It’s been a while since I’ve updated this, but we’ve had some very busy days, so I’ll try to catch up now. After Dubai, it was a couple of days at sea, and then a stop again in Oman in the port of Salalah. There really isn’t very much in this port, although our guide was very nice and kept telling us there was a lot to see, but we didn’t have time. The big attraction was the frankincense tree, and yes, that’s tree without an s! In the middle of this dusty section, the bus goes off-road and we drove over to a rather desolate looking tree. Frankincense was once extremely valuable and prized as incense and the sultanate of Oman was a major supplier. Unfortunately, in Salalah, with development and climate changes, there’s only this one poor little tree left! (There must be forests of them in other parts of the country, because frankincense was the big seller in the markets!) After we saw the tree, and heard how they get the incense out, we drove up into a high mountain range to see the tomb of Job (as in the Bible, the man to whom God sent all these misfortunes to test him). He is a major figure in both Islam and Christianity and his tomb is a little house high in this mountain range. A little time at the local market and it was back to the ship. We had loved Muscat and said we’d love to come back to Oman to visit. I think I would qualify that and say we’d love to come back to Muscat to visit again; I think we could by-pass Salalah!
On March 28th, we stopped in Safaga, Egypt. There isn’t really anything in Safaga, but this is the docking place for any tours going to Luxor & Karnak with their amazing temples and ruins and the Valley of the Kings where the Egyptian tombs are. It’s a 3 hour ride – in each direction! – and the busses, private cars, etc., travel in a convoy, with military police leading the convoy and bringing up the rear. This is in addition to an Egyptian security person on each bus!! This all goes back to 1990 when a bus of tourists was hijacked and several murdered. Since then, the Egyptian government has gone to extremes to provide visitors a safe environment. So the convoy wasn’t just our ship, all ships that call in Safaga bring their passengers in by caravan. There are police at all the intersections, and all traffic is stopped to let the convoy pass. We also had to stop at a couple of military checkpoints we passed along the way. We had done this tour in 2005, but then we had stayed overnight in Luxor, which made it a little easier. Annie decided she really didn’t need to do it again (she had originally done Egypt in 1980, and then again in 2005). As much as Egypt fascinates me, the only reason I wanted to make this long trek again was to try and go to King Tut’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings. In 2005, our guide really talked us out of going to that tomb, saying it really wasn’t’ worth it (it’s a separate admission) and that you had to basically get down and crawl in. I didn’t go then, but after heard from other people on the ship that it really wasn’t anything difficult at all. For 2 years, I’ve been kicking myself for not going, so when I had the opportunity again this year, I thought I should taken it. The tomb was really worth it. It’s small, but not a difficult walk, but the colors of the painting on the walls are so vibrant, it’s truly breath-taking to think it was done thousands of years ago. The rest of the day was, as expected, hot and dusty, but Egypt just enthralls me. I would definitely go back again, perhaps for a longer stay of a few days or a Nile cruise. So, it was a 12 hour day, but I’m glad I did it.
The next day, the 29th, was another trip off the ship to the amazing city of Petra. The ship docked in Aqaba, Jordan in the morning. I had watched Lawrence of Arabia (all 3 ½ hrs. of it!) on TV a few nights ago and was so glad I had. Aqaba was one of the main cities in the movie, and our guide told us about the actual Arab uprising against the Turks in 1917 that the movie depicts. It was a 2 hour ride this time and the landscape was amazing. Very mountainous terrain all the way along. I don’t know what I expected, but I guess I wasn’t thinking of mountains. After going over and around all these mountains, we finally arrived in the “Rose City” of Petra. (It’s called the Rose City not because of the flowers, but because of the color of the stone in the mountains and walls of the canyons).
Once we got there, we began a walk of almost 2 miles each way down the canyon into the city itself! You could rent a horse and ride down or they also have a few (and I mean a few!) horse drawn carts that carry two people down at a time. Annie and a couple of other people from our bus were supposed to be going down in the carts and had paid our guide on the bus for it, but as frequently happens in this part of the world, everything gets all turned around, things change from one minute to the next – long story short, after many arguments between our guide and the carriage guy, there were no carts available and there would be a long wait, so Annie put her best SAS foot forward and we started the walk down. It really was not bad, relatively smooth terrain for the majority of the path. And what a walk!! It’s really almost impossible to explain. You just are winding your way through this canyon of pink sandstone, walls rising up above you, sections with tombs and monuments carved into the walls. Then at the end, you come around a bend and through this narrow opening you begin to glimpse the great carved treasury. For Harrison Ford buffs, this was the site used in “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” and in a way, it almost felt like that as you realized this enormous place was right in front of you. The city itself was built by the Nabataen Arabs, just around 50 B.C. It was a thriving city, but eventually, after a war and an earthquake, it became deserted and wasn’t discovered again until the early 1800s.. It’s now a UNESCO world heritage site and it a nominee to be one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. (Of the original 7 Wonders, only the Pyramids still exist; there’s a poll being conducted on the internet to choose 7 New Wonders and they’ll announce them in July – 07/07/07 to be exact!
I could have spent a lot more time in Petra, but all too soon, it was time to head back. Annie got a cart ride partway up so that was good, but it still was a hike to lunch in the hot sun. But was it worth it? I’d do it again in a minute!! Next stop – Jerusalem on Palm Sunday!
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