Continues from A Night Journey among the Asir Mountains
The next day morning I opened my eyes to curtains resembling Dharwish dancers' costumes. The room was decorated with black velvet cushions, black upholsteries and dimly lit lights. My claustrophobia began to raise its head. I opened the windows and pulled aside the curtains. The strong rays of sun warmed the room. The time was approaching noon and we had to reach the Jizan port by 1p.m.
The Jizan Port has the ferry service to Furasan Islands twice on each day. We’d scheduled our tickets for the evening ferry. Our friends at Jizan had advised us to reach early since some days, the queue to the ferry can take long times. After quick refreshments and shower we came out of Al-Adnan hotel within an hour.
We reached Jizan Port by 1p.m two hours in advance to the ferry time. The air was hot humid and salty. However, for me who had spent three memorable years at a sea shore, the smell was reviving and welcoming. All this time, I had the image of a ferry made of wooden planks that used to transport men and sometimes two vehicles in my village at Kerala. However, I realized soon that the two huge ships at the Port combine the ferry. We got into the ferry soon after the procedures.
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| Jizan Port and the Ferry at the distance |
The ambience inside the ferry resembled the ambience of airlines. This ferry service is an initiative under King Abdullah’s rule and totally free of cost. It was our first stint with the Red Sea and we were all excited. The ferry will take us to the Furasan Island situated 50Kms away from the port and totally isolated in the sea.
We were clicking some good photos of blue and green sea as two security guards rounded us. Photography was strictly prohibited in the ferry and they asked us to sit and enjoy the travel. Thanks to them, it was then that we actually started enjoying the journey.
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| A View of Jizan Port |
The sail started on time. In contrary to its name, the Red Sea glittered in shades of blue and green and sometimes black. Nature had added magnificent hues of colours to the scene. The kids started to claim that they had seen pink, red and blue dolphins. In my childish mind, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see such a miracle. The view was that much splendid and mesmerizing.
As the humming of waves faded small uninhabited islands across the ocean came into view. The water near them glistened in sky blue color indicating the shallowness for kilometres around them. The vast sea was surging with short waves around. Though purified by the sun, pampered by moon and reconnoitered by human eternally, the waves seemed to retain their novelty.
The time was approaching evening. The Sun shone from blaze to brilliance on the horizon. As far as the eye can see, the water turned into golden veil. The sea was changing colors from blue to green to dark to golden. However I felt that everything underneath these transparent glistening coats laid the same from the prehistoric times. I felt, here is the untameable sea with whom lays the intelligible facts regarding the adventures of Islamic natives.
As we neared the island, we could see rocky cliffs carved by nature in different contours. For me, they looked beautifully eerie as if sprung out from Agatha Christie’s novels. These obscure figures obsoleted any description.
The island started to appear in view first as a dark line, then as a long rock land and finally as endearing girl protected by her loving family. All around the island the rocky cliffs marked the outline at a distance in the water.
We arrived in Furasan Port after an hour’s journey. We hit the roads that were decorated with artificial sun flowers and fruits in the median. The short drive took us to our destined retreat Coral Gulf seemed to be situated in a fisherman’s village. As we finally, entered our room in Coral Gulf with the sweet smell of natural herbs and an overwhelming view of Red Sea, calmness spread over and relaxed my nerves.
Continues in Dim Distress with the Red Sea
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