BEYOND TURKEY: THE MIDDLE EAST

Our 5^th Mediterranean Cruising Season Begins

2 May 2005 to 3 July 2005

For the past 15 years, many boats joined the organized Eastern Mediterranean Yacht Rally (EMYR), starting in Istanbul, Turkey and ending in Israel. Last year 120 boats experienced Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel for six weeks in May and June. Although they limited the number to 80 this year, we felt we wanted to do the trip alone, and at a slower pace.

Since there were several overnight legs on the trip, we asked our experienced cruising friends, Joan and John Brair, to join us. They left their trawler, SeaScape, tied up in Marmaris, Turkey and came along to crew, bringing their nautical dog. Tipper became Chief of Security, guarding the boat at all times, and Physical Activities Director, making sure her people had daily exercise walks or Frisbee activity. We made new cruising friends too as Bob and Betty Hershey joined us for the adventure aboard their sailboat, Conestoga.

We studied our guidebooks, provisioned the boats, made a basic schedule for ports of call, and got excited. Lack of Syrian visas for John and Joan became the only issue left to resolve. They had been unsuccessful in obtaining visas through the authorities in Ankara, Turkey. However, Lattakia Marina in Syria, indicated to John their visas would be available on arrival there. So off we went on the morning of May 2, 2005 to begin our almost 1,200 nautical mile experience.

We worked our way east to Finike, Turkey and took advantage of a weather window to make the 167 miles southeast to Girne, North Cyprus.

NORTH CYPRUS

Cyprus is the third largest island in the Med, after Sicily and Sardinia, with a history back to Neolithic times. It is now a divided island, Turkey claiming the north and Greece the south.

At Delta Marina we chose not to use their line for med-mooring as it looked insufficient to hold our heavy boat. Instead we dropped our anchor and reversed into the dock. This took two tries to get it right, but help waited on the dock to secure us in place. Once tied up, an Immigration official came to collect our passports and give us “landing cards.” On departure we would retrieve our passports. Paul and Kookie Booker, friends of a cruising friend, came to the marina and gave us hints on what to see, where to eat, and invited us to their new home for drinks the following night.

After they left, the six of us all walked into town, had lunch and explored the Crusader Castle, whose famous resident was Richard the Lionhearted back in 1191 (third Crusade). This fort held off many invasions from the 7^th century until 1571 when the Ottoman Turks showed up. The Shipwreck Museum inside the castle displayed a 45’ wooden vessel dating back to the 3^rd century B.C., believed to be the oldest salvaged boat in the world. Many amphora (large jars for oil, wine, crockery and cutlery) were in the boat when they found it, and on display today.

While in Girne, we rented a car and first drove to Bellapais Abbey, built by Augustinian monks in 1205 AD. They had lovely frescoes and beautiful gardens surrounding a two story structure with rooms for the monks, a chapel, dining room, kitchen, meeting rooms and a huge underground cellar (room for lots of wine there!). From there we went to St. Hilarion’s outside of town, originally built as a church on the site of a special hermit’s grave. It later turned into a castle, with 500 steps bottom to top, and we left our footprints on each one. At the top were the Royal Apartments and Prince John’s tower, from where he threw many men to their death far below. Then we drove up a ridge road to view the scenery, marveling at the many wildflowers along the way, plus an unmarked Army tank that had been run off the road at some time and just sat there, rusting away. Without markings we could not tell if it had been a North Cyprus tank or South Cyprus one.

Before turning in the car we drove to Nicosia, the capital of South Cyprus, and a divided city. We stayed on the northern side and took photos of us straddling the famous “green line,” as part of our two hour walking tour of the old city area. Turning the car in near the marina, Immigration came to the boat and returned our passports so we could begin our next leg—to Syria.

SYRIA

Fifteen hours and 126 nautical miles under the keel landed us in Lattakia Marina. We were the only two boats at the marina. Three men arrived to check us into the country, locating themselves under the shade of a covered picnic table to look over the boat papers, crew list and passports. John and Denis found it quite interesting that one man opened up a notebook and proceeded to run his finger down the list of boats (not in alphabetical order) that were “questionable.” This took time, but they did not find TEKA on the list. Satisfied, they boarded, took a good look around, commented on the family photos in the aft cabin, asked about the papers for Tipper, took our passports and left. They could only check four of us into Syria, those who had obtained visas while wintering in the States. John and Joan were still in limbo. They stayed in limbo for the next week, anxiously anticipating each day that word would come from Damascus they had been cleared by the Palestinian Department of Immigration. Until then they could not leave the marina. They insisted the rest of us not lose any touring time while waiting for them.

The following day Denis and I went by bus to Saladin’s Castle, an impressive fortress now in ruin, used by the Crusaders and by the Islamic soldiers, after the Crusaders left in 1188. This castle sat perched on a hilltop with 15’ walls to protect those inside, and deep ravines all around below. Saladin divided his troops, half keeping the crusaders busy at the most suspected point of entry, while the rest bombarded another wall with catapults from a hilltop across the valley. The fort fell to Saladin.

The next day the Umstots and Hersheys left for a Syrian land trip of three days to visit Palmyra and Damascus. We had a driver who spoke no English and we spoke no Arabic. Somehow we managed to communicate, without John and his language skills.

First stop: Krak des Chevaliers, the best preserved of all the Crusader fortresses in the Middle East. Krak means castle; Chevaliers is French for Crusaders. An English speaking guide joined us at the gate. Together we walked through large horse stables, a Knights’ Den, huge dining room, kitchen with multiple ovens, a storage area for a five year supply of grain, oil, wine to accommodate many soldiers, a chapel and passed a toilet area. We crossed the moat, and climbed up to and along the ramparts, peeking out the slits made for arrows. Round table stools were spread in a circle on the roof top. Richard the Lionhearted spent time there, as evidenced by the famous lions carved over one of the moat entrances. Many school children were there that day and couldn’t resist calling out to us in English, “Hello,” “How are you?” The women with them also overcame any shyness and tried chatting with us in English, one being the school’s English teacher. From the roof we could see St George’s Monastery in the distance and stopped there briefly to view their many paintings of the contact between different images of St George and all those dragons over the years.

Next stop: Palmyra, an early staging post for caravans traveling between the Med and Arabia, and on to the Silk Road in China. The ruins, dating back to 1^st Century B.C., are very impressive.

The best part of visiting Palmyra is getting up early and watching sunrise over the limestone columns marking the grand street as well as the other ruins. An amphitheatre, agora, church, forum, and Temple of Bel (where people still lived until 1928) were easily seen and life there imagined. In addition sewer pipes, water pipes, baths with separate rooms for hot, cold, or warm water could be made out. Sunset, seen from a hilltop fort, offered another opportunity to see the colors change yellow to pink and shadows lengthen over the scene.

Damascus, a sprawling city, with lots of traffic, has religious significance to both Christians and Moslems. Denis and I searched for and located the spot where Saul, blinded on the road to Damascus, had been cured by Ananias. In that basement chapel behind the small altar are three paintings representing the well-known Bible Story. One shows Saul knocked off his horse and blinded alongside the road; another, Saul gaining his sight after administered to by Ananias; the last, Paul being lowered by basket into the river by fellow worshippers, himself now a victim of persecution. We could not find that spot on the map, however, did stop at a nearby shop and talked to the shop owner. He told us he had played the part of Saul/Paul in a German documentary 10 years ago and presented us with his business card showing him in his robe for the part. Quite interesting.

Umayyad Mosque is the most important religious structure in all Syria. I had to wear a full length brown robe with hood. Shoes off, we entered the courtyard and reverently walked to the mosque entrance. Many people were there. We learned some had come on buses from Iran. Inside, groups sat around on the floor listening to their leader, quoting or singing verses from the Koran. In one area is a small basilica dedicated to John the Baptist, considered a prophet by Moslems. John’s head is supposedly contained in a casket inside the green tinted room. Outside the mosque again, we sat to watch people coming and going and a pigeon dropped a blob on my borrowed burqa. We left.

We made a few more tourist stops before leaving Damascus, including Mahmood driving us up the mountain for a view of the city coming to life at night. Quite dramatic.

Two convents rated quick stops on the way back to Lattakia. As I mentioned, Syria has a Christian community. The beautiful paintings and mosaics of the Virgin Mary with Arabic inscriptions impressed me. The guidebook said many miracles had been performed within the convent, evidenced by the many icons in the underground chapel.

Images imprinted from scenes outside the car windows included a platoon of soldiers near one of the convents, smiling and waving while jogging with their automatic weapons, and what looked like rocket grenade launchers; Bedouin tents with colorful laundry hanging out on a line; vendors along the road selling strawberries to cigarettes; trucks carrying rocks, marble, and even a small pickup with a self-assured brown and white cow standing in the back, looking over the cab top to view her travels, and of course, many photos of the former and present Presidents of Syria (father and son). One person asked Betty if we had many pictures of George Bush along the roads. After all, that was his experience. Denis commented on Bill Clinton smiling from his book cover, displayed in all the bookstore windows.

John and Joan never received Syrian visas, so we left early, planning to spend more time in Lebanon.

LEBANON

The voyage to Jounieh, Lebanon began with flat seas but turned into lumpy ones about 3 a.m. After 124 nautical miles we checked in at Jounieh, then proceeded to Holiday Beach Resort to tie up for ten days and explore the country top to bottom, side to side—our special Lebanese Road Trip with John as our in-country home-grown guide! John had been born in Palestine, but grew up in Lebanon. Not only did he speak the language, but his German mother had spent many years being a tour guide for Germans visiting Lebanon and he had learned from her about special places.

Before that road trip we did a unique “Memory Lane” walk of Ras Beirut. Joan, an American teenager there with her parents, met John in Beirut over 38 years ago. We found the hotel where they met (he worked the desk there), the jewelry shop, his church, her church, and lastly his neighborhood. John’s family house still stood in place, alas, now surrounded by high rises. The best part came when John went into the local grocer’s to buy some water and the grocer’s son, now running the store, remembered him.

Other highlights in Beirut included viewing the assassinated Prime Minister Hariri’s coffin at the mosque next to Martyr Square, plus rows of posters showing the mass demonstrations demanding the Syrian Army leave Lebanon earlier this year. One photo showed a placard saying, “Vive Syria, en Syria!” We also witnessed many buildings still standing, but bombed out or bullet ridden from they refer to as “terrible times,” internal civil war and the Israeli invasion.

Our north to south route covered the towns of Bylbos, Tripoli, Sidon and Tyre. Our alphabet started in Bylbos about 1000 BC. The Phoenicians turned Egyptian hieroglyphics and symbols into a 22 letter script, which the Greeks later switched into a left to right reading and writing format. On the day we visited Tripoli’s famous Crusader Castle, its walls were being used for a rappelling exercise by the Lebanese Army. Sidon’s smallish Crusader castle sits about 200’ offshore, connected by a stone bridge to land, and easily protected. Tyre, with Israel in sight to the south, had two sets of ruins. Al-Mina, an old port with a large harbor, and Al-Bass, with its 20,000 seat hippodrome for chariot races, had marble columns, sarcophagi, and paved streets one end to the other. Al-Bass also had a close neighbor, Hezbollah Party soldiers. Signs everywhere mentioned, “We are ready!”

West to east let us explore The Cedars, a national treasure where the remaining Lebanese Cedar trees live and breathe at 6,000’. These old trees, mentioned in the Old Testament, are the remnants of a vast forest that once covered the mountains of Lebanon. The original Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem was built of cedar, and many sarcophagi in Egypt. Slowly but surely the tree population dwindled. While these old cedars are protected, it will take a long time for the new ones to mature.

The scenery driving west to east across Lebanon is spectacular. To get to Baalbek we had to cross over the ski area, at one place the ski area crossed the road, but in winter the road is closed. Sheep and their herder added color to the scene on the road ahead of us. The Phoenicians built a temple dedicated to Baal in 1^st century BC, where sacred prostitution and insatiable blood lust were part of their cult worship. In 6^th century AD Emperor Justinian ordered all pagans accept baptism and ordered some of the buildings destroyed to prevent secret rites occurring. The Arabs came after the Byzantines and converted Baalabek into a citadel. Many invasions, sackings, lootings and earthquakes over time have caused a lot of damage, but what is left today is impressive.

At Aanjar near the Syrian border, we were escorted through the ruins by an Armenian Tom Cruise “look alike” who spoke quite good English. This was a walled town dating back to 700 AD as an inland trading route. Only “royals” actually lived there. Merchants coming and going took one of the 600 stalls along the promenade to barter their goods, then move on. Aanjar flourished for 50 years and the last Prince fled to Spain, there to build the Alhambra, a fabulous place.

On our last day of land touring we visited Beit ed Dene and its early 19^th century palace complex, a cross between traditional Arab and Italian baroque. The gardens and their mosaics are unsurpassed. A guard with keys showed us into a few receptions rooms, but we were not able to see inside the harem. What we did see impressed us.

From the car windows in Lebanon we saw over two dozen types of trees, another 24 species of flowers (John and Joan had been in the landscape business so easily pointed these out), people in local and modern dress, shops featuring replacement “car fronts” for BMWs or Mercedes, just standing at attention right outside the mechanic shop; men at Army checkpoints who just waved us through; old Army tanks left in a field and flowers growing all around them; upcoming election political ads, including one showing the winner smiling (maybe they had already placed that one beneath the “Vote for me” one). We mustn’t forget out daily hunt for maanaesh bread and ice cream throughout Lebanon.

After farewells to marina staff and receiving our passports back, we left the marina and set our course to an offshore waypoint 15 miles off the Lebanon/Israel border. Time of departure: 1815 on June 1, 2005.

ISRAEL

The Israeli Navy rules the seas around their country and wanted contact with all vessels within 25 miles of the border. At 0100 Joan and I heard a VHF call from the Israeli Navy and checked our position against their coordinates. We were 24.7 miles off the border, but at a diagonal and in international waters off the coast of Lebanon, so didn’t answer. A few minutes later they called for “the fishing boat” and I answered that time, indicating we were not a fishing boat, but were located at those coordinates.” My question is what kind of equipment did they have to make them think we were a fishing boat in the dead of the dark night. Hum! Following initial contact, we were kept busy the rest of the night talking between them and Haifa Radio, answering a barrage of questions from last port to destination to what flag we flew, with other questions in between. Conestoga had missed their last radio check in and we worried they might get in trouble with the Navy, so continued tried to connect with them. A feeling of relief came when they answered and then called the Navy themselves. We had been told that if you were not cooperative, the gunboats would stealthily approach and flash bright spotlights on you. That’s the last thing we wanted to experience.

Morning came and we could see the gunships working around Haifa Harbor. They are really serious about their security. Harbor Patrol came out, requesting we follow him to the commercial ship wall. There three carloads of people met us and we had more interrogation. The woman in charge introduced herself and asked for boat documents plus passport, only allowing Denis to get off the boat. The rest of us sat as five ducks in a row on the port bow while she proceeded to grill us. “Where have you been? Why did you go there? How long did you stay? What did you do and see? How did you do it? Do you have any friends in Israel? Lebanon? Syria? How do you know each other? Where is the boat kept when you are not on it? Did you pack your own bags? Did anyone give you anything to bring into our country? Do you have any weapons on board?” And more.

She focused on John particularly as he had an American passport, but birthplace of Haifa, Palestine. She argued with him it was Haifa, Israel; he argued back when he was born over 60 years ago it was Haifa, Palestine. They met an impasse there. Then she asked him when he left Haifa? Where did he go? Why did he go to the States? When? How did you meet your wife? How long have you been married? Does she speak Arabic? She seemed astonished to learn that John had Jewish cousins in Haifa, yet he told her he had no intention of “looking them up.”

We ate a delayed breakfast after our 15 hour passage from Lebanon and waiting for our passports to be returned. After much ado we tied up for the night at the Haifa Marina, and continued on the next day to our home for the next three weeks, Herzliya, just north of Tel Aviv. From there we took trips to Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jordan while TEKA boat stayed securely tied up.

Our trip to Jerusalem coincided with “Jerusalem Days” and many settlers from the countryside had been bused in for the event. Many of them sported orange arm bands supporting the West Bank and Gaza settlements. They all sang loudly as they paraded into the old walled city and made their way to the Wailing Wall, where activities were scheduled and security tight! Armed men in civilian clothes escorted school age groups. They looked serious too.

My experience at the Wailing Wall turned out to be more emotional than I thought it would be. First, the wall is an extension of the Temple of the Mount, like an outside synagogue. It is divided with about 2/3 space for men; 1/3 for women. The wall is very warm to the touch, partially due to its exposure to the sunshine, and partly due to the many hands that continually touch it. Many notes are left in the cracks. The woman next to me had her whole upper body pushed up against the wall, her face to me, and she began to sob heavily. Watching her made my tears come too. Multiply her behavior many fold and remember you have to approach the wall with head covered, and retreat without turning around, you get a picture of what happens there. I watched to learn protocol that day, but our guide the next day explained it this way, “No one turns a back on God.”

On our two hour guided tour of the four quarters of the old city, we saw several Stations of the Cross along the Via Dolorosa, up to the point Jesus left the city wall and went to Golgotha. Inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre we saw the last Stations of the Cross, the rock that split at Jesus’ death which we could touch through an opening in glass, and his burial crypt, where we had witnessed many priests chanting the night before. In addition to the guided tour inside the city walls, we followed our map to locate the Ascension Church (where there are footprints in the rock floor), Mary’s burial chapel, and Gethsemane Garden where Jesus prayed until his sweat turned to blood. It is a beautiful place with age old olive trees surrounding a chapel with purple stained glass windows.

In Bethlehem we learned that several religions share the Church of the Nativity—Greek Orthodox, Armenian, and Roman Catholics. They have set schedules for services and it seems not to be a bother to share. Beneath the altar is the place of birth symbolized by a 14 point circle—the 14 generations between David and Joseph. Before leaving the underground area, the local guide took us to a large open cell with skulls piled high. These were the babies Herod had killed; also their mothers. Birth and death in the same place.

Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee are settings for other Bible stories. There is a stunning chapel dedicated to Mary’s visit from the archangel—Basilica of the Annunciation. The most fascinating and unique feature was floor to ceiling paintings from many countries showing their perspective on how Mary learned from the angel she would give birth to Jesus. St Joseph’s Church, right next door, could not hold a candle to her basilica.

At the north end of the Sea of Galilee, we found a church dedicated to the “Sermon on the Mount,” built by none other than Mussolini. It is circular and depicts the Stations of the Cross, one by one, along the sides of the chapel. Quite close by is Peter’s House, below a round chapel which could be “The Upper Room,” at the ruins of Capernaum. At the Church of the Bread and Fishes we touched the rock where Jesus placed the bread; the chapel is built around it.

In addition to the above places in Israel, we had the opportunity to visit a Palestinian Refugee Camp in the West Bank with a man from Alternative Tours. Two young men met us at the cafeteria, answered all our questions, took us on a walk around the premises, and shed light on what it for them is like to be a “4^th generation refugee” as both their families have been there since the camp opened. 11,000 people live in less than one square mile. When they were first rounded up for the camp they were told to lock up their homes, bring their keys, and they would return shortly. Not so. For the first ten years they all lived in tents, then a one room building for 9-10 people. These were single story only so the soldiers guarding the camp could see everything. Housing is better today. They have water and electricity, a school for boys and one for girls, a medical clinic opened from 8-12 daily with one doctor available, yet it is still a refugee camp.

We were amused with some of the children following us and saying something in Arabic we couldn’t understand. John finally interpreted that they wanted us to take their pictures. As restricted as they are, they know about digital cameras, posed as only kids can do, then giggled when shown the picture before running off to whatever they had been doing before that.

The young men told us the Israelis show control by coming into the camp during the night with loud speakers demanding all males between 15 and 45 assembly at the school. There they are taken away blindfolded for questioning. It seems spies in camp keep the soldiers fed with information about problems, so in order to stay on top of security, they have to act.

Leaving the camp we drove out to view the settlements and the walls. These walls are not straight. They zig and zag around property still owned by Palestinians. By not allowing access to homes and fields, they can say the Palestinians aren’t using their land, so the land is confiscated, the fence moves, only to make another zig zag down the line. It was frustrating to see how the transfer of goods occurred. At designated roadblocks trucks backed up to each other and hand to hand passing of boxes kept the right people on the right side of the road.

We cannot see an easy fix to the Israeli-Palestinian problem, but are appalled at how the Israelis, restricted to ghettos themselves in the past, have taken the same approach to ostracizing the Palestinians and confiscating more land in the process, witnessed by the whole world.

JORDAN

A poster greets the visitor: “Discover the legend; explore the history; and experience the hospitality. We did all of that in a week’s time with our rental car driving from the northern border crossing with Israel to the southern one at Gulf of Aqaba.

Each day we saw a new piece of history to wander through and learn about, from the Ajlun Castle in the north where an Archeology professor happened to be there to guide us, to Karak and Shobak (more Crusader Castles) which we explored only using our guidebooks, to Mt Nebo where Moses got to view the Promised Land but not up close, to the well preserved Roman city of Jerash, built in the 1^st century BC. Our guide there made sure we investigated the moving column in the Temple of Artemis. We put our fingers along the open space between the base and bottom of the column. It did shift as we held our fingers there.

Petra, the famous Rose Red City, is overwhelmingly the major attraction for visitors to Jordan. The guidebook claims it is visited by about 300,000 people a year, and everyone you meet in discussing Jordan asks if you have been to Petra. It is called the Rose Red City because of its spectacular colored sandstone rock caves and tombs that change colors with light and dark, as well as the different coloring in the sandstone layers. It looks like a mosaic of artwork in nature. The first people living there were Nabataeans. They were pagans and date back to 6^th century BC. Petra stayed a secret, well kept by Bedouin, until the early 19^th century. We walked through the canyon leading to the Treasury twice our first day there—once in the day, and once at night following candles whose reflections on the walls gave an unusual feeling to it all. At the Treasury a Bedouin elder talked to the group about life in Petra, then and now. He mentioned something that stayed with me, “Jordan has a unique position in the Middle East. It is surrounded by ‘noisy neighbors’!” Our hike earlier that day took us with our guide to a monastery, the trail winding 800 steps up the mountain, with people along the way selling souvenirs or refreshments for the heat of the day. It truly was a fascinating place. Now with the Indiana Jones movie, Petra can come alive without your making a trip there.

Speaking of movies, we stayed overnight at Wadi Rum, Lawrence of Arabia’s desert, taking a four wheel drive car with Bedouin driver to explore the sands in the afternoon, watch sunset, eat a meal in a Bedouin tent, and get up for sunrise after sleeping on mats in a tent set up for guests (on the sand). At breakfast the cook served us, sat down to visit, and commented about the stillness and quiet of the desert. “No cars, no trucks, no helicopters, no missiles.” Well said.

The only animals we saw were camels, and they were there to make money for their masters by giving rides. Camels have the longest eye lashes, biggest feet and haughtiest look about them, in my opinion. I have met them up close and personal, yet chose not to board one for a test drive.

SOUTH CYPRUS

It took 25 hours to go from Herzliya, Israel to Larnaca, South Cyprus. All during the trip we heard the Israeli Navy calling vessels at this or that location. Although Conestoga headed to Limmosal, not Larnaca, we kept our two hour report-in schedule until we thought we couldn’t hear each other. Well, turns out we could. Just before midnight, Bob’s voice came loud and clear over the VHF radio with this message, “This is the Sailing Vessel Conestoga calling the vessel off my bow. What is your intention?” He did it more than once. We waited and then contacted him ourselves. His report: a boat had shadowed him, speeding up when he did, slowing when he did, but never speaking to him. Finally the other boat shone a spotlight on him, then left. Was it an Israeli gunboat? A fisherman? A pirate? Who knows—but it sure was spooky! Bob’s position was 80 nautical miles off the Lebanon/Israel border, so go figure.

In Larnaca at the dock we had to deal with authorities so Tipper dog could leave the ship and relieve herself. 25 hours is a long time and she never let herself go on a boat, ever. After much discussion and showing of papers, and the government vet coming to the boat to “see” the dog, they agreed for a port fee of $60 U.S. she could have marina privileges.

We rented a car for one day and drove to the western end of the island to see Pathos and visit a winery. When the winds died down the following day we untied and headed back to Turkey. Four ports later we parted company with Joan, John and Tipper. They took a taxi back to Marmaris from Antalya and our son with family arrived from San Diego via Istanbul to cruise south and west to Bodrum—a ten day adventure of sun and fun.

OVERALL COMMENTS

The Middle East tour put 1,196 nautical miles on the meter, and Mr. Gardiner used 395 gallons of diesel. We spent Turkish lira, Syrian pounds, Lebanese pounds, Israeli shekels, Jordanian dinars, and Cypress pounds. We heard Turkish, Arabic, Hebrew, Greek and English. And we ate many mouthfuls of mezzes—the traditional, delicious Arabic appetizer dishes on all the menus.

In reviewing the trip we feel we could have accomplished the same amount of sight-seeing without taking the boat. It added the extra dimension of ports, authorities, fuel, and worry about safety when we were gone. Traveling without a large group had many advantages. We recommend that part. Study the countries, hire guides whenever possible, and feel free to explore. As a last comment, we never felt threatened at any time, with the exception of being a bit uneasy on Israeli buses.

The cruising season continues as we make our way west to Gibraltar, the Gran Canaries and the Caribbean.