Gulf of Aqaba

We now have Egypt off the port rail and are heading for the Gulf of Aqaba. We will be taking the right fork at the north end of the Red Sea and traveling northeast to our next stop. We are expected to dock at the port of Aqaba at about 5 a.m. tomorrow morning. For the rest of today we will still have Saudi Arabia off the starboard rail but just prior to docking we enter Jordanian territory.

Aqaba, a town of just over 100,000 is Jordan’s only seaport. It is where Lawrence of Arabia beat the Turks in the Battle of Aqaba during the First World War. We will be stopping there to stage for the overland transit on our expedition to the ruins at Petra, which from the build-up we have been hearing may be the highlight of the entire cruise.  It will be a long day tomorrow and the next blog may be late getting posted but hang in there and we will undoubtedly have some great pictures of the temples and tombs, which are hewn from the rose-red sandstone cliffs.

We heard through the grapevine that one of our Jordanian guides is trapped in Syria. He went over there to visit some time ago and can’t get back because Syria has closed the borders. As you all know, there has been a marked escalation in violence in Syria as we have been steaming up the Red Sea. Hopefully, we can get a suitable replacement guide.

My dear wife is watching the Royal Wedding on the big screen in the Nautica Lounge. I am glad that the wedding is today and not tomorrow because I would have been going to Petra by myself.