Blogs from Aqaba, South, Jordan, Middle East - page 8

Geo: 29.5234, 35.0072Yeah, we left Egypt behind.. it's a funny thing but the reality is Egypt was hard work. Baksheesh is the only thing they understand and it gets tiring. I think we got jack of the Baksheesh thing because being Australian we do not understand how something at the end of the day can cost more then the agreed price!! The buggers generally attempt to short change you just in case you do not double count the money then they pocket the Baksheesh!! They have this interesting way of folding the notes over and double counting the one in the middle. Having seen the technique practiced a fair bit now we generally get the full change back.The process to get out of Egypt was nearly as crazy as the event to get in, none the ... read more

Hi there, So last night we drove to Aqaba. Like last time, we got some drinks from a local store and had a beer on the beach. After that we went to a hotel with a nice view on the Red Sea and so this morning I went for a swim in the Red Sea. Since there is a lot we have to do today, we woke up early, had a nice breakfast and took off. Round 9am I found myself amongst the fish in the red sea. I have never seen anything like this before. Again all these oh's and waauw's, this time under water. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't like water, otherwise I would have taken some nice pictures. No one else in the water where we were except me and my goggles :-) After ... read more

PADI Open Water Diver Course 27 Nov 09:We left the apartment the day before Eid started - a hard time to find somewhere to stay! When we asked about accommodation at Aqaba Adventure Divers, everything was fully booked. I asked about camping (many people were camping on the beach nearby) and we were welcome to stay on the rooftop or pitch a tent on the sandy volleyball court out the back of the centre. We opted for the rooftop and went to Safeway in Aqaba to purchase a few things such as sleeping bags, tent, camping mattresses, camelbaks etc before moving to the dive centre. That first evening, we started on the course manuals and the video for the open water course. We went hard core on the academic stuff, getting through 3/5 of the material ... read more

First visit just before closing time... We arrived at Qal'at el 'Aqaba 5 minutes before closing time, so we didn't have long to see the sites. The Aqaba Museum next door was also closing, and rather than pay the JOD 1 fee each, we decided to come back another day. Anyway, we had a chance to take a few photographs and to look around the area. The following information was provided on a noticeboard at the castle. All grammatical and typographical errors are in the original: UNIVERSITY OF GENT (BELGIUM) UNIVERSITY OF LYON (FRANCE) DEPARTMENT OF ANTIQUITIES OF JORDAN In collaboration with ANDREWS UNIVERSITY (USA) UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN (DENMARK) AQABA CASTLE PROJECT Prof. Dr. J. De Meulemeester Director of the archaeological excavations (2000-2008) The Aqaba Castle Project. New excavation facts It was probably not until the ... read more

Day 15 - Saturday 17th October. Ferry crossing to Aqaba in Jordan. We departed Dahab at 8.30am and after 2 hours arrived at the port village of Nuweiba for our ferry crossing to Jordan. Tracy our tour leader just explained that every time she does this crossing the procedure is different. There is an exit tax of 50LE plus the ferry ticket of 60LE both are paid at the ferry ticket office where our passports are needed before a ticket is issued. Next we go through security where we must all present at least one bag to be x-rayed. It doesn’t matter if we leave our main luggage on board just so long as we have 1 bag to pass through the security screen, Go figure! After security it’s a trip to the emigration office for ... read more