When the Suez Canal opened in 1869, sea travel around the world changed dramatically. Added to the recent completion of the American transcontinental railroad, the opening of the Suez Canal made circling the globe a much faster process. No longer did ships have to travel around the horn of Africa to cross from Europe to Asia or back. The Mediterranean being connected to the Red Sea, and the Gulf of Aden leading into the Indian Ocean changed everything.

Cruise holidays and expensive holidays now sail up and down the waters of the Suez Canal. The Great Bitter Lake is centred in the middle of the canal, which keeps water flow steady to both sides. Both sides are therefore almost equal in both depth and height above sea level. On both sides of the canal, there are also great ports of call which offer tours inland; exciting places to visit include Cairo and Luxor in Egypt.

Canal building attempts didn’t stop with Senusret II, there were many east-west attempts and only one was successful. The original attempt was to be a north-south canal; this is known as the remains of a trench were discovered in the 20th Century connecting Lake Timseh to the Ballah Lakes near Great Bitter Lake. A canal did manage to connect the Nile and the Red Sea during the reign of Darius I, but Ptolemy II later improved it and built the first known functioning sea-lock.

Archaeological sites can be seen today where this original attempt was made. The remains of a trench were discovered in the 20th Century connecting Lake Timseh to the Ballah Lakes near the Great Bitter Lake, the only north-south attempt at a canal before the current version. There were also numerous east-west attempts, only one of which was successful. During the reign of Darius I a canal did connect the Nile and the Red Sea. It was later improved under Ptolemy II, who built the first known functioning sea-lock at the ancient city of Bubastis.

When you visit now, you will find that most of the evidence of these ancient canals has disappeared beneath the sand, but the legends are still very much alive. When you take a cruise ship to the Suez Canal, you can see and smell the history all around you. To visit the interior of the land, Port Said and the Port of Safaga both offer day trips, and also offer amazing assortment of nightlife that might take you a few days to fully discover.

Sarah Van Rensburg is a travel lover and avid writer, focussing on a range of travel topics particularly cruise holidays.