28.13N 33.36E
JENNY
Alan Franklin/ Lynne Gane
Thu 2 Apr 2009 11:48
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Hello everybody
After our journey from Port Obock we had a fairly
uneventful passage to Port Ghalib with not more than 20 knts on the nose,we are
grateful for these small mercy's.
Port Ghalib was a culture shock after the squalor
of Djibouti it was clean, tidy and civilised but very expensive,a resort and
marina built by a very wealthy Arab from Kuwait in the middle of nowhere,with up
market shops and restaurants but it all came at a price,but it was a welcome
change for a few days before the weather window appeared again and it was time
to leave for Hugarda which is a dive resort and town.The passage 120nm was in
flat seas very unusual but very welcome,the boats who came 4/5 days after us had
a very rough passage with 30/35 knt head winds and taking 48/60 hrs as opposed
to our 22hrs.
Hugarda is well known for its dive sites which are
some of the best in the world it also has a town with lots of shops and
workshops where we could obtain spares and parts for the boat but unfortunately
no sights to see apart from the bustle of an Arab town.Local produce at knock
down prices if you don't mind the handling (bread counted out by hand in the
form of large Pita's) never to sure where the hands have been.Several people
have had serious food poisoning on this trip from Djibouti on,some requiring
anti-biotics and taking weeks to recover.
While in Hugarda Jenny and myself and about 30
others from our rally took a 4 day trip to explore Luxor and the Valley of
the Kings with a guide who explained the history.We have done this before some
years ago so I remembered a lot of the facts but several still stick in my mind
unanswered where did they find the time and the skilled labour when the
population of say Luxor with numerous temples and burial chambers only had
200,000 population.
For those of you that have not been here to my mind
the one of the most impressive parts are still,the pyramids that were
built 5000 years ago 3000 years before Christ when we were probably
living in caves and painting ourselves.
They were building huge monuments to their Kings
who took on a God Like status, without the aid of cranes or even the wheel they
used sledges and logs and placed the columns some 60 meters high using
ramps and sand building walls 20 mtrs thick and 40 mtrs high with columns of 25
mtrs.The carvings were not carved into the stone like the Greeks but were set in
relief.They carried out operations and had surgical instruments and all this
several thousand years before the birth of Christ.It shows perhaps how much we
have lost and even today not only have many of the structures survived but
even the colours of the paint used to depict the scenes of their lives are still
evident.
After a very enjoyable 9 days in Hurgarda we are
now on passage to Port Tewfic our entry point to the Suez Canal once again the
Red Sea is having its revenge on us with 35 knt head winds overnight we have put
into a place called EL TUR on the SINAI PENINSULA for some rest as we were not
making much headway (2knts) against the waves and wind and we were all very
tired and that's when mistakes happen,on arriving here we found two other BWR
boats sheltering from the rough conditions,we now have to wait for a suitable
weather window which could be in several days time and here we are not allowed
to go ashore as it is a protected military area and we face arrest if we land,so
we are ship bound.
Slowly we are making our way home.
But that's all for now |