day 90, at sea (3pm, just passing Sicily thru the Strait of Messena)

Tuesday, April 12.

Thanks Ashley and Sarah for your comments on yesterday's blog. In a way, Sarah, the time has gone really fast and in another way it seems like ages since we have seen all of you. We found after a month or so we have lost some of the excitement we had it first. I am getting a bit tired of having to get all dressed up for dinner. I don't think I will ever wonder where my long formal dresses again! I think granddad is tuxedoed out.

Ashley, I was shocked to learn there are three pirate attacks a week, too. I know it would be impossible for them to board the Queen Mary because the distance from the sea to the deck is huge but when you see guards standing all over the place you can't help but feel there must be some danger. Perhaps they were just there to help some other little ship that got attacked (I hope). Just the presence of armed guards is a bit disconcerting. The other day we were on a tour (more about that later) and there were six of us in a jeep-like vehicle plus a driver and a guard with a machine gun! You can't help but think, "why exactly do we need this?" When we heard days ago there were 20 Gurkhas on board we believe did at first and later thought that it was just a rumor but have just found out it is true. They are, however, permanently employed-not just for dangerous waters. I guess a big cruise ship, especially one as well known as the Queen Mary, is always a target for terrorists.

Now for Egypt. A few weeks ago, when we were both sick with bad colds and in a very hot and humid place we looked at the tours coming up and decided we really would not be up for a 14 hour trip to see the Valley of the Kings, so we canceled it. Ira grabbed this a bit now because when the time came we felt fine and the weather was lovely also, all the people who went on the tour said it was fantastic (the guide even spoke English you can understand). We, however, played hookey from educational pursuits and went to a posh hotel for a lovely day at the pool and a great lunch. We had a very relaxing day with Karen and Jim and felt we had been debriefed from all the different cultures we had experienced-a different one every day. Probably dad's pictures tell the story better than I can. Unfortunately, the video I took of him going down the big waterslide can't be put on the blog (actually it is on the blog) because it is too long (I forgot to turn the camera off).

The next day we had one of the most interesting experiences of the whole trip. We started out on the Jeeps with the guard with a machine gun. There were about 20 Jeeps-six passengers per jeep. The tour was described as "an exciting ride on the dunes in the desert". It wasn't at all what I expected. We went really really fast on a flat surface with rocky hills on either side. The Jeeps were all over the place and it seemed like dragracing. It was really fun for about 10 min. but then lost its appeal (very bumpy and no seatbelts). We stopped for about 10 min. and it was very weird to realize we were in the Sinai desert with armed guards all around. I think we got some good pictures.

Next thing on the agenda was the main attraction-camel riding. If you ever get a chance to do this be sure to do it because it is absolutely HORRIBLE. Very glad to do it once but you couldn't pay us enough money to do it again (well that's not exactly true but you know what I mean). Everyone with this feels the same so it is not just that we are big wimps. Not too many pictures or videos because you absolutely cannot let go once you are on the camel. You get on the camel when the camel is sitting down but it stands up with its hind legs first so you're almost catapulted over its head! Little children leave the camels. At first, dad's camel's head was right against my leg which frightened me because they are known to bite and spit. Dad told me later that his camels mouth was tied shut but I was too traumatized to notice this at the time. The little children let us (slowly thank goodness) for about half an hour-25 min. too long. Many people-especially the man found this very very uncomfortable but that was not my problem. I had to hold on so tightly to avoid falling off that my wrists and arms were killing me. The little girl leave my camel led me away from the group and at first I liked this because it meant I was not going to be bitten by someone else's camel but then I had a terrible suspicion that I had been chosen to be separated from the group to become an Al Qaeda hostage-or worse! Fortunately dad was finally able to communicate with his camel leader that he wanted to turn around and right beside me.

After getting off the camel-almost as difficult as getting on-we arrived at the Bedouin's camp (some pictures I think). We were served an interesting sweet tea and flatbread with goat cheese (very tasty). I guide spoke to us about the Bedouin culture and their religion (Moslem). You could also try a water pipe and a few people did but we decline for two reasons. One-what are you smoking? And two-everyone was using the same thing you put in your mouth. Yuck!

They had a table selling jewelry they had made and I bought six things for $10 but it got lost on the ride back if they had been selling bumper stickers saying "Death to Camels" I would've bought one!

Altogether it was a wonderful day and we arrived back at the ship tired, sore, but happy!

Next time I will write about the Suez Canal but dad's videos do a great job so I don't really have much to say.