Blogs from South, Jordan, Middle East - page 46

Floating In Salt After A Day Of Petrafication After spending a couple of days seeing Roman ruins, Byzantine churches, and Biblical lands you’d think we’d be tired of the old stuff. In most cases I would agree with you. I have a longer shelf life when it comes to ruins than Kel does, but even I have my limits. After a couple of days of solid ruins rumination, it’s usually time for a break for this traveler. But (there it is, the big but you knew was coming) Petra is a place that overcomes tourist fatigue. Petra is a place that inspires dreaming and imagination. There are few sights on the planet that can compare with the mystery and almost fairy-tale quality of the remains of this huge sight located in the southern part of ... read more

I hope that everyone enjoyed the last two entries, or at least managed to get half-way through the first one which is a feat within itself. This section should shock and amazing you with the camels and snorkeling and Bedouin! Here it goes... Aqaba After we spent Tuesday night in Damascus Roger and I caught a bus back to Amman where we had a frustratingly easy time getting back into Jordan. We only spend 2 hours in Amman before leaving, just enough time to go home take a shower, send some emails, repack, and cook lunch (which I carried out with me in a plastic bag which attracted many stares). After that we boarded a beaten down bus for the 4 hour trip from Amman to Aqaba which is far down south on the Gulf of ... read more

Okay, soo lots to catch you all up on! My last week in Alex was an emotional one - saying goodbye to these people was beyond difficult as they were my best friends, my family, my support for 3 months - it's crazy to think how close you can get with people when put into situations such as this. But then I went and spent 5 days at the Red Sea - Sharm el Sheikh with two of my British friends and my friend Ellen, from Miami - it was a blast though it wasn't "egypt". It's on the Sinai which means that its part of the Middle East (part of Egypt belongs to Africa and the other part, the Sinai, belongs to the Middle East). However Sharm El Sheikh is SUCH a touristy area - ... read more

Hello All, I just finished a long day in Petra, Jordan which was so beautiful. We saw some temples and canyons and also successfully survived our first international adventure. We rode horses down and hiked back up which was really tiring but also fun. We are staying at really interesting kibutz now where the houses are made of straw and mud and there is hardly any waste. It is very ecological and also more socialist than most kibbutzim have become. Everyone is anxious to arrive and settle in a city and Jerusalem so that will be rewarding after a busy and challenging two weeks. We stayed in Beer Sheva earlier this week which wasn't the nicest of cities but it was fun because we had a night out bowling and getting ice cream etc. I want ... read more

This is what a corner of my heaven looks like. Climbing in the Middle East Climbing in Wadi Ram in Jordan is simply the BEST climbing I have ever done in my life. There are more pictures and videos to come, but I will tell you that it is sandstone, trad climbing, and multi-pitches that seem to go on for miles. In my heaven (when I pass on from earth) I am going to stay there. But the only downfall is that there is no beach. Which is why I have not yet picked up and moved residences there. If anyone is a climber, I STRONGLY recommend that you put that on your list of places to climb. HIGH up on the list, in fact. Jordan is one of my corners of heaven. When in heaven, ... read more