Journeys with my Gun

(48 ) Petra, Aqaba & Suez

Photo©️🆎 An entrance to Petra through the brilliant red and pink sandstone 'Siq' which is an ancient watercourse into the 'Lost City'

Cruising through the Red Sea eventually brought us to the Gulf of Aqaba Jordan, here we paused for the opportunity of snorkelling (what a bore, or so I thought) As there was no other choice I accompanied a new found friend from Melbourne who was an avid snorkeler and soon we were wandering offshore in very shallow water, after a few hundred meters the floor fell away to reveal clear satin blue waters with amazing technicolor coral and levels of fish types, down to sharks at the bottom of the 100 metre drop. WOW !!

I have seen some spectacular sights in many countries and this one joined the list. Soon we enjoyed a wonderful period splashing around amongst this crystal clear water amongst a myriad of inquisitive fish.
Some time later I eagerly jumped into the coral waters off Queensland and was quickly disappointed at the few boring fish and the grey cloudy water however, I am told that there was better to see elsewhere. However, in  Nov 23 I discovered in and around the Barrier Reef aboard an Island Cruiser for a week up as far as Lizard Island and into the coral sea that first class colours of coral and fish are not so prevalent but the waters were beautiful.

In the footsteps of Lawrence
Hello and Farewell Aqaba, this is Jordan and we pass massive oil trucks assisting each other in spreading oil on the road for endless kilometres from their leaking cargo.
We were then Immediately into the desert and heading for the area known famously as the Wadi Rum.

Thomas Lawrence (1888 - 1935) better known in history as 'Lawrence of Arabia' was an archeologist and a British Army officer who was a military advisor to to Bedouin forces against the Ottoman Empire (1916-18)
Lawrence's epic journey on camelback across the Wadi Rum is magnificently recorded in the David Lean movie 'Lawrence of Arabia' (Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness and Omar Sharif )
The supposedly uncrossable seething, waterless, windswept and unforgiving desert was the only way that Lawrence believed that he could attack Aqaba.
How true the detail remains in doubt, but the great David Lean did a magnificent job with his movie as usual.

Thomas Lawrence died in a motorcycle accident in England.

Photo ©️🆎  Keeping an eye on Petra on the steps of the Tomb known as the 'Treasury' are Soldiers of the Jordanian Desert Patrol.
                  
Petra (Raqmu) Also known as 'The lost City..'
This city built amongst rose red and pink sandstone was built by the Edomites and or the Nabateans who were close relatives of the (Arabs) circa 5,000 years ago.  The City dropped off the radar, in fact lost (misplaced ) for 100 years ending in 1812.
The city somewhat rebuilt is Jordan's premier tourist destination and its main access is through a kilometre long, narrow and high walled trek by foot or horse carriage known as the 'Siq' (shaft)

Photo©️🆎 The 'Siq' ancient watercourse entry to the City of Petra in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
          
I was unwell on reaching the city however, I was determined to trudge around for every moment of the time allowed.
This ancient city, 5th Century BCE is one of the sites that provided my twice in a lifetime 'wow' experience especially when the tomb known as 'Al Kesneh' (riddled with bullet holes) emerged out of the brilliant sun glare on entering the city.
That breathtaking scene will unfortunately not be seen by me or indeed most others now due to the madness of terrorism and war.

The tomb once thought to be a 'treasury' due to part of the facade design, was carved top down and is in fact the burial site of many souls. The building may be entered into a square vacant room with access deeper totally blocked by massive blocks of stone. The Tomb was constructed for King Artus I.
The massive city although badly damaged by earthquake and floods has had a huge, interesting list of occupants over the centuries including the Edomites being probably the first. Then there were Nomads, Nabateans ( Bedouin) Crusaders and Midonites, all were Arabs of various types.

Romans conquered Petra in 106 AD and Hadrian visited in 130 AD.
Petra survived as a trading centre mainly due to an amazing water catchment system, consisting of dams, cisterns and water conduits. Wandering around I noticed thin channels carved into rock snaking its way to storage areas.
Nearby is the tomb of Aaron, who was Moses Brother and Petra was the site of many movies including Sinbad, the Mummy Returns and some of the Tin Tin series.
Petra is mentioned in numerous books and is one of the ' new' Seven Wonders of the World, along with other ' newbies' the Great Wall, Chitchen Itza, Machu Picchu, Christ the Redeemer, the Colosseum and the Taj Mahal.
Petra is also a UNESCO world heritage area.
The city like so many tourist spots is overcrowded and deterioration is causing huge maintenance problems.

On a sombre note, just before entering the 1 Km 'Siq' entry to the city sits a very expensive modern hotel, just as classy as 'MacDonalds' at Versailles.
                         
We departed Petra, also one of the cities known as the 'Pink City' and headed back into the desert, which is really indescribable in beauty and potential terror, great scenes similar to this journey were clearly and spectacularly photographed in the movie 'Khartoum' (Sudan) Some scenes around particular Arab monuments in this movie would be extremely difficult to reproduce.
We were advised to gaze in the direction of Israel at a particular point where in the distance is located the West Bank, where it is claimed that the biblical character Joseph was laid to rest. Today in 2024 it is part of a hell hole of death and destruction.

SUEZ CANAL - Out of the Gulf of Aqaba and into the Red Sea followed by a right turn (starboard) to join a convoy of 20 ships forming in the canal bay awaiting permission to enter the 200 km long Suez Canal to exit at the Mediterranean at Port Said (Burr Saeed)
Like many areas on earth now the Canal and Red Sea are out of bounds due to terrorism. Since I last cruised the canal it has been redeveloped obviously to cater for increased and larger traffic, the canal is very impressive and has a long history of construction, ownership and conflict.

Initially in antiquity there was a pharaoh's canal which followed a different direction and was abandoned due to conflict.
The current canal is owned by Egypt (both sides) and connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean with a few bridges across to the Sinai, the most important being the Japanese constructed 'Friendship Bridge' the canal separates Asia and Africa and was constructed 150 years ago and (was) open to all world shipping, commercial and military with the one-day transit costing around. US $ 400,000 ++

The option to the canal is almost totally prohibitive however, now in 2024 there is no option with the current terrorist attacks by Yemen 'Houthis' on shipping in the Red Sea. There are alternatives including the Horn of Africa which adds 9,000km to the journey from the Arabian Sea to London. There has been talk of an Israeli channel from the Gulf of Aqaba (Eilat) to Ashqelon and would be approx. 100km longer but deeper and wider however, it remains just talk and in any event the Egyptians would not be too pleased by the competition. It won't happen. (now in 2024 it definitely won't happen)
The canal has been closed twice, in 1956 and for 8 years due to the conflict commencing in 1967. (ships caught in the canal had to remain for the duration and rotated crews to maintain the vessel and cargo)

It is claimed that the ongoing conflict between the Arabs and the Jewish State was started by double dealing by the British Government !
There are no locks in the canal due to the similar levels of water at both ends. The canal however, is subject to Tsunami events.
Our transit commenced at 0400, another transit would be occurring at the other end, Port Said.
Our ship was number 2 in the convoy of 20 vessels, and we would pass the convoy from the Mediterranean at a designated passing lane.
Before 0400 hrs. I was topside, thrilled about the adventure to follow during the day long voyage, however, few others were, although some were drawn to the top deck by the excitement of putt putt golf.
I was intrigued by the almost total lack of interest by passengers as the magnificent history glided by amongst monuments to man's ingenuity, folly and cruelty.
The ugliness, poverty and terrible history of disease along with the construction history involving massive death tolls going back to at least Napoleon was of less interest than lunch. The reception from the friendly people amongst the military junk along the banks was wonderful.