Built in 1453, the tower has served as a prison, watchtower, and now a tourist site. A long wait preceded their entry. With a $35 ticket, they took an elevator to the 7th floor, then spiral stairs to the 8th and 9th floors for sweeping indoor and outdoor views of Istanbul, including the Hagia Sophia
The shops form a crowded grid where merchants and shoppers bargain. Ray, looking for soccer jerseys for a friend who follows the Korean player Son, formerly of club Tottenham Hotspur, found Turkish vendors stocked mainly soccer and basketball jerseys—not much MLB or NFL. Unfortunately, no Son jerseys were found so Ray left empty-handed. Ray and Traci returned to the hotel, gathered luggage, and walked to the cruise terminal. Galataport is unique: the cruise terminal is underground. Taxi and bus passengers arrive in the underground garage, while those walking in use the terminal building before descending to check in bags. After dropping their bags, Ray and Traci faced another line for terminal entry, security, and key cards. Though not the worst they had seen (Vancouver BC's slow check-in once delayed their ship), boarding took 90 minutes. On the NCL Viva, they enjoyed a relaxing Tuesday at sea before reaching Egypt Wednesday. NCL Viva docked in Alexandria, named for Alexander the Great, who liberated Egypt from Persia. They arrived to sunshine and temperatures just above 80 degrees. Ray and Traci, along with many passengers, took a city tour. Entering Egypt was their most complex port experience: onboard passport stamping the day before arrival, then passport checks, metal detectors, and bag scans after disembarking, which delayed their tour by an hour. The overnight stay in Alexandria meant delays had no impact on plans. They boarded a bus, met their guide Rayna, the driver, and an armed security escort, with a police SUV following. Though comforted by security, Ray found it unnecessary at the popular stops. The first stop was the Citadel of Qaitbay, a 15th century fortress built on the ancient Lighthouse of Alexandria ruins, a wonder destroyed by earthquake after a millennium.
The last stop was the Montaza Gardens palace. Their Alexandria tour set the stage for the main pyramid adventure the next day.
Thursday started very early, it seemed like most of the passengers on the ship met in the theater at 5:15 AM as instructed for their excursions. Overall, 78 buses which could each take 40 people awaited the Viva passengers. Ray and Traci boarded their bus headed to Cairo. On board was a very skilled driver, an armed security guard dressed in a business suit, and guide Nina. Groggy but filled with anticipation, the visitors started the 3 hour journey to Cairo. Along the way, Nina gave a lot of insight into ancient Egypt in near perfect English – she was educated in an American school and lived in the US before spending the last 20 years conducting tours. First stop was at Saqqara, home to the first pyramid built, the Step Pyramid of Djoser 4700 years ago (27th century BEC).
At the time, burial chambers for the Egyptian Pharaohs were usually one story structures called mastabas and included a burial chamber as well as storage chambers stocked with food and belongings for the Pharaoh who was thought to be passing into the next life. A few early pharaohs had their unfortunate servants killed and buried with them. Fortunately this practice ended and subsequently funerary figurines accompanied the pharaohs into their afterlife. Imhotep was credited as the architect for this first Step Pyramid which took 20 years to build. A traditional mastaba was made in a square shape and additional mastabas were built on top of one another until 6 stories spanning 204 feet were completed. Visitors can enter the burial chamber in the pyramid for a $7 fee. Ray and Traci found the short passage into the pyramid interior comfortable and quick although it might be more challenging with bigger crowds. Supposedly, pictures were forbidden in the burial chamber but every tourist had a cell phone out capturing photos and the person checking tickets seemed more interested in soliciting a $1 tip than stopping photography. During their visit, Ray and Traci thought the crowds were quite modest but since 3,000 of their fellow passengers were also experiencing the Pyramids, this likely reflects the huge size of the site. Large number of vendors sold all sorts of merchandise, sometimes in little booths or sometimes just by walking up to tourists as they traversed the site. While many have complained about their aggressiveness, Ray thought he saw worse on the Seattle waterfront. Simply saying no thanks, or displaying no interest in a purchase sends the merchants scurrying off to someone else. Quite frankly, the American $1 bill is quite popular in Egypt and goes at lot farther than any “dollar store” in America. Anyone planning a trip to Egyptian Pyramids should bring a large supply of $1 bills. From Saqqara, the excursion went to Memphis, located south of the Giza Pyramids. A 34 foot limestone statue of pharaoh Rames II was discovered in 1820 and small museum was built on the site.
A modest Pyramid of Menkaure and three smaller “Queens Pyramids” were also built here as well as the great Sphinx. The Great Pyramid was built between 2600 and 2500 bce (45 centuries ago!) Other temples, burial locales, and remains of the village that housed the construction workers have also been excavated at the site. After admiring the incredible site of these ancient monuments, Ray and Traci took a brief camel ride.
Youtube is replete with videos about all sorts of scams going on at the pyramids and many involve camel rides – taking your camera hostage, asking for more money to get you off the camel, etc. Nina, the guide, was exceptionally helpful in pre-arranging camel rides for anyone who wanted one at a quite reasonable US $10 each from a trustworthy merchant who gave all of the riders a unique experience as well as great photos on their phones. After their camel adventure, Ray and Traci explored the huge site with its fascinating architecture. Stairs have been erected on walls of the Great Pyramid allowing visitors to ascend a short distance. For $7 visitors can enter the burial chamber in the Great Pyramid but the passage is much tighter, longer, and requires crawling in some areas so everyone in the tour group passed on the opportunity. Their guide Nina told the group that many Egyptians think the wild stories about aliens from outer space building the pyramids are insulting and brought up some good arguments against the theory. Over 100 different pyramids have been discovered in various sizes and stages of disrepair – clearly there was a long learning process required to successfully build Pyramids. Second, the technology improvements such as building tools and skills flowed into civilization. The pyramid visit concluded with a visit to the great Sphinx.
This mythical creature gave human intelligence to a powerful lion’s body. After collecting all of the group members, the bus headed back to the ship making a stop at a shop specializing in papyrus creation – these souvenir stops are ubiquitous in the organized tour business but this one was actually educational about how the world’s first paper was produced.
The NCL Viva left Egypt and headed north to Cyprus. Ray and Traci had visited Cyprus on one of their earlier unsuccessful Pyramid cruises and just planned to wander around Limassol, the largest city in Cyprus and the location of the cruise dock. While walking toward the castle, they encountered a pharmacy museum. Since it was free and air conditioned, Ray and Traci saw a bunch of not so old (1970s-80s) drug manufacturing equipment from their leading over the counter and generic drug producer Remidica. Pill presses, liquid bottle fillers, and packaging equipment from earlier times was on display. Afterwards, they went to the Lemesos Castle.
Originally built in 1193, over the years it was seized, destroyed, rebuilt, and used as a prison before its current use as a museum since 1987. Artifacts including 2000 year old coins are housed in the museum giving a glimpse of Cyprus’ civilization thru the years.
The next 4 stops were in Greece. Ray and Traci have visited Heraklion (Crete) before, but Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini were new experiences. On Saturday afternoon the NCL Viva made its first Greek stop. Rhodes is a walled city which has been a battleground of empires from Africa, Asia and Europe thru the ages. 11 gates serve as entry points into the city. A key attraction is the Palace of the Grand Master, a medieval originally built in the 7th century and repaired extensively over the years. It now serves as a museum displaying artifacts and architecture from its rich history. From the palace, Ray and Traci walked up the hill to the site of the Acropolis of Rhodes. Unfortunately, much of the site was destroyed over time, just two columns undergoing refurbishment remain. A stadium where ancient sporting events occurred also occupies the site. Ray and Traci completed their visit to Rhodes by leaving the walled city and walking out onto a jetty sticking out from the walled city. The Fort of Saint Nicholas is found at the end of the jetty. It was built in the mid 15th century to protect Rhodes. The fort is thought to be near the original site where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood – one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Colossus was a statue 2/3 the size of New York’s Statue of Liberty. It was built to celebrate successful defense against the Macedonians in 280 BC.
On Sunday, Ray and Traci had an early start to the day at 3AM to watch the Seattle Mariners first playoff game. Thanks to Starlink internet services, streaming video can be followed all over the world. Cruises to Egypt by the major lines are relatively rare and the travelers were prepared to miss some playoff baseball in their quest to reach the Pyramids. Sadly, the Mariners lost in an intense 11 inning game. The NCL Viva reached Crete, and the disappointed fans explored the city of Heraklion. In their previous visit to Crete, Ray and Traci took an excursion to Knossos palace. With this visit, the couple stayed at Heraklion, the capital city of Greek’s largest island. While Traci spent some quality time in the ship’s gym, Ray wandered out to the incredible Venetian Fortress, built in the 16th century to protect the city against Turkish pirates.
Afterwards, Traci joined Ray and they went to the beautiful Cathedral Holy Temple of Saint Titus. The Archeological Museum of Heraklion was their next stop. This large and well organized museum displayed all sorts of artifacts including statues, huge pots, toys, jewelry and even selection of coffins for those preparing for their future.
Once at the top Ray and Traci walked on the pedestrian passages between buildings high on the Fira hills. The views were magnificent and the partly cloudy skies kept temperatures comfortable and facilitated great pictures. Highlights included the Catholic Cathedral of St John the Baptist with its iconic clock tower. Ray and Traci also visited the signature picture spot of Santorini, The Catholic Church of the Dormition with its tower containing three bells over the blue dome.
They did leave piles of poop which served as obstacles for the pedestrians. After the 25 minute descent, they boarded the tender boat back to the Viva for the night.
Tuesday was a travel day for the Mariners so Ray and Traci did not have to wake up early for playoff baseball. Their final Greece stop was at Mykonos. It was cooler, cloudier, and windier than their previous stops. Traci spent the morning at the gym while Ray swam in the pool and then did some running. After lunch, they boarded a tender boat and started exploring Mykonos. While much flatter than Santorini, Mykonos also consists of very narrow pedestrian paths weaving in and out of tightly separated buildings. Merchants, restaurants, and lodging establishments did a brisk business. With 4 cruise ships visiting Mykonos simultaneously, it was quite difficult to move around some of the streets. Ray and Traci wandered down the coastline, encountered many tiny churches. Some churches had blue domes, some with red domes on top. It turns out that Greek families tended to establish their own churches to strengthen their religious bonds. Some of the churches could barely fit a modest sized family inside. Toward the end of their walk, Ray and Traci saw the famous windmills which used to power wheat milling.
An underground passage extended from the library to the brothel allowing discreet access to patrons. The site is under continuous exploration and excavation. Current highlights include the Library of Celsus, one of the largest in the ancient world. Built to honor a Roman Governor, it once contained 12,000 scrolls.
With the conclusion of their second visit to Ephesus, Ray and Traci were happy to return to their ship to watch the fourth game of the Mariners Detroit series. This outcome was very disappointing as the Tigers won 9-3 setting up a fifth and decisive game. Ray and Traci enjoyed a final dinner at the NCL Viva’s sushi bar Nama, packed up their cabin and had a final night of sleep on the seas. The next morning they boarded a bus to the airport and had a comfortable and uneventful flight back to Seattle arriving Thursday evening. Thankfully one of their greatest adventures ended just in time for them to attend Friday’s Mariners vs Tigers 15 inning finale, one of the most exciting games the Seattle team ever played.
