The third largest city in Israel and with a population of 290,000, it is home to the Baha’i faith and a UNESCO World Heritage Site (yes another one!).  Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel it has been ruled by the Canaanites, the Israelites, the Phoenicians, the Assyrians and the British. 

Situated on the River Nile, Cairo is Egypt’s largest city and home to 20 million people.  The ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area. 

As many of you are aware, when Geoff completed his circumnavigation of the world, the only regret he had was not being able to sail through the Suez Canal.  This was due to the risk of Somalian pirates, much more prevalent back in 2012 than it is today. 

We are only here for a short time, we docked at 6.00am and are departing at 2.00pm (more of this later!!) and the only tour on offer was on a Glass Bottom Boat.  Given we had snorkelled yesterday and had actually physically been amongst the coral and fish, we decided not to bother that.

Safaga, founded between 282BC ad 268 BC by Satyrus. The town has a small tourism industry due the scuba diving and snorkelling in the Red Sea.

An early arrival into Aqaba in Jordan this morning and a very busy day ahead.  Hashemite is a member of an Arabian princely family claiming descent from Mohammed.

Jeddah, with its population of 4 million, is the second-largest city in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia, and is located on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, it is also the country’s commercial centre.  

In between our stops in Muscat and Salalah, we have enjoyed some wonderful and interesting activities on the ship.

We sailed into Salalah at 10.00am this morning and were greeted by a very uninspiring sight….a load of cargo ships, oil refineries, pipes, cranes and piles of limestone rocks – this is very definitely a working port! 

We got up early this morning as we were keen to be on the bow of the ship when we came into port.  Muscat is the capital of the Sultanate of Oman, a city of one million in a country of 5 million people and is the country’s political, economic and commercial hub. 

Known variously as the Persian Sea and the Erythraean Sea, the Arabian Sea has been critical to commerce and central to cultural exchange throughout history.  Trade vessels have been sailing these waters for thousands of years, as far back as the third millennium BC.

We arrived back at the majestic Taj Mahal Palace and had another lovely room, this time with no, bath but a shower with a huge window and the most magnificent view of the harbour and the Gateway!

With Ro still suffering from the proverbial upset tummy I headed off alone to the Ellora Caves. I faced the hour-long drive with some trepidation having spent 3 ½ hours the previous evening returning from the Ajanta Caves.

another early start – but one we were thrilled with. On the drive back from the Silk House he had asked if we wanted a very quick tour of the replica Taj Mahal, the Bibi-Ka-Maqbara – of course we did!

Up early this morning at 3.45am – yes, you read that correctly.  We have an Air India flight from Mumbai to Aurangabad at 7.00am!! 

Another day of wonderful experiences for us. We were picked up by Aman for our Five Senses tour. This began at the iconic Gateway of India arch-monument which is located across the road, and almost outside our hotel window.

Mumbai, also known as Bombay (Good Bay), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the most populace city of India with an estimated population of 27 million people, making it the 6th most populated city in the world

Just at Heathrow Airport, waiting in the Virgin Lounge (with afternoon tea and scones!) for my flight to Mumbai, and 5 days of amazing sightseeing, food, architecture, culture and history

Yep, had to do it.  Only a 45 minute drive away, Taormina and having seen all the amazing backdrops and beautiful scenery on the second series of “White Lotus” it was just too hard to resist.

We are now in Catania on the east coast of Sicily on the Ionian Sea.