TRANSIT THROUGH THE SUEZ CANAL (or keep your doors closed because of the flies) April 9th

We were the first ship in a convoy of 14 other ships to enter the canal heading from the Red Sea into the Mediterranean.  I had always assumed that it was one straight cut through the desert.  It is not.
Although Egypt is on both sides, the western side is occupied with small villages right by the canal. The eastern side is far more barren.  It is 102 miles long and took us from 8 in the morning until 5 in the evening to go through.  It is basically a one lane route.  There are no locks and the water flows freely.  In general the canal north of Bitter Lakes flows north in the winter and south in the summer  There are passing places in Ballah By-Pass and in the Great Bitter Lake.

This is the view behind us as we entered the canal with all the other ships following behind.

 The price to pay to the canal authorities was in the neighborhood of $200,000. for our ship!

This photo if of the Ballah By-Pass just a island in the middle of the canal where ships going in the opposite direction can park till the north-bound ships has passed.

At the next by-pass, a ship is heading into the Red Sea but it looks like it is stranded in the sand of Great Bitter Lake by-pass.  Actually it is in the water on the other side.

There are hundreds of Egyptian Army guard stations all along the canal and helicopters regularly fly over the canal.  There are many tanks are stationed as well.

Across the lake from Ismailia is a memorial to the Egyptian soldiers who died battling Israel in the 1973 war, a 216-foot-high bayonet whose silvery white blade glistens in the noon sun

There are numerous small villages along the canal and here is a ferry stop waiting for our boat to pass before it dodges the next boat going up the canal.

The El Ferdan Railway Bridge is a swing bridge that spans the Suez Canal near Ismailia, Egypt. It is the longest swing bridge in the world, with a span of 1100 ft (340 m). It replaced the 1963 bridge, which was destroyed in the Six-Day War.

This bridge which is for trains, opens only during the day and is closed so the train can cross the canal at night.  

Talking about flies.  You could not really stay outside during the transit because there were so many flies.

 Not sure how the villagers deal with this problem but I get the feeling they don't mind it much.