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Blogs from North, Jordan, Middle East - page 28
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Jordan- into the heart of the Middle East
Published: January 2nd 2007Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman
October 10th 2006
Soooooooooo After my little soujourn to the UK I felt the desire to get back on track and head into the depths of the Middle East. In planning this trip I had very early on sought out Jordan as a place I wanted to visit. The vast desert landscapes, wonderous ancient city of Petra, and reputed amazing Jordanaian hospitality all conspired in my brain to get me there. And of course all these aspects and more of Jordan rang true. With a gait in my step I boarded Jordanain Airlines flight 816 headed from Istanbul to Amman. I was super stoked to be flying over the middle east and taking my place at a window seat I pretty much gawked at the landscape for the whole two hour flight. Except when the food was served, then ... read more
August 27th 2006
Long time no write! What a week it has been. Getting out of Egypt was a tremendous challenge. After a relaxing time in Dahab, we boarded the bus to head up the coast to catch the ferry to Jordan. Simple this may sound, but not when you're in Egypt! You can't make bookings so we sat in the truck (about 35 degrees) and waited from 9.20am to 9.00pm to get tickets. The office only opened for about 10 mins at a time. Unfortunately, day 1 we couldn't get tickets as all the locals are heading to Mecca prior to Ramadan. So we headed off to a beachside resort (ha!) for the night. No electricity, no water (therefore no showers and toilets) and about a million degrees. Couldn't sleep outside as the dogs barked at us! Fortunately ... read more
August 9th 2006
Tuesday August 8, 2006 - Got up today with no particular plans, as my trip to the Dead Sea was canceled. Of course it was canceled, it was a little too good to be true. He had "training" today. Oh well. Instead I tried to get in touch with the Russian and Chinese embassies in Istanbul in order to get correct visa information. Let me just take an aside and say that I am ready to leave Jordan. Although it's not nearly as bad as Egypt was, I am still uncomfortable here as a woman and it gets worse everyday. I seem to attract crazy amounts of unwanted attention. Just lucky I guess. For example, there is a man from Syria who stays in my hotel and finds all kinds of excuses to come to my ... read more
August 4th 2006
Friday August 4, 2006 - I woke up this morning and talked to my new roommate while she packed - she was headed to Madaba, a nearby town. I decided to go to Jerash, an Ancient Roman city that is still being excavated. Went to buy some water and felafel and found myself waiting for a service taxi to the bus station with my roommate. So we got a taxi and said good bye at the bus station. I got on a bus to Jerash that was just leaving (good luck) and sat next to a girl who decided to smoke even though the windows didn't open (bad luck). The ride was an hour or so and when I got off the bus I noticed one other tourist. I spoke to him and we ended up ... read more
August 3rd 2006
Wednesday, August 2, 2006 - Today's plan was a bust. We woke up at 6am and were ready for the 6:30am bus to Wadi Rum, but I felt uncertain about it for some reason and it was making me uneasy. We ended up on the bus and shortly afterwards the bus driver came to collect the money and said the bus went to Aqaba and that he would drop us at the road where we could find other transport into Wadi Rum. At that point I was done - we were already going to have to find two or three buses tocome home in the afternoon, and I wasn't interested in doing this anymore. So we got off the bus and walked back to the hotel. At least it was early and cool out. Got back ... read more
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June 19th 2006
Hey, Just got back from Jordan in the middle east. Went over there for a job for Screenco for 10 days, was an awesome experience but a terrible job, as things do when your overseas everything that could go wrong did. But anyway we got our way through it and we got it done in the end. We were doing a military parade which was massive. They are bordered by Iraq, Syria, Israel and Gaza Strip, so not the friendliest neighbourhood, so one had better have a large military. Could not believe the endless parade of tanks and hummvies coming past....! Apparently there Army is twice the size of England's...! We had armed guards with us at all times and a hummve with a machine gun mounted to its roof escorting us to and from site, ... read more
March 20th 2006
So this is it, our last day. I say it with some sadness of course, but also there is a readiness to go back to the normalcy of home. We had originally planned on doing Petra for two days, but really one long day is all that is needed. We covered everything even with our two hour hike. We decided to go see the Dead Sea, so we popped into a travel agency last night and arranged transportation (it’s 3 hours away) for a wopping $65. Our driver picked us up at 7:30am and he was super nice. He didn’t seem happy that all we have seen of Jordan is Petra and the King’s Highway (think our I-5, just freeway with overwhelming amounts of oil trucks and desert). He asked us if he could take us ... read more
March 17th 2006
I spent a couple of days relaxing and preparing myself mentally for the hilly road to Petra. I left Amman feeling slightly rough after spending the evening with an Aussie girl with a forte for 10% strength beer and Vodka. Figuring an easy day down to the Dead Sea my will power was easily broken with the offer of a drink, although I stayed clear of the 10% stuff and stuck purely to 40% Vodka. I was worried about the Dead Sea. Travelling alone creates strange feelings when it actually comes to being alone. Although my trip is very much a solo affair having someone, sometimes anyone, to share things with is important. I just had the feeling that you shouldn't go to the Dead Sea alone, a bit like going to Alton Towers alone, something ... read more
The Adventures of Sean and Shannon in the Rose Red City
Published: February 25th 2006Middle East » Jordan » North » Amman
February 24th 2006
February 4, 2006 (Wadi Musa, Jordan) Shannon: The punctuality of public transportation in Egypt that I had admired in an earlier blog evidently did not apply to private ventures, as we learned when we crossed the Red Sea by ferry to Jordan. The ferry, which was supposed to leave at 2 pm, was still moored to the dock well past 4 pm. Hmmm…not a good start. It was a curious “ferry” anyway, more accurately described as a small cruise ship with a car deck acting in the capacity of a ferry. When we first boarded, leaving our bags down in the cargo hold, we climbed the stairs to the passenger decks. What we found were endless hallways with locked passenger cabins. Where were we supposed to sit for this ride? We finally located a few seats ... read more
February 17th 2006
I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the West Bank. Five days was not nearly enough; I would have liked to have seen more of Jerusalem and Bethlehem, and gone a bit further afield to Jericho, Ramallah, and so on. But the cold reality of a plane to catch in Amman, Jordan in two days time couldn't be ignored. Farewell to the West Bank and Israel I checked out of my hotel in Jerusalem and inquired about taxis to the Allenby / King Hussein crossing. The receptionist made a call on her phone, spoke a bit in rapid Arabic, and I heard the number "85." I assumed this was the price in Israeli shekels (about $18 US). Imagine my surprise when she hung up and said, "A taxi to Allenby is eighty-five dollars." I just about keeled ... read more
