Amman, Jordan

I left Dahab, Egypt at 10:00 on Saturday morning with Ashraf, my driver. Ashraf knew every policeman between Dahab and Nuweiba, but he didn't seem to be on good terms with any of them. Every roadblock brought a new adventure, but we finally managed to bribe our way through each of them, and we arrived safely in Nuweiba around 11:00.

At the ferry terminal we learned that the fast, safe, 12:00 ferry wasn't operating that day and I would have to wait for the slow, unsafe, 3:00 ferry instead. Ashraf felt terrible about me having to wait, and so he invited me to his sister's tent in a small Bedouin village on the Red Sea coast north of Nuweiba. We picked up some fresh pita and falafel along the way and were greeted by six men who prepared a delicious meal of spicy eggplant, fuul (fava bean paste), sweet tea and cigarettes. Ashraf's sister was nowhere to be seen, nor were any other women (a common phenomenon in Egypt).

After a long, relaxing lunch we headed back to the port of Nuweiba and I boarded the enormous ferry. On board I met two Americans and a French-Canadian who were heading to Wadi Musa, Jordan to visit the ancient Nabataean city of Petra. Although the two Americans were a little young, the French-Canadian fellow seemed interesting, and so I accepted their invitation to accompany them to Petra.

We arrived in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba around 8:00 p.m. and took a taxi straight to Wadi Musa. Aqaba is an unremarkable town by the looks of it, and several people had told me not to waste my time there, as there is very little to see or do.

We arrived in Wadi Musa around 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night, and after some haggling we settled on a cheap hotel (around $10.00 a night). At 7:00 on Sunday morning we headed to Petra -- an enormous region filled with extraordinary Hellenistic architecture carved into the living red sandstone (see photo). We spent a full day exploring the tombs, palaces, temples, canyons and mountains of Petra, returning to our hotel around 6:00 p.m. On Monday morning we returned to Petra for another day of hiking and exploring this fantastic site, returning to our hotel around 4:00 p.m. absolutely exhausted.

This morning we took the public bus to the capital city of Amman. My companions continued on to Israel this afternoon, and I found a nice, friendly hotel to spend a few nights. Amman is a relatively new, clean, and colorless city -- all of the buildings being constructed of the dull, off-white local stone. The Jordanians are an extremely friendly people, and Amman is a very progressive city, with many of the women sporting western fashions and free-flowing hair.

On a sour note, two of my three pairs of pants disappeared somewhere between Dahab and Amman. I have reason to believe they were stolen, not misplaced. This wouldn't be such a bad thing (my backpack is lighter now!), except that I am left with only one pair of filthy jeans to wear, and I am remarkably incompetent when it comes to shopping. I will, no doubt, be wearing something hideous for the next two months.

(Photo by Eric: Petra, Jordan)