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You can lose everything, but nobody will take away what you saw and what you experienced...
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Jan 10, 2023 10:00 PM Back to Saudi Arabia - to Asir Mts
Our ship docked again in Jeddah at 7 am. It was time to say goodbye to "Splendida" and its nice crew. Shuttle bus took me from the pier through the port to the passenger terminal where I passed again through the slow and lazy passport and visa control. They scanned again my fingerprints and took new photo...
Ufff... In front of the terminal my good Polish friend Piotr was waiting in the rented car. Soon we were driving to the east... Our first destination - Taif was on the other side of of holy town of Mecca. As a non- moslems we were not allowed to enter Mecca so we were forced to made a big loop around this city. On the pastures we saw herds of camels, goats and sheep. Just before Taif we started to climb the high mountain wall. Great views! Taif is green city the main toirist attraction is a museum in the former house of Sharif Ali Pasha. But when we arrived it was closed (open 4pm till midnight!!) Entry fee 20 SAR. So we were driving south, in the nice mountain landscapes to Baha - almost 400 kms in total. Some 20 kms before Baha we saw first old stone towers. We have an overnight rest in the Best Home hotel. The big twin room cost 180 SAR.
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Jan 09, 2023 10:00 PM Sailing Red Sea in the sun...
Great day! No worries, no rush... I was sunbathing on the deck more than an hour. Then meeting friends and exchanging travellers knowledge. In the afternoon our captain Antonino invited the frequent guest of the MSC cruises for the captain's coctail. He introduced the ship's officers and we were drinking Italian champagne (Pro Seco) for the next cruises with this company. I booked next cruise on their newest ship... Then everybody was taking pictures of the extraordinary sunset. At the end of the day there was show in the theater including dances, joggling and gymnastics....
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Jan 08, 2023 10:00 PM Akaba in Jordan...
Uuuu... Cloudy morning. We are in Aqaba Bay... On the left Sinai Peninsula and Israeli town of Eljat, on the right - Kingdom of Jordan. People from the ship are very disappointed - they booked espensive full day excursiond to legendary Petra, but they were cancelled due to the snowfall. (!!!). I have been in Petra before - travelling overland by local bus... It is my third time in Aqaba. It did not changed much: the same palm - fringed avenues, the same small Arab shops. I went to the ruins of 5he catholic church frm 4th century, and then started to climb Prince Mohammed Ave up to the mosque easily visible from the ship. In the middle of the day the sun appeared. I hope there will be nice view from the top!
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Jan 07, 2023 10:00 PM Safaga in Egypt...
I have been in Safaga on the Red See years ago. But now the port is much bigger... They give us the ride to the port gate and then I took a walk - first to Al Balad - south to the old quarter to see the poor beach with the nice view of our ship. There is also a little, nice mosque - the caretaker was happy to switch on the light for the rare visitor. Egyption pound is weak - for the dollar they pay 25 pounds. For one dollar you can buy as much as 5 kilos of tomatoes or 4 kilos of oranges. But the place is dirty ad all contemporary Egypt...
Then I turned to the new quarter - north of port. Nice mosque with two minarets is there. In the poor hotel they requested 1 dollar for 5 minutes of internet connection. Shame! But in front of this hotel I met the local people whe drove me to the local, atmospheric cafe where I ordered the tea and had opportunity to surf the network listening to the arab music and watching the men in galabiyas smoking shishas... Ahmad Yousuff Cafe - come and enjoy! :)
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Jan 06, 2023 10:00 PM Port of Sokhna
I got a printed birthday wishes from the cruise company. Thank you! Few people know this little port. I am here also for the first time... Nothing special indeed. This port is used to disembark passenger for the expensive, full day excursions to Cairo and the pyramids - not for me! Other passengers could use free shuttle bus to go to the "town" of Sokhna. Now I know that this option is very disappointing. The bus is crossing the dusty area of the constitution pf the freeway, oil refinery and then goes 34 kms along the coast south - not to the city, but to the coastal resort Porto Sokhna. There is a beach, cable car and restaurants. But not much to do - just a walk under the palms and possibility to take a pictures of the dry mountains. Local drivers offer round trip to Suez for 100 USD. If you wish to go there it is much better to find the lift from the parking located just off the port gate... The distance from here is only 48 kms each way. But you have to know that in advance...
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Jan 05, 2023 10:00 PM Sailing the Red Sea
Day at sea - we are heading to the Egyptian ports. The sky is blue, but a bit windy. I met aboard two great travellers from my country. They live in Warsaw and visited around 120 countries! So nice to speak Polish again. After "dry" Saudi Arabia bars are serving beers and coctails again! Egyptian immigration officers are stamping in advance ou passports... I spent some time on the sun. Inthe evening in the theater a new show "Nature". Full moon visible from my cabin...Gala evening, but the captain did not appear!
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Jan 04, 2023 10:00 PM Yanbu al Bahr
The Red Sea was not so rough and I slept well. Just after breakfast we saw the land on the horizon and an hour later we docked in the small port of Yanbu. This town is known for the activities of the famous colonel Lawrence during anti-Turkish Arab revolt in 1915. Right near the harbor is a nicely restored mini- part of the old town with the mosqoe and night market. A group of the local musicians with Arab drums were welcoming us there - see picture. Saudi coffee and dates were served. Soon I took a walk to the new town meeting people an enjoying the street scenes. The ship offered 9 hours excursion to Medina (without entering the mosques) but if costs asuch as 180 euro per person!!!
Lovely, sunny day with a blue sky. Tomorrow we have a day at sea.
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Jan 03, 2023 10:00 PM Boarding the ship
Jeddah is open for the cruise ships since only two or three years local people are seeing the big white ships from the distance but they do not know how to get there. Taxi driver left me at the port gate, but this was no entry for the passengers. I was forced to walk in the sun about 1,5 km to the passenger terminal - low-rise building where you check-in (they require covid vaccination, pass through the immigrations (ladies on charge are completely black- covered except the eyes! And then the bus wil drive you through the port yo the distant ship.
Do you know who is on my cruise? Russians - hardly, but accepted for their money. Arabs - we have many ladies in black. Europeans form the minority. Once on the Saudi waters all the bars on the ship do not serve any alcohol! After rock show at 9 pm we sailed to the north...
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Jan 02, 2023 10:00 PM Al Balad in the morning, Al Hammra in the afternoon.
In my modest hotel they don't have restaurant but you can have your breakfast in the clean eatery just around the corner. In the line I found the man in white galabija speaking English. I asked for help to place my order. As a result I was immediately invitef to eat the breakfast with him. And he paid! What a hospitable people!. I spent the morning crawling the narrow streets of Al Balad - the oldest part of Jeddah. Many traditional houses with beautifuly carved wooden windows and balconies survived. But other are ruined and will be replaced by the new architecture soon. Information is poor, but you definitely should see the suk - live bazaar and the mosques heading to Meecca Gate... A lot of homeless cats is wondering around...
In the afternoon taxi driver took me to Al Hammra district, where from elegant corniche you can enjoy the view of the 200m+ King Fahd Fountain. He left me on the street, charged 25 SAR... But where is the fountain?. -The fountain doesn't work during the day. You have yo wait till 6 pm. I did! But the water marvel did not appeared. The man in charge told me, that it was damaged by recent rain flooding. Hmmm... Bad luck!
Tomorrow I will be boarding the ship...
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Jan 01, 2023 10:00 PM Back to Jeddah!
I was going by bus from Jeddah to Riyadh so I decided to fly on the return leg because the price of the ticket is almost the same. In the rainy morning driver from uber took me to Rijadh airport for 90 SAR (that's quite a lot, but no other solution) Domestic flights operate from terminal 5. They offer reliable wifi connection in the terminal, but they ask for your mobile number. Having taken online boarding pass I went directly to the electronic entry gate and soon I was on the upper floor for security control. No problems! Flynas low- cost airline has 7 kg allowance of cabin luggage and I was a little bit afraid because my backpack has 14 kg... Nobody cares about the size and weight of your carry-on!!. In Jeddah I experienced 28 deg Celsius! I was waiting in the airport 2 hours for the local host, who promised to pick me up. His phone/whatsup was no responsing. Shame on you! Not reliable person! I decided to share the taxi to the city and stay in the cheap hotel.
What a coincidence! The sharing person was a nice Polish gentleman Mr Marcin from Zambrów, who works here since 11 years. But... On the way our driver hit another car and we were forced to change the taxi. Mr Marcin was so nice to give me the lift to Al Nahda Hotel where I pay 115 SAR for single room with a/c and bath. Thank you Mr Marcin!
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