We spent the night at anchor off Suez with many other ships. At 0600 we began moving and at 0630 we entered the canal in convoy Northbound. Traffic in the canal is one way so we lined up and took off.
Asia is on our right, Africa on our left. Egypt is on both sides with the Sinai on our right. Most everything is on the left, or west side of the canal. Towns, farms, factories, homes, schools, trees, people, trains and so on. On the right is sand and rusting piles of old pipes, construction equipment, mounds of barbed wire and little else. About every kilometer or so there is a military observation/guard post; usually just a tent with a bored looking soldier. The canal is sea level so there are no locks to deal with.
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| sunrise over the Sinai |
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| looking astern at the convoy |
Midway through, we pulled over and stopped for a couple of hours to allow a down bound convoy to pass through.
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| convoy waiting at Great Bitter Lake |
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| fishermen | |
Then we continued up the canal, past Ismalia and crocodile lake. In the final ¼ of the transit the land off the starboard side is irrigated and may someday come to something. Now it is mostly sand and a few vacant attempts at industry. Until they construct a tunnel under the canal or another bridge over it, the western Sinai will be slow in developing. At 1625 we exited the canal and entered the Mediterranean Sea.
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| more fishing |
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| a memorial |
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| war memorial |
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| Sinai side welcome |
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| Sinai |
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| fishing |
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| another war memorial on Sinai side |
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