Mini Series - Suez Canal, Egypt

By Ieuan Dolby

Suez is all about sand, buckets of sand as far as the eye can see. During the 14 hour trip through the Canal images of building sand castles or setting up a glass making factory will be uppermost in anybody's mind. Going through in a convoy, with ships behind and in front, nothing much will change till the heat of the Red Sea burns down or the coolness of the Mediterranean winds signal the start of the end of the transit.

Sailing through the Canal, whilst making sure that sunstroke is not an option by seeking shade and air-conditioning, it is perhaps apt to look outward. To the banks of sand that line the canal and the dunes that roll away and over the horizon.. To break up the monotony, miles upon miles of electricity pylons lead in marching order and occasionally a train will chug slowly past leaving billowing clouds of black smoke in its wake. Further North pockets of greenery will start to appear, breaking up the sand like oasis in the desert. Half-way through the lush and fertile farmlands surrounding the Bitter Lakes paves the way for Egyptians to grow the fruits, those that are now being rapidly eaten onboard.

Apart from these small breaks, the sand takes over, it controls and diminishes all other scenery around!

Looking inward and on-board the ship, there will be a shop. No ordinary shop but one that an Egyptian has set up purely for the crossing. He will have anything from leather wallets to original Dead Sea Scrolls that he found that morning, or so the story goes! Prepare to bargain hard and long, he is not going anywhere until arrival at the other end, and anyway the closer one gets to the end of the transit, the cheaper the prices get. Wooden camels, a pair of socks, Egyptian smoke pots or the latest Rolex watch (not the real one)- it's all available.

Wandering around the vessel will be another man. The Gulli-Gulli man! Should a crowd manage to form and for the correct price he will do some amazing tricks. He might pull chickens out of pockets that were seen to be empty or to make your recently purchased Copy Rolex watch disappear (maybe permanently) but value for money he is.

Want to build a sand castle?

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