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Published: April 22nd 2006
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Arrghhh i hardly got time to catch up with my travel reports and the things im seeing every day. This report today is gonna be a bit shorter.
2 days ago I visited Petra which was AMAZING. The entrance fee was quite high (21 JD which is similar to euros). They offered discounts for students who own a students card and unfortunately i left mine at home (i somehow always forget things when going travelling) After trying my luck without a students card i was informed that i had to pay the 21 jordanian denars... I paid the amount but then the guy gave me 10JD back winking with his eye. People here are so lovely, open and kind. It is so so so amazing. Egyptians are very lovely too but at the markets they constantly try to rip you off which jordanians dont do to this degree. (most jordanian people have palestinian roots, plus since the iraq war about 1 million iraqis came here as refugees) Everybody is happy to help you and does as much as he can that you enjoy your time here. Anyway... explored petra on a donkey together with a guide who had GREEN (!!!!) eyes
the treasury /Petra
the famous rock cave from indiana jones (even though his skin and hair were so dark) Ali alias "dokta luv"(my guide lol) came up to me with a cheerful "need an airconditioned taxi to alaska?" He introduced his donkey to me as "michael jackson" So the three of us (michael jackson, dokta luv and little nicola) explored petra for the whole day. I was so lost for words as it was much more stunning than i ever would have imagined it!!! i must have drunk like 10 glasses of tea and kardamom coffee that day as we had stops at bedouin tents. They live a very simple life and their only income source is tourism. They like to invite tourists for tea and they are always thankful for a bit of money as an appreciative gesture. The bedouin males are very charming (like 95% of all arabic men between 1 and 99 years) but their different culture and viewpoint about relationships can lead to some embarassing situations if you are just too friendly and outgoing with them as a girl (they would never hurt you though) When ali took a break his friend took me around for half an hour and we had a good time together.
We really did. But then he asked me to marry him. I first thought it was a joke, but then he asked me to kiss him. I tried my best to explain to him that I dont want to get married to someone who lives just so far away and that i would not want to kiss him. He was quite upset about this as he didnt talk to me anymore... It was a very embarrassing situation... My advice to all girls in petra would be "dont go all alone (as its easier to keep a situation under control) and do your best not to start joking around too much with any bedouin male. Arrghh lol
The day after I took a shared taxi to amman where i still am now. Amman is very big, very chaotic (especially the traffic) its very noisy but it has character. People here deserve an extra word. If you gave up on meeting truly hearty and welcoming people then Jordan is the place where you should go to!!!!! Shopping is so much fun here. First you enter a shop, you have a look around, have a chat with the shopkeepers (here again girls: keep
a certain and CLEAR! distance), you get the things u would like to buy. Very often the shopkeeper brings you a cup of tea and then you sit down together and discuss the price. You talk about your family and friends besides business and after you agreed and leave the shop you hear a friendly "ma3salama" (good bye) Today I bought a traditional jordanian dress for 10 dinars (similar to euro) and the shopkeeper wanted me to try on more and more dresses... He wanted to give me 2 for free as a gift. I energetically declined so many times but for about half an hour he kept on insisting on me taking them both. So in the end i agreed but i still feel bad about it....... He wanted me to have great memories of jordan..... When I showed my new dresses to the hotel owner he got very excited. He thought it's so nice if european women like the traditional dress of Jordanian women. So i asked him "guess how much i payed" He thought for a moment and said "160 Denars for all 3 of them?" Then I asked "what would a local woman pay for those
3 together?" "hmmm around 140?" When I told him that I payed 10 dinars for one and got the other 2 as a gift he congratulated me and said "someone really wanted you to have great memories of our country" Then he explained to me that Jordanians don't bother about money when it comes to making travellers happy. This seems to be different than egypt, as at least after my experiences most egyptians wanted baksheesh for almost everything, while only a few Jordanians even accepted baksheesh. It appears like such a lovely lovely country!!
Here another story about how caring and lovely jordanian people can be:
I was walking through downtown and checking out the historical roman ruins when a guy offered me transport. We had a chat and he even offered me to bring me to the dead sea (return) for 10 JD which was incredibly cheap. For that I needed to get my towel and beach stuff from the hotel first but also wasn't really sure whether i should accept this offer as it was too cheap... On the one hand I had a small buget only so I was happy about such an offer but
Ali
had i said yes id be married with this guy living 50% of the time in Amman and 50% in a bedouin cave in Petra lol But in the end 500.000 camels were too much for him ;o) (which was my offer lol) seriously: it was an embarassing situation... at the same time I didn't feel comfortable with this. So the driver brought me to my hotel where I asked the hotel manager Nabil about what he thinks about this. He got really angry about this driver when he heard about the low price he offered and insisted that I wouldnt go to the dead sea with this guy. He appeared a bit like a father who doesn't allow his daughter to stay out late. He was so caring and protective. He said "now you go and tell this guy that youre not going with him" He even came out with me wanting to see that guy. I informed him that I couldnt go with him and the driver left.
Anyway....
Yesterday i went to the dead sea and afterwards to mount nebo where moses saw the promised land and where he finally died. The dead sea was again amazing (like everything here lol) it felt like you have an air mattress unter you, it is impossible to swim properly you just float.
Today I visited Jerash and Umm Quais in the north of Jordan and got a quite strong sunburn again... The sites were beautiful and the
driver was so lovely. (We were a group of 4 including the driver)
TOmorrow im heading towards jerusalem where i probably will spend just one night or 2... Im feeling a bit strange to be honest but according to everybody it is safe to go at this time. The hotel manager is very protective and helpful and even he said "dont worry.. just go" So tomorrow Ill complete the pilgrimage (lol) to several meaningful places from the bible.
gotta go now but will be in touch
byeeee
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Paulo
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With you in the biblical lands :o)
Hi, my dear friend >:D< I am so happy that you are enjoying each moment of your journey!!! Knowing the biblical lands must be very amazing. Your description of the places and the people there makes my mind "travel". I used to pray asking for you to come back soon so that I could hear about the entire trip, but it sounded a little egoistic. So I changed my prayers to ask for Jehovah to look for you while we can't talk, and that HE protect you during your "pilgrimage" in the "holy land". I am following each step you make and rejoycing with you in each good moment. Let Jehovah bless you. Fly fly. :D