JEDDAH, 26 April — “Very interesting.” This is how 77 tourists from a cruise ship, Star Flyer, echoed after a daylong visit to the city yesterday. The tourists, from Europe, America and Australasia were traveling on the Luxembourg-registered vessel of Miami-based Star Clippers Ltd. which sailed into the Jeddah Islamic Port at dawn.
Within a couple of hours, they boarded buses for a drive to the old city of Jeddah, undertook a walking tour of the district and its souks, and visited the Corniche before they were back on their vessel by dusk.
The Star Flyer along with another cruise ship, Star Clipper, is a dream come true for Swedish yachtsman and businessman Mikael Krafft who has succeeded in making “true sailing cruise ships” commercially viable again over 100 years after their original demise.
The Star Clipper, built in 1991 with high-tech equipment and modern facilities, arrived from Goa, an Indian port city, via Salalah in Oman and is bound for Safaga, Egypt. “The tourists achieved a glimpse of the city thanks to the speedy arrangements facilitated by the local authorities,” Oystein Klerck Nilssen, general manager of Binzagr Barber/Binzagr Saudi Shipping Co. Ltd., told Arab News.
“It’s a happy blend of old and new,” remarked an elderly American tourist as he stood near old structures and the modern glass towers in downtown Balad. During the walking tour, they stood gazing at the wooden ornamentation on the old houses.
Guides explained to them that they were designed to let in the sea breeze and at the same time shield residents from public gaze.
Before they ventured into shopping for souvenirs in the sprawling souks, the tourists visited the historic Naseef House, where Sami Saleh Nawar of the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, Municipality of Jeddah, gave an overview of the historic building and the old structures preserved by the Municipality.
The general opinion among the tourists was voiced by Australian Gwen Jones: “We’re immensely satisfied. It’s all worth a visit.” The visitors, then wandered along narrow alleys and shaded lanes alongside old buildings.
“Much of the old walls remains, thanks to the efforts of the Jeddah Municipality,” a guide remarked, adding that for many decades Old Jeddah, known as the “walled city,” with its rich cultural heritage, was the only residential area and trading center, and a gateway for pilgrims to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah.
“It’s a pleasure to see Jeddah as a modern metropolis with a 21st century face of such architectural splendor,” a French tourist said.
“Its gleaming marble monuments, palm-fringed thoroughfares and towering glass shopping plazas are exemplary,” a Swiss tourist added
