Description

The Eastern Mediterranean denotes countries that lie to the east of the Mediterranean Sea. This is a journey by land and sea to visit some of these countries.
Commencing in Egypt, we assemble in Cairo. We manage to spend some time out via the Pyramids. Way back in the 1970s, these stone pyramids seemed a long way from the capital’s boundaries. But alas today the sprawling town of Cairo has almost encroached right up to the three pyramids lying at Giza. We are fortunate to have a very knowledgeable guide, and Egyptologist.
In this travel documentary film entitled ‘The Middle East – Legendary Empires’ we will journey from Cairo north to Alexandria. From here we join our small 100 passenger ship and voyage up to Northern Cyprus. Here we visit Famagusta. The city flourished under the Venetians. Salamis is an ancient Greek city on the east coast of Cyprus. It was the capital as far back as 1100BC. We finally visit the small village of Bellapais, some 5 miles from the town of Kyrenia. The Bellapais Abbey is most impressive. We manage to get into Lebanon and Beirut. We use our time to take an excursion to Byblos, a Unesco World Heritage Site. From Lebanon, it is back to Egypt. Passing Port Said, we voyage through the Suez Canal. Using the port of Sham el Sheikh, we drive inland through the Sinai Peninsula to the Byzantine St Catherine’s Monastery. The next port is Aqaba in Jordan. From here we journey to visit the site of Petra. Sadly, nowadays there are just too many tourists visiting the site. On a previous visit in 1978, travellers and visitors were few in number, making for a much more enjoyable and memorable experience. Next up is the desert area of Wadi Rum. Here there is space and wide open vistas.
We finally voyage back across the Red Sea to Egypt to Safaga. Here we disembark from our ship and drive overland to Luxor on the banks of the Nile. Wandering around these magnificent sites requires the expertise of our Egyptologist once again. We meet up again with Mohammed. We also enjoy a magnificent early morning balloon ride over the West bank of the Nile. The route undertaken has taken us to places and sites steeped in history and interest. One visit is just not enough.

Running time is approximately 50 minutes.