Our travels have given us an opportunity to take a cruise through the Suez Canal in Egypt. The canal construction started in 1858 with the goal of connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea offering faster and safer shipping routes to and from the east. It first opened in November 1869. It has become the largest source of income for Egypt. There have been many conflicts over the years regarding access to the Suez Canal. One of the most publicized was the Six Day War of 1967 between Egypt and Israel. In 2014 an expansion was started to extend the length and width of the canal. Today the Suez Canal is 193 kilometers long and has two lanes allowing ships to travel in opposite directions at the same time.
After waiting our turn to enter, we sailed into the canal at approximately 5:00am. The total time to sail from one end to the other is 14 hours. While there is not an abundance of sights along the canal, we were able to see a few interesting things. We enjoyed seeing sights come into view as we sailed toward them. The weather was very hot and humid causing a bit of a haze. Overall cruising the Suez Canal was a great experience.
Our cruise was also a chance for us to relax after spending three incredible months in Asia. Just by chance our friend, Clo, from Australia booked the same cruise so we got to spend a lot of time catching up and playing cards. We also met some new friends by sharing a dinner table. It was a blast every night.
Our cruise took us to Israel and Island of Crete, Greece. We can’t wait to share about our trip into Jerusalem and Bethlehem.