20. Port Said, Egypt and Suez Canal

We awoke Saturday with the requirement to proceed to the gangway for the Egyptian Immigration officials to stamp our passports, in order to go ashore in Egypt. Since several vendors had set up their souvenir stands adjacent to the gangway, we went outside to the pier and browsed past several of them before returning to the ship for a late morning breakfast. Later, we walked ashore to find that most of the stores were closed for their end of week Sabbath. We fund a hotel (Panorama Hotel) that was open and they allowed us to buy some internet time so I could update this trip summary and upload some pictures from our travel so far. They had no American coffee, so I enjoyed Egyptian coffee while Cynthia had a soda, as we checked our e-mail. Since Cynthia had picked up a hacking cough, we found a pharmacy near the hotel and bought a bottle of cough syrup. We were quite surprised at the price: 4.20 Egyptian Pounds, or 65 cents in our money. As we walked back toward the ship, a house and carriage driver offered us a tour of the city and a ride through the Old City as well. The area of the Old City of Port Said reminded us of the Khan neighborhood of Cairo, with its crowded streets and all kinds of merchandise hanging on display outside the stores. It was indeed a colorful sight. Then a brief stop at a jewelry store gave us a few minutes to pick up an Egyptian cartouche for Cynthia to remember the Egyptian portion of our trip. We ended up at the street bordering the Suez Canal and followed that street back up to our ship. Our departure was not until well after dark, so we were able to watch the lights of the city as we sailed out of the Suez Canal on our way to the nearby port of Alexandria. The ship had actually entered the Suez Canal from the Mediterranean Sea, gone far enough into the canal to arrange a turnaround, and then docked adjacent to Port Said, facing the entrance of the canal. So with this development, we can now say we have sailed both the two major, most significant commercial canals in the world. Tomorrow gives us one more day in Egypt as we dock in Alexandria at 8 am on Sunday morning. Although it will be 1 am at home, we will be remembering our friends and family attending worship at home later on the same day, while we take our last steps on these Bible Lands that have come alive in a profound and meaningful fashion during these days of our travel.