Blogs from South, Jordan, Middle East - page 8

Trip to Tel Aviv This was quite a spontaneous trip but I love spontaneity! In fact applying to become a Divemaster in Tenerife was purely spur of the moment. As after watching a documentary about SCUBA diving and having an urge to live, work and travel abroad for a lengthy amount of time I applied that same evening to Tenerife Divemaster Academy and paid for it using money I would have easily pissed away on a 2 month trip to South America or something. I received a message from an old friend who I used to be really close with in my teens as she lived on the same street as me in Liverpool. Rachael is her name and she told me on Facebook that she was going to Tel Aviv for a weekend break in ... read more

Finally, I have made it to Petra, Jordan. Was so excited that i showed up at the meeting place very early. Turns out the other 12 people in our group felt the same. We got started from Aqaba, Jordan, before the time set. Two hour trip in a small van/bus and we were there. Nice entrance and staging area. We had a guide who said his father was born in a cave in Petra. He relates that everyone knows him there, and it appeared so. We went down the siq and had few people around. It had rained for 2 days prior so the last part of the siq walk was in water or jumping from higher ground to higher ground. When the siq opened up to show the treasury there were groups that had caught ... read more

Amman From the minute we stepped off the plane and entered the airport in Amman, the vibe was good. We had a feeling that we were going to like Jordan. Amman is a big, clean, modern, progressive city, renowned in this part of the world for its universities and medical care. After the less than clean environs of Egypt, this was a most welcome change. Thanks to great planning by Brendan, we moved very quickly through immigration and sailed through customs. The two year-old airport had a Starbucks…..detour!! About thirty minutes later, we arrived at our hotel, which is named the “Toledo Hotel.” Ironic in that is the name of Dave’s hometown and not the most common city name around. We spent our first and last nights here, ensconced near the downtown area of the capital. ... read more

Ketchup Blog Part I Yeah so the blog... I feel bad that I haven’t written a single one for over a month and I seriously doubt that I could even remember one day in full detail. But like someone who just woken up from a coma and can’t remember who they are, I decided to look through photos on my phone to see what has happened the last few weeks of 2015 and the first few of 2016. Oh yeah happy new year! I do hope you spent it with loved ones. I did! I actually spooned my father to keep warm in a very cold desert… But more on that later. One last thing before I begin I kind of didn't have any photos to include on this blog so instead I have added photos ... read more

Geo: 30.1451, 35.3979Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1985 and, in 2007, was named one of the modern Seven Wonders of the World. It is not known exactly when Petra was built, but the city began to prosper as the capital of the Nabatean Empire from the 1st Century BC. It was later annexed to the Roman Empire and continued to thrive until earthquakes and changes in trade routes eventually led to the downfall of the city which was ultimately abandoned. By the middle of the 7th century Petra was largely deserted and it was lost to all but local Bedouins from the area. The Nabateans carved these tombs and what is called the Treasury in the beautiful sandstone rock. Entering via the Siq, which is a narrow rock valley, is reminiscent of ... read more