World Circumnavigation - Sector Five

Itinerary: Dubai - Safaga - Sokhna - Suez Canal - Limassol - Haifa - Civitavecchia - Lisbon - Southampton

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April 4. Dubai, UAE. This was a long day. We were off the ship at 9:00 and didn't return until 12 hours later. We took the hop on hop off bus tour. First of all we were shuttled to the Wafi Centre and from there we went through the city to Jumeriah. On the way we passed the huge flag and pole. Then it was along Jumeirah Beach, passing Jumeirah Mosque, the Burj al Arab and then on to the Palm Jumeirah. The Palm was still being constructed on my last visit. I hadn't realised just how large it is. We drove up the main stem to the end. Along the way there is a tunnel that is over a kilometre long. There are still lots of buildings under construction. At the very end we saw the Atlantis Palm hotel. Then it was back to the mainland and off to the Mall of the Emirates. We got off here for lunch and to see the ski slope. Then it was on to the Metro to Bur Jurman, where we grabbed the hoho bus again, this time for the city route. This took us to the Creek. We saw the Grand Mosque, Dubai Museum and the Heritage Centre. Under the Creek and on to Deira. We got off at the gold souk, but didn't buy anything. We grabbed the Metro again and went to the Dubai Mall and from there to see the dancing fountains at the Burj Khalifa. After a meal on a terrace at the mall, we grabbed a cab back to the ship. A long but good day. A great start to what was, sadly, the first day of the final sector.

April 5. Sea Day. Today we passed both the Queen Victoria and HMS Northumberland. The Northumberland was on active patrol duties and circled us twice. She returns home in about a month.

April 10. Safaga, Egypt. This is really a port for people to visit Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. As I visited both of these places way back in the 80's, I chose an excursion that went to Hurghada instead. This basically was just a visit to a local hotel, where a sun bed, towel, parasol and lunch was included. The hotel was the Hilton Long Beach, and it was basically just another Egyptian resort hotel,just like all the others I've stayed in, in the past. The food was as bad as in all the others. I tried to visit the Hard Rock Cafe, but it didn't open for another hour, so I spent my time lazing either on the beach or by the pool.

April 11. Sokhna, Egypt. The port for Cairo and the pyramids really. Rob, Linda, Barbara and I got off the ship and went to the port gates, where we negotiated a trip into Suez for a couple of hours. We saw the Suez Canal, but there was no shipping on it. Then we drove past a mosque and some markets, before a cup of coffee and back to the ship. Suez is a busy, dirty, industrial town and not one I expected to see on this trip. We got back dusty, dirty but happy to have seen the place.

April 12. The Suez Canal. We started our transit in the early hours, around 6 am. We were in a convoy of 22 vessels and were the lead ship. We passed the southbound convoy in the Great Bitter Lakes. Much of the landscape on both sides was barren desert, but occasionally we passed trees and greenery. We also passed a large town, which I think was Ismailia. We exited about 9 hours after entering. It was an experience, and one I enjoyed, but I much preferred the Panama Canal experience, probably due to the locks.

April 13. Limassol, Cyprus. This was my first visit to Cyprus, and it was a favourable one. The weather was around 16 or 17 when we arrived, but it warmed up nicely during the day. I had an excursion to Curium and Kollosi Castle. Curium is a ruined town from before Christ. It was flattened in an earthquake in the 700's. It is mostly stones to the floor, with a few walls. The amphitheatre has been restored. A house belonging to Eustolios was under a cover and there were a couple of mosaics there. After Curium, we went to Kollosi Castle. This once belonged to the Knights of St. John. There isn't much of it left standing now.

April 14. Haifa, Israel. Israel is a country I've always wanted to visit, but I have been wary of doing, because of their treatment of Palestine. It was an early start and then a long drive to Jerusalem. The traffic was busy as it was a Sunday morning, the Israeli equivalent of a Monday morning. It was also Israeli Remberance Day. We first stopped on the Mount of Olives for a panoramic view of the city. The most obvious sight was the Dome of the Rock. Then it was on to Gethsemane. First we walked through a small garden of olive trees, one of which was over 2,000 years old. Then it was into the Sanctuary of Gethsemene, which is supposedly on the spot where Juda Iscariot betrayed Jesus. The Wailing Wall was our next visit, there were a few people praying there and lots of pieces of paper in the cracks. After that, we walked through Old Jerusalem to see the Stations of the Cross three, four and five, before walking along part of the Via Dolorosa. A visit to the Holy Sepulchre came next. This is built where the hill of Golgotha used to be. It contains the sites where Jesus was crucified, where his body lay and also where his body was laid in the cave before his burial. The cave no longer exists. It was a madhouse in there. There is a marble slab over the place where his body is supposed to have been placed after being taken down from the cross, and many people were kissing it and laying various items on it for blessing. There is a large sepulchre where the cave used to be. After lunch at a kibbutz (very posh, nothing like I imagined it would be), we drove to Bethlehem. Bethlehem is only about 10 minutes from Jerusalem. We went to Manger Square, and then into the Church of the Holy Nativity. This is built on the site of the cave (not stable), where Jesus was supposedly born. There is a very small door to get inside. The site is divided into three churches, we went into the part of the cave under the Catholic one. This isn't actually supposed to be the spot where He was born, that is under one of the other churches. We couldn't visit, for some reason that I didn't catch. On the way into and out of the country, we saw the wall that the Israelis have built around the Palestinian Territories. A long day, in a pleasant country, that, in contrast to Egypt, appeared to be litter free.

April 17. Sea Day. Today we passed between Italy and Sicily, including Mount Etna. At lunch time we went through the Messina Straits and a couple of hours later, when I was playing deck quoits, we sailed by Stromboli, which was issuing smoke.

April 18. Civitacchia, Italy I came here in September 2011 and visited Rome at that time. On this visit, I went to Bracciano. First of all we had a trip on Lake Bracciano. Then we went to Bracciano town and visited the Castello Odescalchi, which was built by the Orsini family and is now owned by a princess who lives in Rome. We had a fairly rapid tour of the castle and then about an hour to visit the town. It really is a beautiful area. The countryside is vey pretty, the lake is scenic and both the towns we visited were nice towns and I would have liked to have spent more time in both of them.

April 20. Sea Day. At 1:30 we sailed past Gibraltar. It wasn't very clear. Today was Linda's birthday, but we had a meal in the Pennant Grill yesterday.

April 21. Lisbon, Portugal. The last port day, I last visited Lisbon in September 2011, on a cruise. This time the six of us took a hop-on hop-off bus. We rode two routes, including one on a tram. We also took a ride on the Elevador Santa Justa which gave great views over the city. We had a good lunch on one of the squares and then the Great British Sailaway, when we sang British songs and waved our Union flags.

Ship repairers 186 kb	Wafi Centre 168 kb	Mosque 139 kb	Dubai 137 kb	Flag 141 kb	Jumeirah Mosque 153 kb

Burj al Arab 1236 kb	Apartments 195 kb	Palm Atlantis 172 kb	Palm Atlantis 182 kb	Monorail 138 kb	Building site 169 kb

Roundabout 165 kb	Deira 154 kb	Mosque 148 kb	Abra 206 kb	Abra 215 kb	Burj Khalifa 162 kb

Dancing fountains 151 kb	Dancing fountains 162 kb	Dancing fountains 180 kb	The bridge 125 kb	Queen Victoria 156 kb	Queen Victoria 156 kb

HMS Northumberland 155 kb	HMS Northumberland 158 kb	Gala Party 165 kb	Hotel pool 152 kb	Bridge 153 kb	Suez Canal 165 kb

Suez 169 kb	Linda 145 kb	Suez Canal 154 kb	Fishing boat 237 kb	Terraces 205 kb	Suez Canal 163 kb

Suez Canal 145 kb	Mosque 166 kb	Suez Canal 151 kb	War memorial 137 kb	Bridge 142 kb	Bridge 139 kb

Suez Canal 151 kb	Cyprus 168 kb	Arches 207 kb	Column 142 kb	Baths 213 kb	Amphitheatre 201 kb

Amphitheatre 220 kb	Mosaic 214 kb	Mosaic 270 kb	Castle 209 kb	Coats of Arms 219 kb	Church 181 kb

Jerusalem 185 kb	Gardens 248 kb	Sanctuary 178 kb	Sanctuary 197 kb	Sanctuary 160 kb	Jerusalem 187 kb

Al Aqsa Mosque 132 kb	Wailing Wall 190 kb	Prayers 234 kb	Jerusalem 162 kb	Old Jerusalem 207 kb	3rd Station 173 kb

4th Station 184 kb	Via Dolorosa 207 kb	Holy Sepulchre 192 kb	Mosaic 217 kb	Where His body lay 177 kb	Dome 156 kb

Holy Sepulchre 197 kb	Tower 135 kb	Manger Square 194 kb	Altar 200 kb	Altar 232 kb	Church 172 kb

Bethlehem 183 kb	Wall 160 kb	Stromboli 152 kb	Stromboli 145 kb	Stromboli 151 kb	Rear decks 221 kb

Lake Bracciano 122 kb	Ruined house 185 kb	Castle 159 kb	Building 182 kb	Town hall 198 kb	Castle 194 kb

Church 176 kb	Lake Bracciano 217 kb	Castle 179 kb	Us 178 kb	Gibraltar 140 kb	Me & Phil 137 kb

Me & Phil 132 kb	Signing 165 kb	Linda 173 kb	Museum 169 kb	Parade 196 kb	Church 139 kb

Castle 168 kb	Elevator 203 kb	Lisbon 193 kb	Aurora 168 kb	Sailaway 149 kb	Sailaway 176 kb

Sailaway 217 kb	Scott and Me 176 kb

Page created 27^th April 2013