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Published: April 9th 2011
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Hey all,
I'm backtracking as I have quite a lot to catch up on, no internet for a week!
Our last day in Egypt was a well-deserved lazy day which involved a lot of reading and drinking milkshakes by the shoreline and staring across the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia. We left Bishbishi for the port town of Nuweiba to get our ferry to Aquaba in Jordan on Saturday morning. It was roasting hot, not helped by the weight of our backpacks. After taking two hours to get through the terminal, including a hilariously cramped and dodgy bus ride (we couldn't stand up straight without hitting our heads off the ceiling), we boarded the ferry at 2pm. It was at this point that we discovered that instead of the fast ferry we thought we were on, we were actually on the slow ferry instead and had a three hour wait before we would depart. We bunked down in the "distinguished passengers" lounge and got ready for the long haul. After six hours of being stared at by men who conveniently had to wash their hands in the bathroom next door, we arrived in Aquaba after 8pm, and finally met
our tour truck and our driver, Colin.
We drove into Aquaba for money and food, where I had a minor panic attack when my bank card wouldn't work (eventually sorted it out). We were taken to a campsite where we got to sleep on the cushions of an outdoor sitting area.
Woke up covered in mosquito bites despite large quantities of DEET. After our first "home" cooked breakfast, we departed for Wadi Rum, popping into the local Safeway along the way to stock up on food. Jordan is already a lot more visably developed than Egypt. Wadi Rum was spectacular- the desert land of Lawrence of Arabia is a protected area. We were taken on a Jeep tour to take in the scenery- stopping for photos and sandboarding. No words can do the Wadi Rum justice it was absolutely beautiful. We saw carvings from 300bc by the Nabotean people- some carvings marking the road to Petra. We drove on to a site for bush camping that night and my cook group made tuna pasta with lots of vegetables which we were very much missing from our diets!! After a few vodkas and shisha by the fire, we rolled
out sandmats and sleeping bags and slept under the stars and the open sky.
The next morning we broke camp for the town of Wadi Musa- nearest to Petra. We were staying at a hotel and were given a dorm room. However this turned out to be the roof of the hotel covered by corrugated iron sheeting with mattresses on the concrete ground. Even worse it was raining the night before so the ground was soaking!! Graham came to rescue and got us all upgraded to proper rooms for free. It continued to rain on and off that day taking us all by surprise! The hotel management found us an electric fire to huddle around in the lobby, as it was really cold (well in actual fact like an Irish winter). Graham cooked us dinner outside as a treat and we put our thermals on before venturing out to eat!! Watched Indiana Jones to get us in the mood for Petra the next day!
Will update again tomorrow!!
Orla
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