Through the Suez and on to Israel

April 13, 2015

On April 2^nd we sailed away from lovely Aqaba, Jordan and headed toward Israel via the Suez Canal. In order to assure that we might go through the canal during the day, our captain “…cranked this baby up…” to 22 knots – almost max speed. So we arrived at the entrance to the canal about 11:00 a.m. on the 3^rd, dropped anchor and awaited our turn. That came at about 4:00 that afternoon, giving us about 3 hours of daylight. Unlike the Panama Canal, there are no locks – just views of Egyptian towns on one side and the Sinai Desert (also Egypt) on the other side. It costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $250,000 for a ship to go through the canal, and those fees have become an important source of income to Egypt. All along one side is a massive wall punctuated by forts and guard houses. No one ever explained what that might be for except, possibly, a deterrent to potential attacks on the canal from the countryside.

After leaving the canal and a day at sea we arrived at the port of Ashdod, Israel on Sunday, April 4, a triple holiday in Israel – Easter, Passover, and Orthodox Palm Sunday. We traveled to Masada and the Dead Sea which, although crowed with holiday travelers, were not as crowded as Jerusalem and the holy sites. Acquaintances from the ship who went into Jerusalem said it was not as bad as predicted but many areas were closed for various services.

The descent into the lowest place on the earth’s crust was fascinating. We saw farms and lots of green in the desert – quite a contrast to the deserts in the Arab countries – and camels, too. The Dead Sea is dying due to over-harvesting of its minerals. But it remains beautiful. We were told that we were there at the best time, just after a wetter than normal winter and before the hot summer sun turned the blue lake hazy. Of surprise to us were the many cities and towns that were almost entirely populated by Muslim Bedouins, living peacefully within the Jewish state.

View of Dead Sea from Masada

Just past the Dead Sea is Masada, the high flat mesa from which a small band of Jews withstood an assault by Roman soldiers centuries ago. When it became apparent that the soldiers were about to breach the fortification the Jews killed each other, with the final survivor killing himself, rather than become slaves. The place had originally been built by King Herod as a summer palace and is in remarkably good condition. We took a gondola to and from the site. The views of the Dead Sea from the mountain are spectacular. How it was built and later breached by the Roman soldiers is unbelievable given the sheer height and seeming impenetrable cliff face. The gondola ride alone takes five minutes. Some hardy visitors hiked up the original narrow path to the top.

    

Next we went back down to a hotel next to the Dead Sea, had lunch and took a float – literally – in the salty water. The water is so buoyant some people had a hard time standing up. Fun. They say that swimming in the Dead Sea makes you look 10 years younger, but I didn’t really seen much difference. ;-)

The next day, April 5, we were in Haifa where we visited Caesarea – another ancient site built by Herod and occupied through the centuries by Romans, Arabs, Christians (including Crusaders) and Jews. As with Masada, the archeologists have done an amazing job restoring the site. The shopping was pretty good, too.

Also in Haifa is the temple and gardens of the Bhai. Although founded in Iran, where the founder was executed for claiming that another prophet was possible, the temple and gardens are in Haifa because the founder was born and is buried in a nearby town. There is a Bhai group in Youngstown and, we are told, quite a large group in Chicago. 

The Bhai Temple (gold dome) and gardens from the top of the mountain. Note the straight boulevard and our ship in the port below.

                

The street that leads up to the temple is the only straight boulevard in Haifa and was built by German Christians who settled here in the late 1800s. Their descendants were ejected by the English during WWII because they were Nazi sympathizers. The square stone houses they built were abandoned, but in recent years have been renovated and turned into shops and restaurants. 

Because the tour was a short one we had time to walk around Haifa. As we returned to the port we met a family of orthodox Jews who asked us lots of questions about the ship, cruising in general, and our cruise, including how much it cost. We had the port guards take our picture with the family. Another special encounter with people who actually live in the places we visit.

Now we’re off to Turkey!