Israeli Love....NOT and lots of love from Jordan

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Going from Egypt to Jordan via Israel was supposed to be faster and cheaper than taking the ferry across....this was not to be. The day started off well, I made my way over via bus from Dahab to the Israeli border. I had no problems crossing the Egyptian border, however, that is where the trouble free day ended. Once I entered Israel I had problems coming out of every corner. I was crossing with two friends I had met while in Dahab, however, since I somewhat expected problems we told the border patrol we were not travelling together. This probably saved them hours of frustration. I was almost immediately stopped and pulled over for prelimitary questioning. This was only the start. I was asked why I had been in Sudan, what I did there, if I made any contacts, why I had a beard, why I was growing it, if it had any religious significance and so on and so on. After being asked the same questions about 3 times I was let through to put my bag through the metal detector. My bag was completely gone through and after they found out that I had a sword in my bag all hell broke loose. They went through my bag with a fine tooth comb after that and pulled my aside. I was asked the same questions about 10 times by a variety of people, I had to strip down to my boxers and was patted down and had the metal detector pat me down everywhere. After finally being satisfied that I didn't have any hidden weapons or contrabrand on me I was questioned again, asked what my fathers name and my grandfathers name was amongst a variety of new questions for an extensive background check.

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Photos

Looking out over Saudi Arabia
If you go across to Saudi and get caught...you won't be leaving any time soon...

Engine Troubles
Our Beduin driver fixing the engine in the desert...never a great feeling being stuck in the middle of nowhere

Gorge in Petra leading to the Treasury
Just amazing walking through this long canyon for ages it felt awesome