We had two days at sea on the journey to Egypt and took in some activities, notably crazy golf on the top deck. Eight foot waves rocked us into the party mood on the night of the Captain's welcome and the first gala night. If every evening on board was a rollercoaster of dressing up, dinner, show, bar, disco and late night partying, gala nights were more so. Dinner was especially delicious and everybody looked at their most elegant.
Of course, no dinnner matched the humour of our first, when Gain had observed that his fillet steak meal was missing a little bundle of carrots (to be seen on everybody elses plate). The waiter was obliging enough to bring a dinner plate piled high with a veritable mountain of carrots. When he returned to clear the tables in preparation for dessert, our waiter asked if Gain had enjoyed his extra helping. Gain joked that it was all well and good, but that he would have preffered a plate filled with steak. And so, just before desserts were served, our kind waiter brought a fully plated fillet steak meal. Of course Gain feigned being too full to eat and politely shared the meat amongst the menfolk, but not a scrap was left uneaten!
On the day of our visit to Cairo, we awoke to find that we had already come to port in Alexandria. There was a significant waiting period where sniffer dogs were sent through our fleet of over forty coaches, checking for bombs. Assuredly this does nothing for one's confidence when arriving in a new country! There was an impressive security operation which closed off all the surrounding roads in Alexandria to allow for our safe passage to the highway. The journey took approximately three hours, coming to a stop at the stepped pyramid of Saqqara, Memphis on our arrival in Cairo.
This was to be our favourite pyramid. Perhaps it was the solitary location, the age, the unusual structure, or simply the lack of heckling, but this site felt very spiritual. From here Gain captured a view of the Red Pyramid and the Bent Pyramid in the distance.
From Saqqara we were taken to visit the statue of King Ramses II. This was really impressive! An enormous and ancient figure, laid in the sheltered protection of a one-room, two-storey building.
We were taken for a sumptuous feast at a grand hotel in downtown Cairo before being shown the real meat and potato of the trip - the pyramids of Giza. They were as impressive as had been imagined, although rather difficult to view without disturbance from police or tradesmen.
Next stop had to be the Sphinx - of course! Looking majestic against the dramatic backdrop of the Giza pyramids, we were grateful to have seen it before the current project to re-clad had progressed beyond the hind leg and tail.
Just time for a little more heckling and we were on our way back to the ship. Next stop Libya!
On the morning of our arrival in Tobruk we watched from our cabin as the Libyan ships brought us in to port. There we were to be the first passenger ship to have visited in over 25 years. As such, the local people were very excited to greet us and we were met by a troop of brownies, along with the usual dignitaries. The local workers had erected a large sign in the dockyard welcoming us to Tobruk, and had decorated it with their own fairy lights. Young men and boys waved from every embankment and railing. It was the most heartfelt welcome you could imagine and everybody felt comfortable to wander into town that night in groups of two and three to explore this mysterious town.
Our comfortable bubble of safety lasted through to the early hours when we took our now customary wander to the top deck. Being true Brit, we had been thrilled to discover a hot water dispenser and assortment of teas in the upper buffet restaurant. This was accessible through the night and made our perfect, moonlit, ocean stroll complete. On this first night in Libya however, our eyes were drawn upwards to a moving shadow that emerged as the figure of a man dressed head to foot in black, from balaclava to boots, with a rifle held at the ready. We watched as he patrolled one side of the upmost deck, appearing to be checking the side of the ship for possible invasion. He was supported by a couple of speed-boats perpetually riding tight figure-of-eights on either side of the ship. All this unexpected action encouraged us back to our beds a little earlier than usual, the duvet seeming to be the safest place!
All this excitement did nothing to induce sleep before eclipse day, but all fears were quashed when we were loaded onto coaches in good time and without being separated from our 'eclipse buddies'. It was a glorious morning as we drove through the streets of Tobruk, thrilled to pass large and imposing images of Colonel Gadafi. Such thrills were quickly vanquished when a sudden and thick pea-souper descended upon us. The next hour had everybody's senses piqued, and some tempers frayed. Had we really travelled over land, sea and air only to be defeated by a desert fog? What the hell was desert fog anyway? Was that even allowed to exist in real life?!!! Every breath was heard and not a word spoken as we strained our eyes in a desparate hope to sight even the kerb at the side of the road, but nothing! And then, all at once, after over an hour of cruel trickery, the fog disappeared in a moment and the morning's glorious blue returned, the sun beating high in the sky as noon approached.
The coach drove off the desert road over sands and came to a stop at a camp set up on the line of totality. Everybody poured out of the coach in the flow of excitement and dragged picnic chairs further into the desert, setting
up small encampments. Ours was a group of around 25 friends that we had gathered during our time aboard ship. We were sure to supply our coach driver with a pair of protective glasses before joining them. There was a flurry of activity as equipment was set up, and we all went to explore the duty free tents that had been set up so far from civilisation! A group of many men in scout uniforms sang traditional songs, dancing with arms around one another's shoulders, forming an enormous circle and pulling in tourists to join their festivities. A Lexus four wheel drive kept doing the circuit of our encampment with some rich, Libyan, chav equivalents blasting out Nelly at his most profound/profane! It all added to a general atmosphere of celebration.
At first contact the magic was tangible, with singing, laughter and conversation suddenly reduced to a buzz of busyness as people bustled into position. Totality was greeted with immense cheering and jubilation. With our clear, desert, 360 degree horizon, we watched the shadow sweep towards us before enjoying a little over four minutes of totality. Gain and his camera clicked to the bitter end as others sweltered in the high noon desert sun, some taking walks into the desert to avoid the hour long queue for the portable toilets. It was bizarre to watch from a distance as they marched on the spot, presumably thinking that onlookers would be fooled into thinking they were still walking away and not actually relieving themselves. It was not an effective illusion!
Back on the coach and all was happiness, with everybody having been rewarded for travelling many thousands of miles with expensive and heavy equipment. All was happiness, that is, until we suddenly and unexpectedly began to bounce uncontrollably in our seats. The coach made a few shocking noises before our bounces reduced to bobs and all became still. It now transpired that all other traffic on our desert road was part of the troupe. Several cars and a coach stopped with us and a group of men brought large rocks from the sands with which to strike the faulty wheel. We saw strips of rubber torn away and discarded and then, miraculously, the bus was made driveable. Our journey was more than a little bouncy, but we reached Tobruk with time to spare and were able to wander the streets of Tobruk, meeting with the local people, before returning in time to dress for dinner.
There followed two days at sea, with a 'no alcohol' policy until our ship had left Libyan waters. This did not affect us English tea-drinkers, but it was strange to find our cabin fridge locked, and to see the bars and restaurants serving only soft drinks.
We spent the days on board dancing, dining and meeting with friends. Afternoons could be whiled away at the back of the ship on a couple of loungers, watching the patterns in the sea as we moved from nowhere to nowhere. Evenings turned to all night socialising, which in turn crept into early morning sunrise watches on top deck. By the time we reached land again we were exhausted!
Valetta harbour looked spectacular on our approach and Malta proved to be a very relaxing day out. We booked a driver and, accompanied by Marilou and Arturo, toured the island in comfort. Most of our time was spent in the cool streets of the Mdina and, more specifically, on the terrace of a pretty cafe displaying a stunning panoramic of the area.
That night we sailed towards Italy and the Amalfi Coast. Dancing the night away in the disco, a spell on the balcony was needed for a breath of fresh air. Outside, where it was not possible to distinguish sea from sky through the darkness, the contrast of sudden, red ejections every ten minutes or so were truly thrilling. Our map told us that this had been Stromboli in action!
The morning found us at our penultimate stop with just a tinge of sadness; Salerno was viewed from a little cafe on the main street in the company of Marielou, Arturo, Jay and Claudia. We visited the impressive Cathedral of Saint Matthew and perused a little market set up in the park.
Before boarding ship for the final time, we were happy to put all our eating to good use by playing 'anchor' for a short time.
Every second was stuffed full of fun on our last night. Dinner was rounded off with the Baked Alaska festivities, after which all of our new friends gathered in the bar for one last evening of laughter.
Back in Genoa and we had two days of touring before our return flight to England. This gave us chance to visit some of the beautiful buildings we had previously passed in the night.
The bus journey back to the airport was much shorter now that we understood it was a circular route! The flight was just as uncomfortable as we had remembered, but the trip was a memorable, extraordinary, once-in-a-lifetime affair. Cruise, eclipse, Libya, the pyramids, Pompeii, volcanoes, and - of course - each other... spectacular!
As we drove up through the Brecon Beacons we spied a line of men at the roadside, each armed with binoculars. Excitedly thinking we had stumbled upon a spot of birding, we pulled over sharpish and leapt from the car to ask what was about. A suspicious man replied 'hounds' and turned back to his business. 'Hounds?' thought we. Neither of us had ever thought about the possibility of wild hound spotting before. That very moment, a hound appeared on the adjacent mountainside and scampered across the landscape. From his point of appearance came a band of huntsmen on horseback, all dressed in red, white and black. Hounds! a FOX HUNT! Sadistic blood sports being rather low on our list of entertainment, we did not take any images of this parade and left immediately.
We viewed Chester's Fort and Housesteads Fort before resolving to revisit the history of the wall and return at a later date to hike a portion of the trail; Watch this space!
