Jordan.

Jordan came not a moment too soon after the hectic Egypt, and it was a most welcomed change for us.

While still in Egypt, when waiting in line for the ferry tickets (from Nuweiba to Aquaba), we met a nice couple from US. Since we discovered that we all have exactly the same route for the next two days, we decided to stick together.
So, from two, we were four people in just a couple of hours after leaving Dahab. It was especially great as we didn’t have to wait one night in Aquaba to catch the morning bus to Wadi Musa (Petra); now we could instead share a “service taxi” for the two and a half hours trip directly to Petra.
On the ferryboat, we all met another couple from Mexico and their five friends from Korea. So, we were already eleven by that time 🙂
What good times all of us could have had in Wadi Musa.. Unfortunately, the three taxis we took after arriving in Aquaba, didn’t stick together and we managed to get lost. So, by the time we reached Petra, it was again the two of us and the couple from US: Zachary and Hillary.
About that taxi ride, we had a crazy driver that made us feel like in a high speed roller coaster, with uncensored rap music playing in the background 🙂

Before going forward with the story, let me detail the itinerary for Jordan, as there were some major changes to it.
Because we overstayed in Egypt (10 days, instead of 7), we had to cut Jordan a bit short (though.. “a bit” might be an understatement :D):
– The Wadi Rum desert was out of the question, because of the high temperatures it experiences in the summer time. So, no camel ride, nor Bedouin night in the desert, this time..
– Next: one day and a half at Petra (I’ll detail this amazing experience in a future post);
– Then, instead of taking the bus to Amman (through the desert highway), we arranged for a private taxi (together with a guy from UK – Alex), to go through the King’s Highway and stop in certain places (a crusader’s castle ~ 20 minutes, Dana reservation ~ 30 min and finally the Dead Sea beach ~ 1.5 hours).
This was one of the two best decisions we took in this trip, since it allowed us to see a bit more from Jordan (beside Petra), after leaving it for Damascus in Syria.
The other good decision was to buy a Lonely Planet guide for the Middle East, while still in Luxor. Now we have within our grasp all kind of vital information: connections/buses timetable from one place to another, accommodation (with map and a brief review), tourist attractions (also with map and a bit of history or general details), recommended places for eating, shopping, relaxing.. and a lot more.

Back to our itinerary update; as you probably guessed already, we are writing from Damascus.
The next post will be about Petra, and I really wish you’ll read it.. If I had to choose just one post from this entire trip, then I would strongly recommend the one about Petra. You’ll find out why, in a couple of days.