Amman to Petra 

Our day started at 7.30am with Jad, our driver who took us on our 3.5 hour drive to Petra along the Desert highway. 

Part Way Through Our Drive to Petra

Part Way Through Our Drive to Petra


He was helping us plan our day including our dinner menus at a traditional restaurant in Petra….along with the “surprise” dessert. 

An interesting drive discussing history, the Jordanian way of life and his family’s story.  

Our hotel, the Petra Guesthouse, is great and right at the entrance to the Petra world heritage site.

The View From the Cave Bar at the Entrance to Our Hotel, the Petra Guesthouse

The View From the Cave Bar at the Entrance to Our Hotel, the Petra Guesthouse

Petra…well what can we say..it was what we expected and more..from the amazing formations to the colours of the mountains and the history  associated with it. This world heritage site really is a wonder.
At the Start of the Petra Trail

At the Start of the Petra Trail

The Treasury at Petra

The Treasury at Petra

The Monastery at the top of the 900 Stairs at Petra

The Monastery at the top of the 900 Stairs at Petra

The Best View at the Top of Petra

The Best View at the Top of Petra

Steve's New Home at Petra

Steve’s New Home at Petra

 

Ashraf, the local, Bedouin guide was passionate about what he does. He explained Petra’s history including the Bedouins, the original Jordanian nomadic tribes. Apparently all who live in Petra are of the one tribe and are interelated in some way. The young Bedouin men were quite handsome with Kohl lining their eyes..one of them looked exactly  like Johnny Dep in Pirates of the Carribean

After his 2 hr guided tour up to the Treasury and the tombs in the mountains, we continued  on to climb the 900 steps to the monastery . ..then on to see  the view of the valley from the sumit. It was no easy feat…there were horses and donkeys available to take people up and down, but we did it all on foot..quite an achievement for us, we felt.

Narrow Passageways Created by Earthquakes at Petra

Narrow Passageways Created by Earthquakes at Petra

Ancient Wild Fig Tree Along the Petra Trail

Ancient Wild Fig Tree Along the Petra Trail

More of Petra

More of Petra


Our bodies were aching after the 5 hrs of climbing and walking in the heat…so after a shower and a brief rest, we hit the Cave Bar…the original bar in a cave. ..for a couple of drinks before Jad came to take us to a Jordanian restaurant 

The Cave Bar at the Entrance to the Petra Guest House

The Cave Bar at the Entrance to the Petra Guest House


The Cave Bar at the Entrance to the Petra Guest House

The Cave Bar at the Entrance to the Petra Guest House

The Cave Bar at the Entrance to the Petra Guest House

The Cave Bar at the Entrance to the Petra Guest House

The Cave Bar at the Entrance to the Petra Guest House

The Cave Bar at the Entrance to the Petra Guest House

Our Excellent Traditional Jordanian Dinner

Our Excellent Traditional Jordanian Dinner

Our Special Local Dessert

Our Special Local Dessert

Relaxing by the Red Sea

We spent a nice relaxing 3 nights at Arabia Azur Resort in Hurghada, Egypt.

Beautiful Resort.

Arabia Azur Resort in Hurghada, Egypt

Arabia Azur Resort in Hurghada, Egypt

Arabia Azur Resort Dinner by the Pool

Arabia Azur Resort Dinner by the Pool


Great little lagoons + pool + beach.

Arabia Azur Resort Lagoon 'B'

Arabia Azur Resort Lagoon ‘B’

Arabia Azur Resort Lagoon 'B'

Arabia Azur Resort Lagoon ‘B’


Yummy food.

Arabia Azur Resort Desserts Table

Arabia Azur Resort Desserts Table

Arabia Azur Resort Frying Time

Arabia Azur Resort Frying Time


We even went out on a quad bike safari to a Bedouin Village

Setting up for Our Quad Bike Safari

Setting up for Our Quad Bike Safari

Quad Bike Safari Time!

Quad Bike Safari Time!

Quad Bike Safari Half Way Break

Quad Bike Safari Half Way Break


Bedouin Village (VERY) Short Camel Ride

Bedouin Village (VERY) Short Camel Ride

Bedouin Village Mosque

Bedouin Village Mosque

Sweet Mint Tea in the Bedouin Village

Sweet Mint Tea in the Bedouin Village


Followed by a short stint on a Spider Bike

Faiza Cutting Loose on the Spider Bike

Faiza Cutting Loose on the Spider Bike

Drive Like an Egyptian 

Well you’ve heard how to walk like an Egyptian…

Let me give you a heads up on how to drive like an Egyptian 

  • Line markings: Rare and utterly pointless… if you want to drive half in a lane do it … not just for a few seconds until you realise oh no, just stay there taking up two so called lanes
  • Stopping: If you come across one of the rare (in the smaller cities) sets of traffic lights, stopping at red lights is optional. Stopping elsewhere in any lane or part of a lane on any road at any time = “Nike” … just do it
  • Car Horns: 24 hours day, non stop, if you’re going to overtake beep, if they’re to slow beep, if they’re morons beep, if it’s your buddy beep, if you’re lucky to be alive … BEEP
  • Sirens + After Market Horns: Same as a police or emergency vehicle or like “The General Lee” from Dukes of Hazard … just buy them and slap them on your vehicle, they’re not legal, but that doesn’t stop anyone, I’d guess a third of vehicles have one – use exactly the same as a car horn as listed above i.e. CONSTANTLY 
  • Vehicles: Everything you can imagine and some you can’t ranging from semi trailers to trucks, cars, motorcycles, three wheeled utes, motorised vendors carts pulled by horses and donkeys or horse and carriage and last but not least the illegal tuk tuks that are everywhere (the tuk tuks also delight in driving the wrong way up a one way street
  • Merging: This is not to be confused with Australian lane merging (which is bad enough), Egyptian lane merging can best be described as pretending you’re a serial killer with a very large carving knife … now stab aggressively and repeatedly at any tiny (or non existant) gap in the traffic
  • Pedestrians: Anywhere, anytime, they step out in front of any vehicle no matter what size it is or speed it is doing on any type of road or freeway
  • Street Vendors: Anywhere, anytime, any road or freeway, just stop in any lane and setup your cart
  • Pot Holes: These are not rare
  • Sleeping Police (Speed Humps): except On freeways expect one of these every few hundred metres
  • Driving Attitude: Not all drivers, but a consistent small percentages driving attitude can be described as “being, drunk + stoned + on crack + all while having a bad case of diarrhoea desperately looking for the closest toilet”

It is EXTREMELY difficult to describe the driving experience without swearing profusely…. let me sum it up as “butt clenching”.

Note: The drivers of our tour vans were all great, they did a great job in a very harsh environment.

We don’t have many photos of this as Steve had his eyes closed most of the time (praying for his life).

The Citadel, The Mosque, The Museum and The Bazaar

Up and out at 7.30 we first headed to the Citadel of Salah El Din built by Saladin El Ayouby, the king and army leader, during the end of the 12th century as a fortification against the Crusaders.

The Citadel of Salah El Din

The Citadel of Salah El Din

The Citadel has witnessed many important events in the Egyptian history. It was home to Egypt’s rulers for 700 years. Their legacy is a collection of three very different mosques, including the vast and ornate Mosque of Mohammed Ali, several palaces and a couple of terraces with superb Cairo views – on a clear day you’ll see Giza’s Pyramids poking up in the far distance.

The Mohammed Ali Mosque

The Mohammed Ali Mosque

We then moved on to our guided tour of the Egyptian Museum.

King Tut's Father Akhenaten

King Tut’s Father Akhenaten

The Mummified Remains of King Tuthmosis I

The Mummified Remains of King Tuthmosis I

 

Our last stop for the day was the Khan El Khalili Bazaar … but before taking in the sights and sounds of the markets we enjoyed a great lunch at the Khan El Khalili Restaurant in the middle of the Bazaar.

Lunch at the Khan El Khalili Restaurant

Lunch at the Khan El Khalili Restaurant

Our Food at the Khan El Khalili Restaurant

Our Food at the Khan El Khalili Restaurant


To end our day we indulged in the cultural experience of sharing Sheesha at the cafe with some mint tea.

Sheesha Time at the Khan El Khalili Bazaar

Sheesha Time at the Khan El Khalili Bazaar