Triumph in Suez Canal

Thursday, 14 June 2007

Triumph sailed overnight to Port Said, Egypt, and then anchored at dawn in the holding basin while the rest of the fleet (47 boats) arrived. At 0700 we circled the boats and waited for the Suez Canal pilot to escort us through, all boats fully dressed in colorful flags flying from our mast heads. The canal was closed to commercial ships while we went through single file. It was quite a thrill.

We are now berthed in a Navy facility in downtown Port Said. We just returned from an overnight tour to Cairo, where we spent three hours in the Cairo Museum. It was amazing to see so many treasures in one place, especially the King Tut exhibit. The Egyptian treasures are quite different from the Roman ruins and Crusader castles we have seen in other countries. The tour included a night in a five star hotel with pool and view of the nearby pyramids, dinner with belly dancer, and a gigantic breakfast.
Then we spent several hours visiting the pyramids and sphinx. We had to pinch ourselves to be sure we were not dreaming.

We are safely back aboard, having been escorted by soldiers wearing helmets and flak vests and carrying sub machine guns. These vehicles drove ahead of and behind our buses. We also had two huge body guards packing mini kalishnikovs onboard the bus. I have never seen so many armed soldiers, police, and uniformed personnel in one country. Yikes.

Tomorrow we set sail for Herzliya, Israel where we will tour Jerusalem and many holy sites, and have our grand finale rally dinner. We may take a four-day land tour to Jordan from there, depending on the political situation.