Blogs from Aqaba, South, Jordan, Middle East - page 9

Aqaba was the final major location along the trip. It is a resort town that is also a tax free area! This is supposed to mean that things are super super cheap here. However, all the meals and such still cost more than they would in Irbid. The area proved to be a very relaxing place just chill. We went to a resort area, The Royal Diving Club, to swim and snorkel. Along this area is a natural reef, which is actually pretty beautiful. Even though the land is lifeless except for tourists and bracelet sellers, the seas teamed with life. There were schools of fish everywhere along with sea cucumbers and corals. The reefs were nice to swim through during the hot day. I was sure to lather myself lavishly with sunscreen all day to ... read more

Aqaba, Jordan. The principal reason for stopping here is to get off and ride a bus for 2 and a half hours to see Petra. Petra is a fantastic underground city carved out of stone. There is no way to describe it - you have to go and see it for yourself. For now, the best thing to do is Google it and look at the photographs. Do not ever miss the opportunity to see Petra, one of the seven wonders of the world. We did see Petra in 1996, so we merely rode into the small Arab city of Aqaba, looked around for a bit and came back to the ship. Aqaba is interesting because it is adjacent to the city of Elat, Israel. Despite all the friction and war on Israel's borders, Jews and ... read more

Dag 250 - 253. Paa morgenen tok vi drosje fra hotellet til salgskontoret til JETT, som solgte bussbilletter til Aqaba (pris: 16,80 JP for begge). Bussen gikk ikke for kl. 14, saa vi hadde 3 timer aa slaa ihjel for den skulle gaa. Vi fikk legge sekkene vaare under noen seter hos JETT, og saa ble vi gaaende oppover og nedover gatene rundt kontoret. Det var mest mobelbutikker og bilverksteder i omraadet, saa vi maatte gaa et stykke naar vi ville kjope engelske romaner. Vi fant 4-5 smaa bokhandlere som laa forholdsvis naert hverandre, og den siste av de hadde et par klassikere; Robinson Crusoe og Oliver Twist. Bokene var tynne og relativt dyre, men Eirik var tom for lesestoff. Vi kjopte vann, kjeks og chips til bussturen, og saa gikk vi tilbake til JETT kontoret ... read more

Thanks for Your SupportI want to thank you all for your support and comments on the blog. Although there are personal benefits to writing this blog, the biggest satisfaction is to share with you what I am doing and receiving your feedback and support. Part of the backend output for the author includes a statics interface that gives me feedback on the amount and type of reach that the blog has. I have been amazed at the amount of people following along and want you all to know that your support motivates me to continue writing and improving. Eid-Al Fitr Trip PreparationWith Ramadan quickly coming to an end, I was not sure exactly what I wanted to do for Eid Al-Fitr. The holiday was planned to last from Tuesday through Saturday and there was one thing ... read more

Den heutigen Tag haben wir in einem Meer voller Korallen verbracht. Das war toll, sonnig und schön, aber hier nicht weiter erwähnenswert, weil ja doch ohne Action :-D Dennis hat allerdings gut (um nicht zu sagen astronomisch viel) Geld in eine Unterwasser-Einwegkamera gesteckt, sodass ihr vielleicht zuhause den ein odern anderen Eindruck davon bekommen könnt. Dafür hat unser 4. Mitglied im Bunde heute auch Probleme mit der Verdauung: Irgendwo in Syrien müssen wir etwas unverträgliches getankt haben (die Parallelen vom Syrischen Essen zum Syrischen Sprit möge jeder selbst ziehen…sorgt beides für Probleme :D), jedenfalls stottert unser Motor urplötzlich. Nach einem erfolglosem Tausch des Kraftstofffilters und Kommunikation mit unserern deutschen Autopapis und -opis, stotter ich den Berg hoch zur Tanke und mach voll. Jetzt läuft es wieder problemlos. Und der Auspuff macht auch keine böse... read more