Pilgrimage-Day8-Suez Canal-Cairo-Giza-Nile

Morning dawned. We packed and checked out. We had not unpacked actually!! We had breakfast looking at the Red Sea though we could not go to it. We drove down to Suez to cross the Suez canal and enter the African continent. Yea, all this while, we were still in the Asian continent. There was some kind of checking at the crossing and we were not allowed cameras. It was a 3-mins drive through a tunnel that goes below the canal. Just as we were entering and leaving the canal, we could see ships crossing on top of us.

Entrance to Suez Canal from Asia

We then drove through dry desert lands and soon our bus started to act a lil funny. It was only prayer power that helped us get to Cairo without losing much time. It was a 2.5 hr drive to Cairo city. We drove through the outskirts of Cairo and then entered the city. I felt that the place looked like India. The Nile flows through the city and is the main source of water for them. It was so exciting to see a portion of the longest river of the world. Dahlia continously enlightened us about the city. We saw Mubarak's office that was destroyed during the riots,got stuck in a good deal of traffic and finally reached Cairo museum. Absolutely nothing allowed inside the museum and so we left all our bags in the bus. This is behind Tahrir square where there were still some riots happening.

The Nile in Cairo

The parliament office that was burned during protests against Mubarak

We were all given a pouch with a transistor-like instrument and earphones.Dahlia would talk through a mike and each of us could hear it. Loud talks and explanations are not allowed in there. This is one of the largest and most ancient museums of the world with around 1,20,000 items on display and we saw only 0.5% of it.
King Tutankhamen's tomb was quite intact and a lot of items from there are displayed. Its interesting to see how much gold they used. There was even a mask of the king weighing about 13kg.
We spent nearly an hour there. After that we headed off to Giza, on the outskirts of Cairo, to see the Pyramids. Its not very far from the heart of Cairo and we could see the Pyramids even before we actually got there. 1st the bus took us inside and right upto a place where we could see the 3 big pyramids and the 3 smaller ones from a distance. The whole place is like a desert and empty. We were told not to entertain people/vendors there cause we could be tricked easily. We then drove down and got closer to a pyramid. The 3 smaller ones were for the women. Among the 3 bigger ones, the one in the middle is called the Great Pyramids and thats the one we got to touch and a few of them climbed it too. It felt really cool. All the pyramids are empty and nobody knows the actual way into it. Those who stole their way in made openings in the stones. We also saw the famous Sphinx. It was close to the Pyramids but we did not get off to see it. It was under renovatin and so not very exciting.

 Cairo is actually a poor city and looks all muddy and dry. A lot of area is still undeveloped. Dahlia told us that during Mubarak's reign, the middle class was almost wiped off. It was the very rich or the very poor.


The smaller pyramids



Our lunch was at a restaurant near the Pyramids. Infact, I ate my meal looking at the pyramids. It was quite late by the time we were done. We tried to take pics of some women making bread at the restaurant and they tried to force us to pay them.



Our next stop was a perfume factory, rather a shop selling perfumes, jewels and other precious stuff. Before that we shopped at a cotton store. Egyptian cotton is known to be the best in the world. Since it was heavily priced, we got off the speed at which we got in. At the perfume factory, we were given an orientation about the different products they had and got samples to smell. They had bottles of different sizes and perfumes for different 'occassions'.

Finally it was time for our Cruise and dinner on the Nile. We had to bid Dahlia good bye as we were not going to meet her the next day. We headed off to Cairo and were dropped off the bus at the Memphis cruise. The ship was waiting for us and once we were all aboard, it took off. We went to the upper deck and breathed in the fresh cold air. We then had an entertainment programme on the middle deck. The first was a belly dance by a professional. I'm sure her costume would have scandalized a few and would have excited some others. Her performance was commendable though. I like the band that played different types of instruments and some lovely oriental music. Next was a Turkish dance that took our breath away. The dancer was going in circles for solid 15 mins. Our belly dancer and some others came over next and even invited a few of us to join them for some simple steps. It was fun 'trying' to dance like them and moving around. We were all seated around small tables for about 6. As soon as the programme was over, soup was served at the tables and a wide-spread buffet was spread. Some interesting desserts too, unlike what we got the previous days. Cause of all the excitement, I was not too hungry. After dinner, I went to upper deck and had some "me" time. Contemplated on the trip and the fact that it was actually drawing to an end.



Cairo at night



On the deck of the Memphis

We then took snaps and bid good bye to the crew and boarded the buses that were waiting for us at the same place we got off. The journey to the hotel (Zoser hotels) was a farewell session. The emotional side of me sprang up.People took turns giving their farewell speeches,vote of thanks,etc. This session was followed by instructions for the next day (day of departure). We reached the hotel and went to our respective rooms. The usual happened. Helping people with their rooms and luggages and finally a long chatting session. Had to pack for the flight.

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Pilgrimage-Day 8-Suez-Cairo-Giza-Nile

Pilgrimage-Day7-Eilat-Taba-Sinai Peninsula

After breakfast, we packed our bags into the bus, said goodbye to Nova hotels and set out for a tour around Eilat.

Eilat is the southern most city of Israel and a busy port. It is a small city with beaches on the northern most tip of the Red Sea. There are lot of hotels and tourist activities here. We saw King's city- a  Biblical theme park that looks like the Red Fort in Delhi. There is also a huge hotel named Herod's Residence. There is a small airport here but the harbour is quite big. Dead Sea products are exported from here (O!we saw a huge factory producing Dead Sea products on the way to Eilat the previous night. Its the biggest industry here). Cars from Japan, India and Korea are imported. When the Suez Canal was closed during the 6-days war, Eilat harbour was used.

Cars imported from India,Japan,Korea at Eilat harbour

Just beyond the harbour is the exit point for Israel and the Taba border crossing. We got off there, took our bags and bid goodbye to our drivers. Got our bags checked, exit stamp and said bye to Hakeem. We then walked for about 5-10 mins in order to reach the Taba border. This is the entrance to Egypt. In about an hour, we were done with all the formalities and boarded the buses from Egypt that were waiting on the other side of the Immigration office.

We were welcomed by our guide-Dahlia. She kept talking non-stop. Her knowledge, clarity and confidence was good and so she was well accepted. Our bus had a toilet in it. We drove down the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea coast. The view of the Red Sea was so beautiful that no camera could capture its actual beauty. The red corals (Trichodesmium) seen in the shallow wasters is what gives the red colour to the water. We were in the Sinai Peninsula. This part of Egypt is in the Asian continent. There are a lot of resorts in this area and still many more coming up. After about 30 mins, we turned off the coast and went through the desert and mountain regions towards the city of St.Catherine. The mountains looked really different from what we saw in Israel. The temperature was also warmer.

Finally we stopped at Morgenland village-a resort/hotel for lunch. We got stuck there for a very long time cause the buses had some problem and had to get repaired. we killed time clicking pics and walking in and out of the hotel shops. We were at the foothills of Mount Sinai. After a long wait, we set off for St. Catherine's monastry which was not very far from where we were.

There is a community of people called Bedouins. They are a tribe of Arabs generally living in the desert and tend camels or sheep.We got off the bus and had to trek a little to the monastry. there were cars and small vans for rent. A few bedouins were also renting camels and I got to ride on 1 for a part of the journey. It was the bumpiest ride I have ever ever had in my life. Getting off the camel was even worse.We walked into the monastry and had to wait till 5 pm for it to open. In the mean time, Dahlia gave us some insight on the place.

This monastry is on the foot of Mt.Sinai and is known to be the oldest Christian monastries in the world. The monastry was built enclosing the burning bush chapel which was built by Helena-the mother of Constantine. She built a lot of churches in the Holy Land including the Holy Sepulchure church in Jerusalem and the Church of nativity in Bethlehem. there was a time in Egypt when Christians were not accepted. So they would either remain secret about their faith or would just move away to some other place. Catherine was the daughter of a pagan governor. Her father brought a lot of scholars to teach her. One of them was a christian and she was inspired by his faith and converted. since her father did not want to condem her in public, he tried sending a lot of sorcerors to convert her. However, she converted them to Christianity. Finally he had no other go but to kill her. She died a peaceful death. Quite a few monks in the region had a similar dream at the same time. They saw angels carry Catherine's body to the mountains. They went in search of it and saw it just as they had dreamt. Thus the monastry , that contains her remains, was named after her. The muslims used the monastry for sometime. During Hitler's reign, he increased the height of the walls and used it as a fortress.



Finally they opened the doors for us. We were told that monks are quite moody and we had to remain silent. I badly wanted to see a monk but they would'nt come outside. There is quite a bit to see in there but all we got to see was an old well of Moses and a plant that was the burning bush.There is a stone there that has the design of the leaves of the burning bush on it. Even if you break it into many pieces, the design can still be found. There was a small chapel too with a lot of old paintings but we missed seeing it.

 





Burning Bush











The Burning bush design on the stone

I could somehow imagine the Isrealites walk through the deserts and mountains of the Sinai Peninsula. We drove back the way we came and proceeded towards the Red sea coast again. But this time we were headed for the Gulf of Suez. Dahlia enlightened us on the political scene in Egypt and about Mubarak and his acts. It was a slightly long drive to Ras Sudr where we were to spend the night (around 3.5 hrs). We stopped on the way at a place that looked like a typical Indian highway dhaba! We finally reached Green Sudr resorts and headed straight for dinner. The resort had 1-2 storeyed buildings spread across a vast land and we had great difficulty finding our rooms and getting our luggages to it. I somehow did not like the place. The place looked like these dry housing colonies. We were so tired and so we hit the bed soon.

Green Sudr resorts at Ras Sudr

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Pilgrimage-Day7-Eilat-Taba-Sinai Peninsula