Chris' Birthday weekend by the sea

Today we are having fun in Southend on Sea. Going on the biggest pier in the world, maybe even go on rides which are in the Adventure Island. We are now standing on the longest pier in the world,it is about 1.5mile/2km long. It is very windy and we got some rain as well,sees like gail wind. We are enjoying the weekend and even having some sun shine! :-) xx

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Some pictures from on board

Before we manage our all picture on the real camera and maybe even cut togeter some video,just a few picture of people and places on our ship. Enjoy and stay in touch, we might be starting another blog soon,where we might need your help:-)

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A few photos from our visit to Rome

As we now have a decent Interner connection,here are some photos we took in Rome,which was our last stop before Southampton. Just thought we would share them,as it feel a bit sad to just leave our blog die out. So if anyone is still following this,please enjoy! K+C x

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28. brezen 2011 – Nekde na mori mezi Francii a Anglii, Southamptonem

At uz se to zda jak chce dlouho, tak kazda chvile ci doba se prekuli nez se stacite otocit a i kdyz 3 mesice zni jako neco strasne dlouheho a nekonecneho, tak i takove 3 mesice musi jednoho dnes skonci. My jsme za ty nase 3 mesice videli, slyseli a zazili mnoho, co by mozna vydalo aspon na jednu knizku. Je trochu smutne byt u konce a travit posledni den na lodi, ktera se stala nasim domovem a s prateli, ktere jsme za poslednich 84 dni videli kazdy den. Neni se tedy cemu divit, ze pratelstvi a pouta, ktera se na takove to ceste navazi, jsou takova, ktera muzou trvat temer navzdy. Kdyz se nad tim zamyslite, tak stravit s nekym 12 tydnu temer v kuse a stale si mit o cem vypravovat a povidat, tak to je urcity druh lidi, se kterymi se budete chtit videt znovu a pak mate vlastne pocit, ze je znate mnohem dele, ze tech par tydnu, co jste tu s nimi stravili. Nejen my budeme zitra Arcadii opostet s timto pocitem, ktery bude trochu smutny. Na druhou stranu uz oba mame pocit, ze je cas se vratit domu a zpet do normalniho zivota, protoze se nam po spouste lidi, vecech a mistech styska, a tak je prijemne se po takove ceste navracet zase zpet domu.

Dnes jsme zabalili vsechny nase zavazadla a byla to trochu takova Mission Impossible, protoze jsme cestou prisli k ruznym vecem a vecickam behem naseho cestovani, tak se nam ty zavazadla trochu nafoukla. S ulevou vsak musim rici, ze se nam uz temer vsechno podarilo zabalit, takze ted uz mame pred sebou jen pohodovy vecer, ktery pri veceri s Trevorem, Jean, Davem a Annou bude plnym vzpominani a myslenek na to, co nas kazdeho bude cekat, az se vratime domu. Arcadii pristane v Southamptonu 29.brezna kolem 6.hodiny rano. Jiste si dovedete aspon trochu predstavit, ze operace vylodit pres 2000 lidi a jejich asi tak 10000 zavazadel neni uplne nejlehci. Protoze jsme dostali kazdy poradi a cas, kdy se muzeme vydat na breh, My mame hnedou karticku a nas cas je 10:15, takze jeste budeme mit rano cas se s nasi kajutou a lodi trochu rozloucit a pak uz budeme spechat na breh a doufam, ze se tam se vsemi zavazadly potkame a pak hlavne najdeme Chrisova tatinka a Ali, kteri jsou tak moc hodni a prijedou nas vyzvednout! Takze to vsechno vlastne bude takove louceni a zase setkani a jak se take rika, kdyz neco konci, tak zase neco krasneho zacina, takze jen doufame, ze ten navrat do reality bude co nejprijemnejsi a ze si jeste par dni uzijeme jarniho slunicka, nez se oba budeme muset vratit do prace.

Jeste sobe i vam, kdo si tyto zapisky ctete, dluzim Ateny a Rim, takze obe navstevy jsou stale v zive pameti a pokud jste si uz neprecetli a neprelozili, to co stihl napsat Chris, tak ja mam jeste v planu tyto dva clanky sem doplnit, takze pokud se budete nudit, tak sem zase nekdy zavitejte. Po 3 mesicich je myslenek jeste tolik, ze by se dalo psat spousta clanku, jen tak nastrelim par titulu, co se mi tak rysuji: Reflexe na nasi cestu aneb chceme s opet nekdy vratit na more?; Lodni drby, drbarny a drbny – lod je takova mala telenovela; Lidi a Lidicky co jsme na nasi ceste potkali a co pro nas znamenaji; Ruzne typy lodi a ruzne typy pasazeru; Restaurace a stravovani na Arcadii; Philipinci a Indove; a mohla bych pokracovat, tohle je jen par napadu, co mi lezelo nekde v hlave. Takze treba se mi podari usetrit nejaky cas a az budu sedet cely tyden pred pocitacem a podari se mi usetrit nejaky cas, tak se treba do nejakeho rozjimani jeste pusti, kdo vi. Jen nesmite zapomenout, ze jsme na teto ceste stavili nekolik hodin psanim vsech techto zapisku, castecne pro sebe, abychom si vzdy mohli osvezit, co jsme kde zazili, ale take pro vsechny doma, co cestujete s nami a mate radost z toho, co my vsechno zazivame. Bylo skvele mit moznost si vsechny zazitky znovu zobrazit v hlave a dat je tak trochu na papir. Nekdy kdyz si ted cteme, tak si rikame, ze to co se odehralo treba v lednu, se nam zda jiz strasne davno. V kazdem pripade to je fajn, najit si cas a trochu si to vsechno zapsat.

Behem dnesniho vecera jsme videli ruzne skupinky lidi sedet po spolu a vymenovat si adresy, telefonni cisla a emaily, a vsichni se nejen loucili mezi s sebou, ale take s personalem. My jsme se dnes take rozloucili s nasimi cisniky Girishem a Princlym, a poprali jsme jim hodne stesti na jejich dalsi ceste, ktera hned zitra bude mirit na 14dni zpet do Stredozemniho more, a az se vrati zpet do Anglie, tak 12. dubna bude Arcadia odplouvat na dalsi dlouhou cestu az na Aljasku, ze ktere se vrati az 23. cervna. Ja jsem se dneska rozloucila s Reevou, coz je slecna z Jihoafricke republiky, ktera mne nekolikrat cesala a se kterou jsme se skamaradili. Az se v cervnu vrati z Aljasky, tak jsme si slibila, ze ji pomuzu vybrat svatebni saty, protoze se 15.rijna bude vdavat. Take jsem se rozlocila s Gigi, coz je zpevacka z kapely Powerhouse, ale jelikoz bydli jen asi 25km od nas, tak jsme si slibili, ze nez odjedou na Aljasku (vraci se ted na 14dni domu), tak se urcite uvidime, tak snad to stihneme. Dnes vecer jsem se rozloucila s Rheou, coz je zase slecna z Filipin, ktera je cisnice v restauraci Orchid a my jsme ji take s Chrisem pozvali pred par dny na veceri do Rhodosu. Tak me Rhea dnes dala nejake fotky, naramek a pak take napsala vzkaz, ze na nas nikdy nezapomene a at zustaneme urcite v kontaktu, tak snad se nam to podari, a bude fajn zustat v kontaktu.

Takze jsem jen chtela rict, jak se ted mame a jak se chystame na navrat a pristi zapisky budou,az se vratime zpet domu J Takze se tesime na nas domecek, zahradku a vsecho kolem a take se vsemi navidenou za par tydnu J!!

Goodbye Drinks

Finally, we managed to get a photo with the main man, Captain Philpott!  Actually we've had 2 different captains and a commodore whilst we've been away, but Captain Philpott has been with us the longest.

20. brezen 2011 – Suez, Egypt – Kahira, Egypt – Sakkara, Egypt – Port Said, Egypt

Jak uz jsem naznacila nas nedelni den zacal velmi z ostra a pekne brzy, kdyz nas budik zazvonil uz ve 3:20 rano. Prekvapive jsme byli celkem cili a netrvalo ani 30 minut a my uz byli na ceste do Palladia, kde jsme se opet meli ve 4 hodiny sejit. Arcadia tentokrat kotvila asi 2 kilometry od brehu mesta Suez, a proto jsme se museli nalodit do lodnich tederu, abychom dorazili na breh. Nas puvodni vylet, ktery jsme si objednali jeste pred Vanoci a obsahoval Kahiru, obed na Nilu a Pyramidy v Gize, byl pred par dny z bezpecnostnich duvodu zrusen a tak mnoho lidi se take rozhodlo dnes nikam nejet a radeji zustav pohodli a bezpeci nasi lodi. My jsme se rozhodli prijmout novy vylet, ktery stale mel v umyslu navstivit Pyramidy v Gize, ale i Sakkare a cetru Kahiry se tak nejak vyhnout. Celkem jen asi 250 lidi dnes melo namireno, tam kam my, takze dalsi skoro 1800 pasazeru se rozhodlo zustat na lodi. To znamenalo, ze jsme potrebovali jen dva lodni tendery, aby nas dostali na breh a pak jen 6 autobusu, co bylo v porovnani s 20 co jeli do udoli kralu, opravdu jen mala skupinka.

Na breh jsme dorazili pred 6. hodinou a nastoupili jsme do naseho autobusu cislo 6, ktery byl take tim poslednim. Opet jsme museli cestovat v konvoji, na zacatku a na konci bylo vzdy doprovodne vozidlo, a kazdy autobus mel krome ridice a pruvodce jeste chlapka v obleku, ktery pod sakem skryval ( ci mozna ani tak moc neskryval) celkem velkou zbran. Chtela jsem rict kulomet, protoze kdyby to musel pouzit, tak si predstavuji, ze by to asi znelo takto “tatatatatatatatatatatata”, ale jestli to byl ci nebyl kulomet, na to jsem se ho radeji neodvazila zeptat. Takze plne nalozeni a ozbrojeni jsme se vydali pres mesto Suez do Kahiry, ktera byla asi 2 hodiny vzdalena. Cesta byla celkem prijemna, vetsina nasich spolupasazeru si prinesla polstare, takze jsme vsichni tak trochu pospavali a take pozorovali krajinu kolem nas. Kdyz se Kahira zacala priblizovat, tak jsme vydeli nescetne mnozstvi novych 8-15 patrovych budov, ktere zde za poslednich na predmesti vyrostly. Vetsina z nich bez stavebniho povoleni a bez potrebne infrastruktury, dokonce nekter domy byly postaveny tak, ze mezi nimi ani nenechali misto na ulice. Ocima pozorovatele i z vykladu naseho pruvodce, to byl naprosto nekontrovatelny chaos a jednalo se predevsim o lidi, co prisli do Kahiry z vesnic, a presne jak zili v techto vesnicih, tak i prinesli tento zpusob zivota sem. Nas pruvodce jmenem Mohamed, ktery mel take vystudovanou Egyptologii, na toto moc pysny nebyl, ale snazil se nam vsechno vysvetlit, tak jak se ma, abychom mohli mit co nejlepsi prehled a usudek. V zadnem pripade by si nikdo z nas nedokazal predstavit moci v takovych to podminkach zit ci jinak existovat. Vsechno to opet prinaselo myslenky na to, jak dlouho jim opravdu bude trvat ten vyvoj, kterym jim tato revoluce mozna otevrela, protoze pri pohledu ve z okna to vypadalo, ze to bude mozna vice nez tech puvodne zminenych 50 let.

Po osme hodine jsme prijeli do nasi prvni destinace, coz byl hotel v Gize, kde jsme se meli nasnidat. Jak uz jsem mozna zminila, vsechny hotely zvolene prave pro tyto exkurze jsou velmi pekne hotely, proste asi museji poskytnout lidem ten nevyssi standard, aby pak nemeli zadny duvod si stezovat. Takze si tim trochu kryji zda a my jim to zase vsechno hezky zaplatime. Kazdopadne snidane v hotelu Le Merridien byla velmi prijemna a i samotny hotel byl hezky a pokud byste nekdy snad chteli v Kahire zustat pres noc, tak zde by to nemuselo byt spatne. Kdyz se vsichni dostatecne nasnidali, tak jsme po 9.hodine vyrazili smer pyramidy. Ty se uz honosne tycili a jak jsme si pamatovala z me prvni navstevy Kahiry, byly prekvapive blizko civilizace, co se stale nezmenilo, takze jsme u nich byli za necelych 10 minut. Mohamed nam rekl neco s historie a dal nam presne instrukce, jak se chovat k prodejcum, kteri na nas cekali hned pred autobusem a bylo jich tam skoro vice nez turistu. Podle toho co nam rekl, jak se mame chovat, zdalo by se to za normalnich okolnosti velmi neucitive, ale v pripade Egypta je to zcela nezbytna taktika. Takze kdyz jsme vysli ven z autobusu, byli jsme zcela pripraveni kohokoliv, kdo nas oslovi zcela ignorovat. Bohuzel zdvorile “Ne, dekuji” je pro ne zacatek konverzace, a slovo “Ne” nema vubec zadny vyznam ci ucinek. Takze opravdu zbavit se kohokoliv, kdo nam chtel cokoliv prodat stacilo jen par vterin ignorovat a pak vam skoro vsichni dali pokoj. Kdyz se nam podarilo velmi raznym krokem uprchnout od vsech prodavacu suvenyru, pohledu a vyjizdek na velbloudovi, tak jsme se konecne mohli zacit kochat temito vice nez 4600 let starymi stavbamy.

Prvne jsme si obesli nejvetsi a nejznamejsi Cheopsovu Pyramidu. Do vnitr jsme nemeli cas jit, ale pokud byste zde nekdy byli, tak se pro vstup dovnitr plati samostatne vstupne 100 L.E za osobu, coz je asi 10 liber, nebo-li 280 ceskych korun. Jinak vstupenka do celeho arealu pyramid vcetne navstevy Sfingy je 80 L.E., takze asi 250 korun, deti plati vsude polovicku. Druha Pyramida je Cheprenova ktery byl synem Cheopse a protoze ji postavil na vyssim bode, tak vypada vetsi, ale je to pouze opticky klam. Treti je Cheopsova vnuka, kery se jmenoval Mycerius a je nejmensi z techto tri, presto kdyz pred ni stojite, tak i pekne velika a mate respekt pred timto veledilem. Cheopsova pyramida je postavena z 2,5 milionu piskovcovych kvadru, kazdy vazi asi 2,5 tuny. Ctyri strany teto pyramidy temer presne miri ke 4 svetovym stranam, jak se jim to pred tak davnou dobou podarilo presne odhadnou zustava stale zahadnou otazkou. Drive pry dokonce bylo povoleno vystopit po kvadrech az na vrchom, to jiz ted neni mozne, ale i tak se po zadni casti muzete trochu do vrchu bez problemu projit. Kdyz zapomenete na vsechny rusive vlivy a presunete se o nekolik stoleti zpet, mozna muzete stat presne na tom samem miste, kde stali historicke postavy jako Alexandr Veliky, Julius Caesar, Konstantin, Saladin a nebo treba Napoleon. Chepren byl Syn Cheopse a jeho pyramida je o neco mensi, i kdyz vypada vetsi, protoze je postavena na vyssim kopci. Cast povrchu pyramidy zustal zachovan, take vypada ze ma takovou cukrovou polevu. Interier vsak neni tak rozsahly, jako pyramida Cheopsova. Nejmensi patrila Mycerinusovi a je i tak postavena z 200 tisic kvadru, i kdyz se na prvni pohled muze zdat celkem mala. Kdyz jsme si vsechno dobre prohledli, presunuli jsme se o kousek dale na vyvysenou plochu, kde jsme mohli mit vsechny 3 pyramidy jako na dlani a pekne se vesli na jednu fotku. Nase posledni zastavka zde byla u Sfingy, telo lvice a tvar faraona, ktera je nejvetsi sochou na svete vytesana z jednoho kusu kamena.Az do te doby nez ji videl Napoleon a jeho vojaci ji vyhrabali z pisku, byla temer cela zasypana. Dnes ji vsak muzete videt celou a verte mi, vypada opravdu obrovsky! Snazili jsme se udelat fotku, aby to vypadalo, jak kdyz ji chceme dat polibek, ale nejak se nam to nepodarilo. I zde jsme se museli vyhybat mnoha prodavacum, a opet se je snazit temer prehlizet, par lidi se tohoto nedrzelo, a byli nasledovani do autobusu a tak dlouho udolavani, az si od nich neco koupili. Kdyz jsme se v autobuse vsichni v poradku kolem 11:30 sesli, cekal nas asi 40 minutovy prejezd na druhou stranu Kahiry, do Sakkary.

Zde jsme neco popoledni zaparkovali a meli skoro dve hodiny pro objevovani techto nejstarsi pyramid, tou nejznamejsi je Dzoserova poschodova pyramida, ktera byla postavena jeste davno pred Pyramidamy v Gize. Krome teto je tu jeste nekolik mensich pyramid, ktere se bohuzel nezachovali uplne neznicene. Dzoserova Pyramida byla zrovna trochu v rekonstrukci, asi si uvedomili, ze pokud s ni neco nezacnou delat, tak se jim to uplne rozpadne. Dale zde bylo i nekolik mensich hrobek, ktere predevsim patrili soudcum a vazeny osobam, ktere byly blizko faraonovi, byla to pro ne pocta mit jejich hrobku v blizkosti faraona. Kdyz jsme odtud pred 14.hodinou odjizdeli, tak jsme byli opet plni dojmu a historie. Cestou zpet do Gizy jsme prijeli kolem nekolika kobercovych skol. Bylo nam vysvetleno, ze sem chodi deti jako soucast jejich vyucovani, aby se naucili plest koberce. Dale jsme projizdeli kolem ruznych casti, a bohuzel vetsine kolem cesty dominovala velka hromada odpadku a odlehly kanal Nilu byl take nechutne znecisten. Bylo nam vysvetleno, ze se jedna o chudci casti, kde odvoz odpadku je jen 1x za den, v porovnani s ostatnimi casty, kde ho pry “popelari” vyvazi 3x-4x za den!! Nevim sice, jak to byla moc pravda, ale nej tak nam blesklo hlavou, jak by to tam asi vypadalo, kdyby popelari jak u nas jezdili jen 1x za 14 dni!

Cesta okrajovou casti Kahiry byla vsak celkem zajimava, obzvlast, kdyz jsme se dostali do dopravni zacpy, bylo se opravdu na co divat. Kdyz jsme pak kolem pul treti dorazili do dalsiho hotelu, kde nas cekal obed, uz jsme opravdu meli po narocnem dopoledni celkem hlad. Za hotelem se tycili opet pyramidy, takze jsme jeste stihli udelat nekolik fotek a kolem pul ctvrte byl cas se presunout do institutu papyrusu, kde nam bylo strucne ukazano, jak se takovy papyrus vyrabi a pak nam byly vyrobky zde vystavene nabizeny. Stihla jsem jen udelat nekolik zaberu na kameru a pak se mi vybila druha baterka, takze neco malo mozna nekdy uvidite. Papyrusy vsak byli celkem predrazene a v porovnani s tim, co jsme mohli koupit v Karnaku, toto bylo 20x tolik a pak my jsme zase tak o papyrus nestali, takze jsme se rychle presunuli do 2. patra, kde se nachazel mistni bazar. Jelikoz jsme vedeli, ze budeme mit na lodi takovy karnevalovy vecer, Chris i ja jsme si chteli koupit Egyptskou galabaju a v obchode se nam obou cosi zalibilo, takze pak uz byl jen cas smlouvam a nakonec jsme kazdou usmlouvali na 150 L.E., coz je asi 400 korun, obe byly vyrobeny s egyptske bavlny a obzvlast ta Chrisova byla moc pekna, takze jsme byli radi, ze se nam podarilo tak dobre nakoupit. Meli jsme tu jen velmi malo casu, protoze jsme v 16:15 uz museli odjizdet a cekali nas 3 hodiny cesty do pristavu Port Said, kde na nas mela cekat nase lod. Za Branamy Kahiry jsme se opet museli seskupit vsechny autobusy do konvoje a jet spolecne, cestou jsme zastavili a hned vedle nas stal tank s vojaky, kteri byli na ulicich, aby pry chranili civilisty. Policiste v lednu temer vsichni rezignovali, protoze jim jiz nikdo nechtel davat uplatky, takze armada prevzala jejich roli. Byl to celkem zvlastni pocit stat jen par metru od hlavne tanku, ale nebyla tu zadna znamka toho, ze by se nekde strilelo ci bojovalo.

Kdyz jsme po 19. hodine vjeli do Port Said, na ulicich bylo zivo a vsechny obchody byly otevrene. Lide nam z ulic mavali snad jeste vice nez predtim a my jsme si rikali, skoda ze se tu na chvili take nezastavime. Port Said lezi na konci (ci zacatku) Suezkeho pruplavu, ktery Arcadia zatim co my jsme byli v Karhire projela. Suezsky pruplav byl staven 10 let a otevren roku 1869, o jeho vystavbu se zaslouzil Ferdinand De Lesseps a ten dostal povoleni od Pashi Saida ho provozovat po dobu 99 let. Jeho stavba prisla tehdy na 57 milionu liber, coz je o neco levnejsi nez stavba Panamskeho pruplavu, ktery stal celych 75 milionu liber. Behem sve historie byl nekolikrat z ruznych politickych duvodu uzavren, take rozsiren a vyhlouben. Dnes je kanal asi 220 kilometru dlouhy a lodim trva zhruba 12-15 hodin ho cely projet, hlavne protoze ze povolena rychlost je zde pouze 15-18 km za hodinu. Suez je stale hlavnim zdrojem prijmu pro Egypt a rocne vydelava az 3,5 miliardy dolaru. Tyto penize pry byli vzdy presunuty do takzvaneho “Prezidentova fondu”, takze normalni obyvatele z tohoto vlastne nic nemeli. Podle naseho pruvodce Mohameda ted vsichni doufaji, ze konecne penize budou pouzity, tak, kde je to treba a my doufame take. Nevime presne kolik stal nasi lod pruplav, ale urcite to nebylo mene nez 300 tisic dolaru!! Kdyz jsme se pak pred osmou hodinou zacali nalodovat, tak jsme i v cekani na nastup opet byli obklopeni prodejci, kteri zde meli stanky a cekali na nas temer cely den. Jelikoz Arcadia pouze pristala asi kolem pul sedme, nikdo nemel povoleno jit na breh, coz bylo celkem smutne, ze tu na ne cely den cekali a nakonec nikdo ani nic nemohl koupit. Hned jak jsme se nalodili, tak jsme pred devatou hodinou vyrazili na cestu dale. Byl to zvlastni pocit, protoze jsme najednou byli ve Stredozemnim mori a pocit takovy, ze jsme skoro doma.

Zazitku z predchozich 3 dnu bylo mnoho a take jsme byli trochu unaveni, takze jsme se rozhodli to vsechno vstrebat a trochu si odpocinout. Myslim, ze Egypt at jiz je jaky chce, urcite stoji za navstevu. Pokud chcete pruzracne more, stale pocasi a dobrou kuchyni, tak Sharm El Sheikh urcite stoji za zvazeni, nas pruvodce Mohamed mi rekl, ze podle neho je Hurgada jeste lepsi nez Sharm a je tam pry lepsi more. Nekdo zase zminil, ze by rad jel na lodi na Nilu, kde nabizi 3-7 denni pobyty na lodich. Ja bych se zase rada projela na velbloudovi ci po pousti na motorovych ctyrkolkach. Ochutnavka pro vetsinu to byla urcite prijemna a pro mne navrat sem zpet nemel chybu. Musim rict, ze jsme opravdu meli stesti, ze jsme zde mohli zastavit, protoze se k nam doneslo, ze asi o den ci dva pozdeji co jsme my byli v Kahire, tak vybuchla nejaka bomba, kdyby se toto stalo pred nasi navstevou, tak by nase zastavka byla zcela jiste zrusena. Takze jeste jednou rikam, ze to stalo za to a ze jsme radi, ze jsme mohli byt u toho, kdy se snad zacala psat nova historie konecne snad svobodneho Egypta, a pry je to mozna i zacatek zmen pro cely Blizky Vychod, tak jen doufejme, ze ty zmeny budou co nejmirumilovnejsi a ze budou mit ten spravy efekt a dopad na vsechny lide, ktere v teto casti sveta ziji. A my turiste a navstevnici, co se radi jezdi se sem bez obav a strachu budeme moci kdykoliv navracet zpet.

19. brezen 2011 – Sharm El-Sheikh – Na’ama Bay, Egypt

Sharm el-Sheikh je male mesto a spolecne s Na’ama Bay je situovano na Sinajskem poloostrove. Sinaj rozdeluje Afriku od Asie a nachazi se ve stejne zemepisne sirce jako treba Tampa Florida, Grand Canaria ci Mount Everest. Tato cast Egypta je letni i zimni letovisto pro dovolene u more, popularni predevsim pro krasne plaze a puzracne Rude more, pro potapece a jachtare.Obe mesta jsou predevsim postavena pro turisty, takze je to opravdu misto pro dovolenou u more a pro objevovani monumentu Egypta jsou k dispozici ½, 1 a nekolika denni vylety, ktere nabizi nekolik cestovnich kancelari, ktere jsou primo v centru Na’ama. Takze tohle vsechno zni velmi pekne pro den straveny na zlatavem pobrezi a na takovy den jsme se presne tesili.

Chteli jsme si dne u more uzit co nejvice a tak uz po osme hodine jsme vyrazili taximek smer Na’ama Bay. Jean zde loni stravila dva tydny dovolene, takze misto znala velmi dobre, a my jsme se rozhodli ze i dnesni den stravime ve spolecnosti Jean a Trevora. Jelikoz vetsina plazi patri k hotelum a ty verejne jsou velmi male a nicmoc, Jean zarezervovala dva pokoje pro den ve velmi peknem hotelu Hilton, ktery mel i dlouhou a moc peknou soukromou plaz. Cely complex Hiltonu byly jen prizemni apartmany, takze se tu netycily zadne oskolive vysoke hotely a cele prostredi a areal byl opravdu moc hezky. Prvne jsme se ubytovali v nasem pokoji, ktery jsme meli k dispozici po cely den a mohli jsme si tu nechat vsechny veci, prevleknout se tu a take pouzit sprchu. Dlouho jsme neotaleli oblekli jsme si plavky, vzali nase snorchly a surfboard a vyrazili na plaz. Zde jsme mohli vyuzit lehatek a slunecniku, ktere byli vyrobeny z listu kokosovych palem a cela plaz nebylo moc prelidnena a bylo to velmi prijemne. Zdalo se, ze hotely tu byly celkem prazne, protoze nedavny vyvoj udalosti primel velkou cast turistu k tomu, aby svuj pobyt zde bude odlozili ci zrusili. My jsme byli radi, ze tu muzeme byt a uzivat si slunicka a prijemne chadiveho more.

Behem chvilky jsme se vydali objevit mistni podmorsky zivot a protoze jsme mohli snochlovat primo od brehu, bylo se opravdu cim kochat. Pokazde, kdyz jsme se vydali snorchlovat, tak zazitek byl trochu jiny. Zde jiz metr od brehu plavaly ryby vsech druhu a barev a co se do poctu a barev ryb tyce, myslim, ze to tu bylo jedno z nejlepsich snorchlovani , co jsme zatim zkusili. Dokonce jsme poprve videli i rejnoka, ktere ho se nam nikdy predtim ve volne prirode spatrit nepodarilo. More tu bylo celkem melke, voda byla pouze tak na pas, takze jsme museli trochu davat pozor, abychom nenarazili na koraly. Opravdu jsme si to opet uzivali, trochu nas vystrasili meduzy, ale protoze tentokrat byli lehce do fialova, bylo celkem snad se jim vyhnout. Myslim, ze jsme snorchlovanim stravili pres dve hodiny a protoze nam pak uz byla trochu zima, sli jsme se trochu projit do mesta, ktere bylo opet celkem vylidnene, ale obchudky a ruzne stanky a restaurace vypadali velmi lakave. Krome par pohledu a dalsich drobnosti jsme ale nic nekoupili. U stanku s pohledy se mladik co je prodaval spis zajimal o to, kolik velbloudu pry za Jean a kolik za mne, takze jsme se s nim zasmali a rekli jsme mu, ze na to by nemel, ze tak aspon 500 az 1000 velbloudu by bylo ok. Kdyz on na to pak tedy prikyvl, Chris to prepocital na libry a zjistil, ze by na mne zas tolik nevydelal a ze me tedy prodavat nebude a ze si me radeji jeste necha!! :-)

Obed jsme stravilli v prijemne restaraci primo na plazi, kde nas nalakali, ze prave meli Happy Hour, tak jsme ochutnali mistni speciality a take mistni Egyptske Pivo. Obe bylo velmi dobre a jeste umocnilo, nas pohodovy den, kdy jsme nemuseli nikam spechat a nikam se honit. Po obede jsme se vratili k nasim lehatku a jeste par hodin uzivali slunce, pruzracneho more a snorchlovani. Tentokrat hned u brehu, kde jsme byli mi, jsme objevili dalsi koral a opet se to tu hemzilo rybami a podmorskym zivotem. Myslim, ze jsme pro dnesek meli opravdu ten spravny pocit dostatecneho vysnorchlovani! Opravdu se nam tu moc libilo, dokonce jsme uvazovali nad tim, zustat tu 10 dni a pak letet zpatky do Anglie, protoze se nam to znalo jako lepsi reseni nez byt na mori. Nakonec z toho nic nebylo a po pate hodine jsme se jeste stihli osprchovat, pobalit nase veci a vydat se zpatky do pristavu, kde jsme se nalodili na nasi Arcadii. Kdyz jsme odpolouvali tak slunce uz krasne zapadalo a byl to opet prijemny pocit odplouvat za svitu slunce a mit moznost byt jen v tricku a v kratasek.

Nas vecer byl velmi kratky a prakticky, protoze jsme vedeli, ze hned dalsi den nas ceka velmi dlouhy den a vstavani jiz kolem 3.hodiny rano. Takze jsme meli jen rychlou veceri, pripravili jsme si veci pro nas treti den v Egypte a sli rychle po 22.hodine na kute.

Rome, Italy

There had been a great deal of scare-mungering about getting to Rome from our port of arrival, Civitavecchia. The tour desk had been pushing their own transfer because it was deemed that the train from the port to Rome was unreliable and prone to delays, as is typical of Italian public transport. But it didn't appear to deter a great many people, including ourselves who chose to pay the 9 Euros return instead of GBP39.

We took it easy this morning and took a leisurely stroll through Civitavecchia towards the train station. In total there were 5 other cruise ships in port today, this is not something we've been used to so far. Normally we are lucky if we see any others at all. As a result, the queue for tickets was overwhelming the poor cashier who looked like he was more familiar receiving one customer every half an hour. The total cost of our return tickets came to 18 Euros, and in a display of true Italian flare, he threw his hands in the air and nearly fell over the back in his chair as I presented him with a 50 Euro note. I didn't think that was too unreasonable, but he reacted like I'd insulted his mother. I used a credit card instead, which held the queue up a little longer.

Katie had heard Czech voices in the queue and knowing they were not from our ship, struck up a conversation. They had arrived on the really big beast of a ship that had berthed behind us shortly after our own arrival. I'd noticed it (not difficult given its size) and had been cursing that ship earlier because it rocked up late and blocked the WiFi signal I had managed to pick up from the shore. It was an added insult to find out that it was of German origin! It transpired that it carried 4000 passengers and had been sailing the Mediterranean for 2 weeks. Our queue buddies thought it was too big which helps support my earlier thoughts that bigger ships are not always better.

Anyway, tickets acquired and stamped to validate them, we made our way to the equally busy platform for the next train to Rome. By the time it arrived 10 minutes later, we'd started talking ourselves out of going because the chances of getting a seat for the 1.5 hour journey looked. Instead we skipped platforms and got onto the waiting train that departed 10 minutes after the first. It was virtually empty and very comfortable. We knew we wouldn't get much time in Rome itself but at least we were going and on the positive side, we'd get to see all the little Italian stations en route!

Our bargain tickets also allowed us access to the metro all day, so when we got off the train at Roma Termini, we made our way to the closest metro station, took it 2 stops and got out at the Colosseum. Predictably it was busy with fellow tourists, and interspersed with random guides dressed as gladiators and Roman soldiers. There's nothing like milking the unwary tourist. There were also plenty of people selling the usual assorted Chinese made tat, and unusually a disproportionate number also selling tripods for cameras too. A good idea if not a little random. We already have one, so I didn't partake but it didn't stop them trying. It reminded me of the enterprising chap who tried to sell me sun glasses on Pattaya beach as I looked at him through my pair of Oakleys. I just pointed at them and shrugged.

With a tick in the box alongside “Colosseum” and a little less memory card space, we walked up the busy road vaguely heading in the direction of the Pantheon. We passed several other photo-worthy attractions and read up on their significance in the guide book but in all honesty, none of them bought about more than a mildly interested raising of the eyebrows. It was just nice to be walking around in the sunshine. The only annoyance today was the perpetual need to watch ones pockets and bag, for Rome is notorious for pick-pockets and bag snatchers. The crowds afforded them the ideal hunting ground, although we were not victims.

The streets got narrower and the tarmac turned to cobbles as we made our way towards the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Katie had found a nice cafe that we had marked for lunch and we found it without a problem on the opposite side of the Piazza. It is guide-book famous for its desserts, particularly the ice-cream, so we had Pizza! Apart from the waiter smashing a wine glass on the floor next to our table, we enjoyed an hour just sitting, eating and watching the world go by in the typical Italian way. We watched and listened as tourists stopped to regard the cafe's menu and were serenaded by a multi-lingual owner who told the same story for each new potential patron. It was pleasantly busy but not crowded or rushed. In fact it was a little too laid back at times for we had a train to catch and we wanted to leave plenty of time for it. The restaurant waiter was much happier to accept the 50 Euro note I still possessed and we left our prime piazza-side table to start the hike back to the closest metro station. We passed more photo-worthy attractions on the way and saw many Carabinari and Polizia cars parked up in the narrow streets. At first sight, the police presence in Rome, seemed to be higher than that of Egypt, but on closer inspection it appeared to be just an abundance of their cars. The police themselves were nowhere to be seen!

We arrived back at Roma Termini with 5 minutes to spare before our chosen train departed. It was not essential that we caught this particular one, but we wanted to leave ourselves some room for Italian inefficiency. It transpires that we need not have worried, but as always it felt good to be back within running distance of the ship. We had some time to look around Civitavecchia and found it to be a pleasant port town with a nice promenade along the sea-front and some very browsable shops. I realise that I'm starting to sound like some of the older passengers on our ship whose enjoyment of a town is measured purely on its expanse of flat ground and number of cafe's selling tea. Sorry about that.

After getting back on board with 15 minutes to spare before they started calling our names out, we readied ourselves for dinner. We'd been invited for drinks with Captain (again) but alas, we'd already booked a table in the Rhodes restaurant at the same time. I was quite disappointed that we couldn't go, but the invite had only materialised in our postbox the previous evening, not really giving us sufficient time to re-arrange things. Instead we had invited Rhea, one of the waitresses with whom we've become friendly, to join us to say “Thank you” and “Goodbye”. It was a nice end to the day, and to the last of our ports. The next and last port of call will be Southampton, where it all started, I doubt we'll have much time for sight-seeing there!

18. brezen 2011 – Safaga, Egypt – Udoli Kralu – Chram Luxor – Chram Karnak

Od te doby co jsme za sebou nechali Mumbai, Indii a vlastne celou Asii uplynulo celych 6 noci a 5 dni, ktere jsme stravili na mori, castecne na Indickem oceanu a pak Zalivu zvanem Aden, ktery je neblaze prosluly aktivitou somalskych novodobych piratu. Jen behem tohoto roku se pokusili unest asi 20 lodi a z toho 9 unosu bylo uspesnych. Takze vidite, ze uspech tohoto businesu je padesat na padesat. I nase lod tuto cast sveta brala velmi vazne a takze jsme byli velmi dobre pripraveni, pro pripad ze by se somalsti panackove rozhodli nasi Arcadii obtezovat. Cast decku 3, Promenade Deck, byla uzavrena a na zadi byli umisteny ostnate draty, ktere meli zabranit tomu, aby na tuto celkem nizko umistenou otevrenou cast lodi, mohli zachytit sve provazove zebriky. Dale cele venkovni osvetleni bylo po dobu sera velmi ztlumeno, coz bylo fajn, pokud jsme chteli nerusene pozorovat hvezdy, ale take jsme nemohli mit zadnou party na palube, coz bylo celkem skoda, protoze kdyz tropicka party presume dovnitr, do Globe ve 2. patre, pak to ma zcela jinou atmosferu. 13. brezna se take cela posadka a vsichni pasazeri museli zucastnit planeho proti-piratskeho cviceni, pro pripad, ze bychom byli napadeni. I kdyz to byla vazne zalezitost, byla to celkem legrace, protoze pro vsechny pasazery, kteri maji okno ci balkon platilo to, ze musi sedet na chodbe, a tak jsme behem 20-ti minut, co jsme tam sedeli, potkali vsechny nase sousedy, ktere jsme predtim behem predchazejicich 10-ti tydnu nestihli potkat. Behem nasledujicich 4 dnu, falesny piratsky signal byl z mustku 3 omylem spusten, takze to bylo celkem zajimave, protoze nez kapitan stihl oznamit, ze se jedna pouze o technicky problem, tak nekteri lide uz sedeli na chodbe!! Dale jsme na lodi meli asi 10 marinaku, pry radne vybaveni zbranemi, pro pripad, ze by je bylo nutne pouzit, i kdyz jak jsme se dozvedeli na prednasce plukovnika techto ozbrojenych jednotek, nikdo neni opravnen na piraty zautocit, dokud nezacnou lezt na lod. Pry jich i nekolik behem minuleho roku vzali do zajeti a umistili je do lodniho vezeni, ale protoze nikdo nevi, co s nimi, tak je u brehu somalska vysadili. Jeden pry ani neumel plavat a tak ho museli zase zachranit. Takze sami vidite, ze situace ohledne piratu je celkem vazna a opravdu neni radno se do teto casti sveta vydavat na male lodi, ktera ma rychlost mene nez 18 uzlu, ale na druhou stranu nikdo nechce vzit zodpovednost za to, jak s nimi skoncovat, ci co s nimi udelat, kdyz jsou polapeni. Takze techto par dni na mori byla celkem zajimava zkusenost a sami jsme kolikat dalekohledem pozorovali lode v nedaleke vzdalenosti a rikali jsme si, zda to treba nebudou pirati.

Takze kdyz jsme 18. brezna dorazili k brehum Egypta, byli jsme celkem radi, ze jsme tuto cast sveta prezili bez uhony. Chris litoval toho, ze nenechal udelat tricka z napisem “I survived the Golf of Aden” (Prezil jsem pruplav Zalivem Aden), protoze na lodi nic takoveho neprodavali, a takze se objevila jista dira na trhu, protoze Chris si byl jist, ze by se urcite takova stovka tricek prodala. Usuzoval podle toho, co nasi spolupasazeri nekdy maji na sobe, takze tohle by bylo jedno z tech lepsich tricek. Mozna priste az pojedeme z Mumbaje do Egypta, tak tyto tricka nechame nekde v Hong Kongu vyrobit, a pak to to bude super a budeme mit na dovolenou vydelano!! J Kdyz jsme tedy v patek v Egypte pristali, byli jsme pripraveni opet vstoupit na pevnou zemi. Ackoliv jsme se vicemene snazili vyhnout organizovanym vyletum, pro zastavku v Safaze nebyla jina moznost. Safaga sama o sobe moc zajimava neni, ma par hotelu a plazi, ale i tak byl nabizen vylet do Hurgady, ktera je asi hodinu cesty smer na sever, protoze Safaga proste moc zajimava neni. Vylet k mori a koupani se cely den znelo vice nez lakave, ale my jsme odolali a rozhodli jsme se pro dlouhy den ( nas vylet trval asi 14 hodin) plny historie, pisku a slunce do Luxoru, Udoli Kralu a Karnaku. Je to misto, kde jsme s mamkou, tatou a Luckou travili nasi zimni dovolenou v unoru roku 1994, takze byt zpatky po 17.ti letech se zdalo byt neskutecne davno a bylo to celkem nerealne. Ja si Egypt pamatuji velmi dobre, a tak jsme byla zvedava, co se za tech nekolik let v teto zemi zmenilo. Chris tu nikdy nebyl, takze jsem vedela, ze je to neco, co nemuzeme propasnout a ze to proste musi videt!

Spolecne s Trevorem, Jean, Ann, Davem, Olliem a Phil jsme vyrazili na breh s nalepkou cislo 11, coz bylo i cislo nasehou autobusu. Celkem na tuto exkurzi jelo asi 20 autobusu, takze to bylo neco pres 800 lidi. Bylo treba tuto zmet lidi dobre organizovat a k memu prekvapeni se jim to celkem darilo. Nase pruvodkyne se jmenovala Dina a mela vystudovanou Egyptologii na univerzite v Kahire. Jak se pozdeji ukazalo velke mnozstvi pruvodcu, maji velmi podobnou kvalifikaci. Cesta do Udoli kralu, kde byla nase prvni zastavka trvala temer 3 hodiny. Dve hodiny jsme jeli pousti a horami a pak jsme pokracovali kolem kanalu reky Nil dale na jih. Cestou jsme dostali vsechny nezbytne informace o historii a vyvoji davneho Egypta a take informace o revoluci, ktera v Egypte probehla 25.ledna 2011 a kterou jsme velmi pozorne sledovali ve zpravach, protoze to vypadalo, ze nase 3 zastavky zde mohou byt ohrozeny. Nastesti se vsechno uklidnilo a tak jsme tu i my dnes mohli byt a nerusene jet autobusem do Udoli Kralu. Kdyz jsme dojeli na misto a vystoupili z autobusu, byli jsme behem vteriny obklopeni prodejci, kteri se nam snazili prodat od suvenyru, pres pohledy az po ruzne knizky. Pamatovala jsem si z minula, ze se zde nesmi delat zadne fotky a situace byla stale stejna i v roce 2011, takze proto barevne publikace s obrazky hrobek ze vnitr byli celkem popularni. Horsi bylo to, jakym zpusobem se vam je snazili prodat, takze si tak odradili vice zakazniku, nez ziskali.

Z parkoviste jsme museli jet jeste takovym malym vlackem, ktery byl tazen traktorem, asi jen 3 minuty a byli jsme u vstupu do komplexu. V soucasne dobe je zde objeveno 64 hrobek, kazdy den je vsak otevreno pouze asi 6, aby dopad svetla a lidskeho faktoru byl co nejmensi. Vstupenka vam zarucuje vstup do 3 hrobek, ale kdyz straznemu pred vchodem date dolar, klidne vas pusti i do te dalsi, i kdyz uz mate vasi vstupenku 3x procvaklou. My jsme bohuzel meli cas jen navstivit 3 vybrane hrobky a podarilo se nam od skupiny z naseho autobusu odpojit a tak jsme si mohli objevovat trochu po svem. Vsechny hrobky jsou oznaceny symbolem K.V. a pak nasleduje cislo, to znaci v jakem poradi byli hrobky objeveny. Nasi prvni zastavkou byla hrobka K.V. II coz je hrobka Ramssese VI., byla velmi zajimava a barvy i malby byli velmi dobre zachovany. I tak ale mate pocit, ze by se o tyto pamatky mohli Egyptane starat trochu lepe, protoze je zde mnoho zasahu turistu, ktery bezohledne ryji do zdi sve monogramy, ktere tu opravdu nemaji co delat. I tak je to uzasne, ze tyto hrobky jsou pres 3000 let stare a my ted mame moznost je navstivit a objevovat. Nase dalsi dve hrobky byly celkem hluboko pod zemi a jednalo se o hrobku Ramssese I. a Ramssese III., a obe byly velmi zdobne a uchvatne. Jen v hrobce Ramssese III. bylo po velkou cast umisteno po stranach sklo, asi prave proto, aby zdi byli chraneny pred nicitely! Kdyz jsme se pokochali a opravdu by byla chut jit jeste i do tech ostatnich otevrenych hrobek, ale nas cas zde byl omezen, tak jsme se vydali zpet pesky do autobusu. Cestou se mi na telefon podarilo udelat par fotek alespon z venku, abychom meli nejakou pamatku na toto asi jedno z nejfascinujicich udoli na svete. Je to misto, kam se urcite opet chci vratit, pokud budeme v teto casti Egypta, protoze se meni kazdy rok a stale se tu objevuji nove a nove nalezy a hrobky. KV 62 je jedna z nejznamejsich hrobek a take nejmensich, je to Tuttanchamonova a je jedina, ktera byla objevena zcela neznicena a nevykradena se vsemi poklady a dary a take se sargofagem a mumii Tuttanchamona sameho. Je to nejmensi hrobka hlavne proto, ze Tuttanchamon, ktery i tak stihnul vladnout celych 9 let, zemrel kratce po svych 18. narozeninach. Podle rozboru jeho zaludku se mozne, ze pry byl otraven. Je opravdu uzasne, jaka historie se tu ukryva a kdyz jsme v jedne z techto hrobek a zavrete oci, muzete se vratit v predstavach zpatky tisice let a predstavit si, jak to stavby techto velehrobek probihali. Jeste bych chtela zminit, ze Udoli Kralu je historicky mladsi nez Pyramidy, protoze si uvedomili, ze Pyramidy jsou velkym lakadlem pro zlodeje a tak se tito vladci a kralove snazili ukryt sve poklady a tela, ktera mela vejit do posmrtneho zivota, na misto, kde bude bezpecno a nebude objeveno zlodeji.

Z Udoli Kralu jsme odjizdeli plni dojmu a zazitku a urcite s pocitem, ze je to misto kam se nekdy vratime zpet. Nase dalsi zastavka by lobed v jednom z hotelu v Luxoru, ktery byl velmi pekny a honosny a za normalnich okolnosti bychom si ho pro misto na obed nevybrali, ale nesmite zapomenout, ze nas bylo pres 800 lidi a vsechny autobusy museli v escorte cestovat spolu, takze to bylo idealni misto, kde vsechny tyto lidi dobre nakrmit. Asi po hodine byl cas vyrazit dale kolem Chramu Luxor, kde jsme se zastavili pouze na chvili udelat part fotek. Nase hlavni zastavka byla Chram Karnak, ktery je s plochou 250 akru nejvetsim chramem na svete. Opet jsme si pripomnela nasi navstevu v roce 1994 a velmi dobre jsem si pamatovala radu sfing, ktere byly podel stezky k chramu.a pak take ruzne obelisky, sloupy a sochy. Karnak se zdal trochu vetsi, nez minule, asi je to tim, ze nektere casti byli obnoveny ci objeveny, takze to bylo trochu takove bludiste, ale velmi zajimave. Byli jsme tu kdyz slunce zacalo pomalu zapadat, takze to byl velmi dobry cas, pro zajimave fotky. Vsude kolem chramu take byli Egyptane v galabajach a presne tak jako pri me prvni navsteve se vam snazili “za uplatu” zprostredkovat nejaky zazitek! Nas jeden stary egyptan nalakal do takoveho zapadleho kotuku, kde byl na sose s nohama egyptskych brouk Scarabeus a naznacil, abychom si na nej sahli a pak na srdce a pak jeste jednou a zase na hlavu, pak jsme si meli dat pusu a pak nas jeste s timto “monumentem” vyfotil, pak hned nastavil dlan a chtel svuj baksis. My jsme toto cekali, ale i tak hrali jeho hru, abychom mu udelali radost. Kdyz mu vsak Chris dal dolar, tak nebyl spokojen, protoze chtel egyptske libry, ktere my jsme ale nemeli, takze se mussel spokojit s dolarem. Kdyz pak zjistil, ze jsme z Anglie, tak jeste stihl honem s nami smenit kovovou libru za americky dolar, tim ze byl papirovy, tak ho mohl smenit na svoje penize, takze jsme byli radi ze ma radost a mi take meli radost a smali jsme se nasemu zazitku, ktery zas tak velkym zazitkem nebyl, ale brali jsme to s humorem a byli radi, ze muzeme podporit mistni lidi a ekonimiku a snad jsme dali vydelat dobremu cloveku.

Podle zakonu mesta Luxor se brany zavirali po zapadu slunce a tak abychom zde nemuseli travit noc, museli jsme byt venku z mesta pred 18. hodinou. Nasli jsme cestu zpet do naseho autobusu cislo 11. Cestou jsme jeste museli projit ulickou ze suvenyry, jinudy totiz cesta nevedla, takze jsem to vzali honem rychle a snazili jsme nenavazat s nikym ani pohled, protoze jsme vedeli, ze bude nasledovat hon za nami az do autobudu. Jeste se nam podarilo koupit 1litr studene Coca Coly, ktera zacala na $10 dolarech a nakonec, kdyz prodejce pochopil, ze z nakupu nic nebude, slevil na $2 dolary a to uz byl celkem dobry deal! Trevor se neubranil natlaku mistnich prodejcu papyrusu a kdyz jako jeden z poslenich prisel do autobusu, mel pod ramenem 5 papyrusu za $5 dolaru! Coz se opravdu ukazalo jako celkem dobry deal, protoze o dva dny pozdeji v Kahire v Institutu papyrusu velmi podobne vypadaji papyrusy prodavali za $20 jeden kus! Tak doufam, ze mi ted jeden proda, ale nevim, zda svou cenu z toho 1 dolaru nenavysi alespon na deset! Nase cesta zpet byla velmi prijemna sledovali jsme opet krajinu a lide kolem reky Nilu, deti nam mavali a my zase jim a slunce pomalu zapadalo.

Zpatky jsme dojeli po 21.hodine a po dlouhem dni jsme byli akorat tak zrali jit rychle na kute. Jak uz jsem zminila, byl to den plny historie, ale take historie, ktera se zacala psat teprve tento rok. Egyptane byli velmi vdecni, ze jsme prijeli, protoze to ukazovalo urcitou podporu zmeny, o kterou vsichni tak moc stoji a o kterou se snazi. Moc jim to prejeme, ale podle me pokud se jim to podari, tak to bude zmena, ktera bude trvat tak 50 let, tak snad se mi sem za padesat let podari znovu zajet a budu moci videt to zmenu a bude to prijemne. To vsak bude zalezet pouze a pouze na nich, protoze toho co je pred nimi, je velmi mnoho a to se netyka jen Egypta, ale celeho Blizkeho Vychodu. Plni myslenek a dojmu z dnesniho dne jsme sli spat, protoze jsme vedeli, ze hned v sobotu nas ceka dalsi den, opet v Egypte, ale tentokrat trochu jiny Egypt, ne zcela ten pravy a skutecny, ale takovy, jaky maji radi lide, co si chteji uzit more, slunicka a plaze. A presne na takovy den jsme se opravdu moc tesili! J

Athens, Greece

We arrived back into European waters again but were determined to make the most of our last 2 ports of call, especially as neither of us had been to Athens (or Rome) before. It seems ungrateful, but many people choose to stay on board the ship when it reaches Europe after a world cruise, they seem to get overlooked a little after the other more exotic destinations. We wanted to see the major sights, and so decided to go it alone. Katie bought a good map and I researched where we needed to go. We walked through the port terminal building and bypassed the waiting taxi drivers on our mission to find the train station in Pireaus where we had docked. It was about a 15 minute walk with the water on one side of us, a busy road and small shops on the other. As we walked, I had momentary feelings of the coming spring and of really feeling like we were closer to home again. It was a strange feeling to describe, but I liken it to the first time, around early October when you walk outside, take a deep breath of chilled air and smell the leaves on the ground. You instantly know that Autumn has arrived. A bit like that.

A ticket to central Athens was only 1.40 Euros and took about 20 minutes. It was easy. It's ironic that as we get closer to home, our confidence in finding our way and doing our own thing increases, and our willingness to rely on organised excursions diminishes.

We really only had one aim today, and that was to experience the Acropolis. Anything else was a bonus. With that in mind we walked out of Monastiraki train station, found our bearings with the help of my phone, and set off on foot towards the high point of the city. It only took 30 minutes to find the entrance, it's mostly uphill because The Acropolis stands on it's own high above the rest of the city. It was a very pleasant day, the sun was out but it was colder than we had experienced for a while. Most of the locals were wearing boots and big coats, I guess it was cold for them, but a jumper and long trousers was sufficient for us northern Europeans!

We climbed up the hill to the entrance and by chance met up with Trevor and Jean who were on a disappointing guided tour. Although it shouldn't have been a surprise to bump into someone you know at a major tourist attraction, it was still nice to see them, and slightly self satisfying to hear that our own train journey into Athens had been quicker, less hassle and cheaper than the alternative! They broke away from their group and joined us instead. I'll admit here that I'm not really one for spending too much time walking around museums and looking at old buildings, but as with the pyramids, the Acropolis was something that had to be seen with ones own eyes to fully appreciate it. It's such an iconic structure that no amount of pictures or TV images can give you the same appreciation as standing at its foot. We soaked up the atmosphere, admired the great views of the city beneath us and got shot blasted by the dust being whipped up by the strong wind. It was the combination of that wind and the crowds of people that put a stop to our photo taking, and after an hour or so we descended down from the plateau to the relative warmth and shelter of the little streets below.

Making our way back to the market square and the train station where we first arrived, we found hoards of people eating delicious looking kebabs out of the paper. We asked a local where he got it and followed his finger to find a small serving hatch/window attached to a restaurant. 2 Euros bought us one of the tastiest lunches we've had. I could have eaten another two, but the prospect of buying bigger trousers deterred me!

We walked up a narrow shopping street, small shops and market stalls sold a few nice locally made clothes and the usual tourist fare. We headed further up the road towards the parliament building and were pleasantly surprised to stumble upon the hourly changing of the guard. The ceremony is much like many others, but the costumes of these particular guards certainly makes them a much photographed sight. The men chosen for this profession are the most highly trained, capable fighting machines that Greece owns, yet they dress them up in skirts, tights and clogs with pompoms on the front. I hope they pay them well. The dance they performed for our videoing pleasure was equally amusing, I don't know how they keep a perfectly straight face.

We found Athens to be very relaxing to wonder around. People we met in the shops were very chatty and friendly, and the whole city seemed to be at ease with itself. We liked it a lot more than we were expecting to, and nothing pleases us more than having our expectations exceeded!

Egypt

After making it safely through the Gulf of Aden with only 1 sighting of a pirate vessel (which was already being tailed by a warship), we made our way up the Red Sea, past the coastlines of Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. We made 3 stops in Egypt over the last 3 days but until a week ago, there was still some debate over whether we would actually be stopping. We are still able to watch the news when satellite coverage permits, so we were fully aware of the revolution in Egypt, and the vote that took place while we were ashore on Saturday. There was a big question mark over our planned trip to Cairo in particular, and indeed our planned excursion on Sunday was altered slightly to avoid Tahrir square, the centre point of the protests last month.

So it was expected but still a little unusual to us, that when we went ashore in Safaga, we boarded a coach and travelled in convoy with 20 other coaches, and had an armed police guard at the front and the rear of the convoy. This has apparently been the norm for a number of years, but I'm not sure if it made us feel more or less safe! It was the same on our final day in Egypt when we had a guard on the coach itself, and heavily armed guards visible at all the major tourist attractions. According to our guide on the 3rd day, following the revolution, a great many police resigned (because they were no longer receiving bribes to supplement their wages), leaving the army to police the streets. Their presence was immediately noticeable, with tanks being positioned on all the roads around the ports we visited and indeed in most built up areas. It was not something I'd seen before.

For our 3 consecutive days in Egypt we docked in Safaga (for trips to the Valley of the Kings), Sharm El Sheik (for trips to the beach!) and Suez (for trips to Cairo and the Pyramids).

Safaga is a small port in the south of the country and could be called "The gateway to The Valley of the Kings". For those who have been following our blog, you may already be smiling in knowledge that this means we had to sit on a coach for a great deal of the day! However, regardless of how you arrive into Egypt, and where you arrive to, there will always be a hefty transfer to see the main sights. There is not much going on in Safaga itself, so many people decided to make the trip.

Our coach convoy took us for 2 hours through the desert and towards the city of Luxor and the Valley of the Kings where a great number of ancient tombs have been discovered, including the most famous, that of Tutankhamun. We visited 3 of the tombs, those of Ramesses I, Ramesses III and Ramesses VI. There is not much to see from the outside, you must walk deep into the hillside, often descending down steps or a steep ramp passage to arrive at the burial chamber. Inside, every inch of wall and ceiling is covered with drawings and carvings, the colours, still the original ones, are very much intact despite being 3000+ years old. It's just a shame that more damage has been caused in the last 30 years by careless tourists and the elements, than has occurred in the previous 35 centuries when the tombs were sealed. You can't take pictures inside the tombs because the flash lights deteriorate the colours - Either that or it takes money from the locals who offer photo books for sale. We bought a book for US$2 from one of the many persistent sellers all around the complex....after he'd followed us for a good 10 minutes. It became funny to us, but it didn't stop him. I'd just like to say that I wasn't the one who opened the conversation or perpetuated it!

Although it sounds mean, we were becoming used to batting away the people trying to sell us something. India and Vietnam were bad, but Egypt was on another level of persistence. It would take the patience of a saint and all day and night to politely refuse the advances of all the people that approached us, called over to us, and generally tried to grab our attention. Unless you've experienced the hassle you get at a tourist attraction in Egypt, what I'm about to say might appear rude or ungrateful but it is a necessary fact of life to get on in these countries. My moment of enlightenment came in Pattaya, Thailand. Katie was swimming in the sea as I sat on the beach. As beach sellers offered me sunglasses, necklaces and fruit, I found that a simple shake of the head was enough to have them pass me by. This wouldn't have worked in Egypt, but the principal was learnt. As our guide in Cairo explained, "No thanks" is the start of a conversation, and "No" is a word that has absolutely no meaning. Saying nothing is the best defence against them, but it's more difficult for a polite Englishman to carry off when someone is trying to attract your attention by standing in front of you and calling to you for the 3rd time. We often had to physically side step around these people whilst completely blanking their questions about where we were from, and whether we liked Egypt, just to allow ourselves to continue enjoying the places we were seeing. Only once did I have to stop dead in my tracks, turn to face the guy, look him in the eye and tell him what I thought of his merchandise. Katie physically moved a young boy out of the way as he tried to sell something to Jean as she was having her picture taken. It's quite sad, and it sounds mean, but believe me any sympathy quickly vanishes and it doesn't take long to reach this level of frustration. The treasures that Egypt has to offer a tourist are amazing, but in a lot of places, it's impossible to spend a quiet moment in contemplation, because it is taken away by these people. I don't know why the tourism authorities don't do something about the problem.

After a lovely lunch in Luxor, we headed to Karnak and to The Temple of Karnak, the largest temple complex in the world. While my knowledge of steep funicular railways might be growing, I'm going to argue with this particular claim. The complex covers an area of 250 acres but (luckily) you can't walk around it all. Building on such a scale is not surprising considering the experience gained from the older pyramids. Our guide for the day, like all other tour guides in Egypt had a BSc in Egyptology and was very knowledgeable about the site. She allowed us time to explore on our own and although it was the end of the day and our appreciation was waining, I embraced the opportunity to get some good abstract photos as the sun was low in the sky and the light was great.

We walked back to the coach at around 5.30pm, through another set of market stalls and hawkers and onto the coach. We were told to be prompt because we had to meet up with the rest of the convoy at 6pm, and a curfew in Luxor after dark meant we would have to spend the night there if we were not already out of the city. I'm not sure how true that was, we couldn't verify it because we made it to the meeting point with time to spare. We arrived back at the ship at around 9.30pm, the latest return from an excursion so far and felt pretty tired and ready for bed.

Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

We'd sailed overnight, in proper cruise fashion, to Sharm El Sheikh; a destination known worldwide as a great place for scuba diving and snorkeling, and essentially a big tourist town. We met up with Trevor and Jean at 8am this morning because after our strenuous day yesterday and the one to come tomorrow, we'd agreed that we would spend the day on the beach in nearby Na'ama Bay, about 5 miles down the road from where we had docked. With snorkels and flip flops packed, we marched across the vast quayside area and found a taxi minibus which we shared with a few fellow passengers going in the same direction. Jean had been here before and knowing the hotels, had kindly pre-booked a day pass for us in the Hilton Fayrouz. It meant we had access to a room and all the resort facilities for the day, it was perfect! We checked in, dumped our bags in the room and headed to the huge private beach. The hotel/resort itself was huge and really nice, a world away from yesterday. It had little one story villas/rooms, swimming pools, open air bars and comfy looking restaurants with meandering pathways connecting them, all ultimately leading to the beach. After we'd settled in, we grabbed our snorkels and headed a little further around the bay to an area which looked promising. While the water was a little colder than we would have liked, once we were accustomed, the reward was amazing. You might remember me trying to describe how each time we've snorkeled, we've had a different experience. This one was just off the beach (actually we walked out on a floating pontoon) but the water was shallow enough to stand in, and deep enough to not risk scraping yourself on the rocks and coral. Before we even entered the water, you could see the bright colours of the fish, but submersed, a new world opened up before us. There were so many brightly coloured fish, large and small, that they couldn't help but come up close to you. For the first time, we even saw a decent size ray settling himself on the sea bed and kicking up a storm of stones and sand. It's difficult to explain how being in the water just a few feet from a ray, is infinitely more involving than seeing one through the glass of an aquarium or a boat. We were always popping our heads above water to enthuse about what we were seeing and then ducking back in to get more of the same. There were also a few jellyfish floating around, and after my experience in Hawaii, and without the attractive suits at The Great Barrier Reef, we used them as the excuse to get out. Instead we stepped gingerly over to the shore and peered down at the wealth of life living in the small tidal pools at the edge of the beach. I've never seen so many pretty shells all in one place. I tried to pick one up, but found that they were already in use! A closer inspection revealed that they were all moving around, tiny little legs poking out to propel themselves in the water. We also found starfish hiding under rocks, the closer and longer you looked, the more became visible. All this in an tiny area, no bigger than the size of a sheet of A3 paper.

Walking back to our area of the beach we stopped off again for a quick dip, and decided it was time for lunch. We used the room to change and walked to the main commercial area along a pedestrian promenade with restaurants and outdoor cafes either side. We found a nice beach side restaurant and had a fairly inexpensive meal. Heading back to the beach after lunch, we had more time to snorkel right in front of where we were sitting but it soon came time to shower, change and grab a taxi back to the port. We joked about spending the next couple of weeks in that resort, we felt very relaxed there, and it didn't appear busy. We didn't get a chance to ask any locals how tourism had been during and after the revolution, but our guide on the 3^rd day was very passionate about thanking us for being here and supporting them. We didn't let on that it was really out of our hands, but we were genuinely pleased to feel so welcomed.

Back on board, we sailed away and watched the sun set below the horizon from on deck, it was a great end to the day, although we couldn't party yet because we had to get an early night.

Suez - Pyramids and Cairo

The alarm went off at 3.20am this morning as we had to meet at 4am in the Palladium. It was a bit early for lollipops but after 30 minutes we headed hand in hand to the tender boats, many of the younger passengers including most of the theatre company had their pillows too! This morning, Arcadia had anchored off the coast of Egypt near to the city of Suez. The minority of us who were taking a tour today (only about 250), were tendered, in convoy, to shore and then Arcadia was continuing through the Suez Canal, to meet up with us, 150KM north in Port Said at the Mediterranean end of the canal. A few days previous, those of us who were booked on a tour were given the opportunity to cancel free of charge, because different foreign offices were offering different travel advice regarding travel to Egypt. The Australian advice was not to travel, while the British advice was to the contrary. I think a lot of people cancelled because they didn't want to take the “risk” but we considered it because we didn't realise that by going on a tour we would miss the transit of the Suez Canal. After weighing up the options we still decided that the preference was to see the pyramids. The Suez is not as exciting as the Panama Canal because there are no locks, and nothing other than desert to see either side of the ship. I think it was a good decision in the end, but at 4am as we bobbed around in a cramped tender boat in the dark, I had to keep reminding myself that we were in the middle of experiencing an adventure! The trip ashore would have taken no more than 15 minutes under normal circumstances, but we had to wait for everyone to be ready, and then follow the pilot boat into the harbour. It was a slow process, not helped by the fact that when we arrived at our preferred harbour mooring point, it appeared that the quay was too high too allow us to disembark the small tenders. We moved over to a different side of the harbour and watched the lights of all the waiting coaches, also move to meet us. The first tender finally disembarked and then, unusually, we moored alongside that tender and walked through it to get to a shabby set of crumbling steps to take us up to the quayside. By the time we boarded the coaches it was starting to get light, and just as we watched the sun setting yesterday evening, we watched it rise above the horizon again today - I think that is a first for us. We wondered to ourselves whether this early morning chaos was the result of a disheartened harbour workforce or simply the lack of a decent bribe. Either way, it seems to me that the intelligent, powerful and skillful ancient Egyptians lost their way somewhere down the evolutionary line!

The coach convoy took us 2 hours towards Cairo and Giza where we had breakfast and then drove up to the pyramids of Giza. Despite my earlier reservations, people were very friendly, and similar to our first day, children along our entire route, waved at our bus windows relentlessly. Even the adults did sometimes too. We returned the gesture whenever we could. As we drove along the streets of Giza, the tallest of all the pyramids became visible above the buildings and became more and more impressive as we got closer to it. We parked up right beside it amongst the many other coaches, cars and vans. It was busy but this was deemed a quiet day. With the advice about the local sellers still ringing in our ears the doors of the coach opened, everyone took a deep breath and filed down the steps of safety and into the crowds of waiting vultures. Our ignoring tactics seemed to work mostly, only Trevor needed to use his arm in order to clear a way forward, and I put myself between them and Katie to usher us both along. She has a tendency to hang around at the back which results in getting picked off, in turn requiring a back-track and a rescue operation! :-)

The Pyramids themselves were indeed very impressive, both from the perspective of their sheer size and their accuracy of construction. We were stood right underneath Cheops' pyramid, the tallest of all of them at 146m and about 500 meters away stood Chephren. It looked even taller, but was simply built on higher ground. As a structure that was built 4600 years ago, it remained the tallest man made structure on earth until the likes of the Eiffel Tower came along in the 1800s.

It's amazing that they are still standing, not least because they are so old, but also because of the relatively relaxed attitude that the Egyptians seem to take towards preserving them. Unlike the valley of the kings, Cheops' pyramid is one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, yet it's still possible to touch and even climb on the structure. Small signs that say No Climbing are dotted around, but nothing more persuasive. Our next stop was at the Sphinx, still classed as the largest statue in the world and then onto Sakkara. We drove through some horrendous traffic and some even more horrendous scenes of mess. In places, rubbish clogged canals and waterways made Vietnam look clean. Our guide seemed ashamed and tried to explain the problem, but it really did make parts of Cairo look terrible.

It took us 3 hours to reach Port Said where we were to board Arcadia again and it was getting properly cold again. We lined up to go through the normal embarkation process as the cold wind took any remaining heat out of the air. I'm not expecting sympathy, but that was the first time we've felt the cold like that since we left Southampton, and as if we needed it, another reminder that we were getting closer to home again.

Our Visit to Athens - 22nd March 2011

Today we arrived to Athens and it is freezing here!!Only 11 degrees here and very windy so we are searching for sun! We went to climb the Acropolis this morning and now just enjoying the atmosphere of this very nice city.Just in the Taverna called Hermion and enjoying nice cappucino.Here are some pictures from today! Enjoy! We are feeling like we are almost home now, it has been a long time! KT&CD xxx

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Our Encounters with Egypt - 18th, 19th & 20th March 2011

As we have spend 3 days in the row discovering Egypt,we are still working on our egyptian blogs. Here are some picture from our 3 stops in Luxor,Valley of the Kings&Karnak/Sharm El Shaikh&Namma Bay/Cairo,Pyramids in Giza&Sakkara. Enjoy the pics and our comments are coming soon! XxX

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