the city.

We tried to skip places where there would be lots of other people – namely the religious sites- though we did decide to queue to visit the Grand Mosque. First though we wound our way through the winding streets of the old city to the Austrian Hospice. Unless you had been told about this place you would never find this gem on the edge of the city. We paid our money to climb to the roof for a super view over the Muslim and Christian quarters of the city.

Then, again, we wound our way through the streets (the whole city is one big bazaar) to the Western Wall. This was only different from our last visit by the number of people who were NOT visiting! In fact the whole city was a better experience in that sense. We went through security and then walked out the other side, then realised we could probably have avoided the whole security thing by skirting the square!

We did this to join the very short queue to wait for the opening of the Grand Mosque area. By the time opening time arrived the queue was quite substantial. It was worth the wait. This is the most significant site for the Muslims in Israel.

After all this we were in time to return to the Jaffa Gate and pop in to a cafe for a drink and something to eat. The weather was quite hot and we had walked a long way around the city so we were pretty tired and in need of a rest. We were in plenty of time to catch the bus back to the ship.

From the Jaffa Gate looking towards the old city

By contrast, just down some stairs is this modern arcade of shops and cafes

Back into the lanes of the city

Fascinating stalls line the streets

Colourful umbrellas provide shade to sit outside a store

The spices and nuts and other food stuffs are always fascinating to look at

Then there's the general bazaar shops

Near the Damascus Gate it is very traditional local shopping

The deliveries are made in these waggons which somehow negotiate the narrow lanes

The people simply walk by and around them

The cool verandah at the Austrian Hospice

The view looking across to the Christian quarter from the roof

Looking down at the street we entered the building from, a cruise ship excursion is just passing by

Then they are all gone!

Looking towards the Damascus Gate and some people are negotiating the city walls

Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Christian quarter

Notice the Austrian flag

The Dome of the Rock on Temple Mount Muslim quarter

Taking a break on the cool verandah

Lovely gardens and little terraces outside the hospice

OK, so how do we get down there? Not as easy as it looks!

Down on the square in front of the Western Wall. Somewhat less frenetic than last time

After queuing for about an hour for the small window of opportunity when the Dome of the Rock area is open, we were finally allowed to talk the walkway to enter this holy place