I managed to wake up at about 6:10, early enough to catch the sun coming up over the horizon and it was very peaceful and serene walking around the desert surrounding our camp site. Lovely brekky in the tent before heading off at 8:30 for our camel ride back to the Wadi Rum Visitor's Centre. Brian and I were not too keen on doing this. The last time I rode a camel was in Egypt in 1984 and I swore I would never do that again, but at least I managed to avoid it for 34 years. As it turned out, it was a very pleasant ride across the desert and I was surprised to learn later that we riding for 50 minutes. After a short comfort (and shopping) stop at the Visitor's Centre we were ... read more

Breakfast at 6:30am for an early 7:30am exit for the long drive to the south of Jordan. During the early part getting out of Jordan, our guide Lana pointed out a few things but once out of the city, most of the drive was through very flat arid land with the occasional quarry or cement company. We had two comfort stops amounting to about 40 minutes and got to Aqaba at 12:30pm. As we got closer to Aqaba, the landscape changed as big rocky outcrops started appearing and the land was not as flat. Aqaba is a very popular holiday destination on The Red Sea and it is quite different to downtown, where we stayed in Amman. Generally cleaner and the buildings are in much better condition and generally newer looking and not as confronting as ... read more

Early morning arrival in Doha, Qatar airport after a 15 hour flight where we managed to get some sleep thanks to new travel pillows just purchased from Kathmandu. I'm not sure why I never tried them before as it's the first time I woke up without a stiff neck after a long flight. Food was good on Qatar and the hostesses were very nice and accommodating. 3 hour wait in Doha went quick while we had coffee in an Illy cafe and had free wi-fi. Plane took off on time for the 3 hour flight to Amman, our final destination. There was a money changer just before you get to Passport Control where you buy your visa but there is also an ATM where I managed to successfully withdraw cash using our Citibank Debit card. Also ... read more

For breakfast we went back to the same Cantonese restaurant for Yum Cha and then Dad decided he preferred to catch a cab to the airport rather than the Maglev train because he didn't want to have to transfer our luggage around, but I would definitely recommend the Maglev as it’s so much quicker. Flight was at 12.50pm and we arrived in Hong Kong on time at 3:40pm. We had a 3 and a half hour wait for the flight to Sydney so plenty of time to explore the Terminal shops. As the time got closer I went to get Dad, but he had disappeared. I was worried he had already gone to the departure gate, so I decided to go there as I had enough time to come back if he wasn't there. It turned ... read more

Nothing particular planned today, found a good Cantonese Restaurant for Yum Cha before we decided to have a walk down Nanjing road down to the Bund. Well the original intention wasn't to go to the Bund but Dad had to get some cash for our tour the next day and we had to go down that far to find a Bank of China. While Dad was there I went and took some photos around the Bund and river front. Also bought some Chinese movies on DVD in a book shop on Nanjing road. After lunch, Dad went back to the hotel and I decided to wander further down Nanjing and walked around People's Square. I told Dad I was going to see the acrobatics show as he had said that he wasn't interested, but he changed ... read more