Petra, Wadi Rum and Amman, Jordan: Day Twelve (12/1)

I woke up sore and tired from walking all day at Petra, but we were on another epic 3 hour drive back to Amman. As I have said before, I am not a car trip type person so doing this day in and day out was very hard for me. But we had an amazing breakfast overlooking the pool and Petra prior to departure.

On the way back Amman we stopped into Wadi Rum. It is famous for it's rock climbing, ability to drive a 4x4 in sand dunes, horseback riding, and camel safari's. It has also been a set for many Hollywood films such as Transformers and Prometheus.

However, our experience of Wadi Rum was anything but fun. We sat in an old pick up truck with rusted door handles without any covers driving around very slowly in steep sandy hills. It was like being in SF but in a crappy car and lots of sand. Not my idea of fun. Every 30 minutes we stopped at a Bedouin tent to have some local tea. The only redeeming part was seeing the Lawrence of Arabia plaque left from when they used Wadi Rum as a film set. 2 hours later, we got back into car to head back to Amman.

We were promised a tour of Amman, but instead our driver just drove for 15 minutes showing us some of the rich people's home prior to dropping us off at our hotel.

Short post, because there was nothing to see, eat, or do. Complete waste of a day in a car. The highlight was when I was sitting in the lobby with WiFi to Facetime and check all my emails. Please skip Wadi Rum even though it's on the way back from Petra. It's not worth it.

Amman and Petra, Jordan: Day Eleven (11/30)

The weather is def. a lot colder in Jordan. We actually needed more than just a windbreaker to keep warm esp. in the early morning hours. It felt like we were back in SF with the misty fog and wind. I loved it. I love when it's cold in the mornings when you are having a hot cup of coffee and getting ready for your day.

We started out with breakfast at our hotel, the Marriott Amman. I loved breakfast here. Finally, we had properly crisped hash browns and non-watery eggs. They also still had my beloved foul so it was the perfect mix of Egyptian and US foods.

Again, we were off for another epic 3 hour journey. Ugh. For once, I wished we were in a tour group instead of on a private tour so there would be someone to talk to! FYI, Jamous is not the best driver either. I had to ask him several times to not gas it and then brake as it made me very car sick. I honestly thought I was going to hurl several times. Luckily, I brought along some candies to suck on and some prescription pills.

3 hours later with a coffee break for Jamous, we arrived at Petra. I was beyond excited to finally fulfill a childhood dream. I have ALWAYS wanted to go to Petra after I found out it was a real place and not some Hollywood set for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I never thought in my lifetime I would be able to go to the Middle East with my Mom given the culture and the state of unrest. This was the highlight of my entire trip.

We started out with a short horseback ride to the base of Petra. These were absolutely gorgeous horses. They were well kept but tame enough for non experienced riders to enjoy the experience. I even convinced my Mom to sit on a horse even though she only did it for the picture. Pro tip: Make sure when you are around horses is NEVER to walk behind them. Horses can kick their legs at any moment and their legs are incredibly powerful. You can break a bone, so make sure to remind people you are with to not walk too closely behind a horse. I had to keep reminding my Mom as even though the horses looked tame, if startled they are dangerous.

After our 15-20 minute and some time for photos, we started to walk through the trail to get to the base of Petra. For those of you who are disabled or unable to walk long distances, they have a horse driven carriage you can take. Along the walk you will notice a lot of rock formations, amazing colors and even find Nemo. Take time to enjoy the sceneary beyond your camera. In the early morning hours, the tour groups from cruise ships and what not have not yet arrived so it is a very peaceful and serene walk. After about 1 hour (downhill), you will finally see, Petra, the Treasury where Indiana Jones was filmed. The moment I saw it, I literally gasped. It was more beautiful that pictures or a video can depict. It's pretty amazing. There isn't anything inside like in the movie but the outside was more grand and in better shape in terms of preservation that I thought.

In front of the Treasury you will see a lot of local people offering camels rides and selling their wares. We chose to walk around and take our time to enjoy the sights. Upon our walk, we met women who had made camel bone necklaces, which I of course bought 3. They love American cosmetics so be prepared to give up your cosmetics for their local fares. I was approached several times for my lipstick despite being used.

One of the highlights of the trip was meeting Marguerite Van Geldermasen, the author of, Married to a Bedouin, son Rami. He was warm and inviting and told us some stories about growing up in Petra.

From there we kept walking towards the Ad Deir, or the monastery.

Finally, we needed to walk back. I personally love walking and would prefer that to sitting on some poor animal. My Mom was a trooper and walked the entire 3 hours back with me. We stopped in front of the treasury for one final pictures since the sun was setting and it was much better lighting. Childhoold dream fulfilled. I was happy as a clam and so happy that I could share this experience with my Mom.

We were pooped after walking in the hot, dusty sand all day. We checked into our hotel, the Marriott Petra and shared some obligatory nachos. I inhaled it so fast, I didn't even have time for a picture, but I did take a picture of the hotel. Yup, we love our nachos. Then it was off for a hot shower and some much needed sleep.

Cairo, Egypt & Jerash and Amman, Jordan: Day Ten (11/29)

Goodbye Egypt and Hello Jordan.

Memphis Tours which helped us organize our Egypt leg of our trip was fantastic and we had nothing but high expectations for our Jordan and Israel legs but little did we know that they partnered with Dakkak Tours which was one of the worst travel agencies I have ever been on as you will see each day's guide and/or driver gets worse and worse. Don't bother complaining because they will just call you a liar. This company is a fraud and does not deliver on its promises.

Early in the AM, we left Cairo. On the way to the airport, our guide Mohamed took me to the grocery store to buy some more Cadbury Eclairs. Because we left at 5 AM in the morning there was no traffic and it took just 20 minutes to get to the airport. It was eerie to see Cairo at 5 AM without any cars or people. It was so peaceful and quiet and very un-Cairo.

After being escorted into the airport and a quick boxed breakfast, we took a quick 1 hour flight to Amman, Jordan. Upon arrival, we were greeted but our representative wasn't so helpful. He just yelled at us to get in line and pay. We were not sure how much to pay and that we needed Jordanian money to pay for the visa. We were also going to spend a day in Israel before leaving Jordan. He was as helpful as a blank piece of paper. When we were waiting for our luggage he did not help us get it off the carousel. It was only when we got outside and loading up the car did he even try to help us. And on top of that he expected a tip for doing nothing. When he stuck out his hand for his tip, we paid him a small tip because we didn't want trouble. This is the first of many bad impressions we had with the Dakkak staff in Jordan and it gets significantly worse.

We met our driver, Mohammed Jamous who was the nightmare who ruined our trip and left me in tears. I have never met someone who was so rude and disrespectful who took us on a 1 hour drive to our first stop Jerash. We were promised an English speaking guide, but Jamous could barely speak a phrase of coherent English let alone an entire sentence. He could barely understand any questions we had and constantly dismissed anything we said or asked.

Upon arriving at Jerash, he immediately proceeded to walk a 1/4 mile away from us and we kept asking him to slow down. He only kept saying, "I get guide. Walk." My Mom is old and shouldn't have to run to keep up with our guide. He should be waiting for us, yet he could care less.

We met our guide who gave us a nice 1 hour walking tour where we saw many examples of Greek influences in the architecture. We saw what used to be a thriving commercial city that had complex sewer systems, entertainment center and multi-level shops.

After our tour of Jerash, we were starving. We really wanted to eat something simple at our hotel but our guide kept insisting that hotel food was extremely expensive in Jordan and we would be better off eating at a local restaurant, Green Valley Restaurants, which was very very cheap. When we asked him what type of food Jordanian food was since I am allergic to seafood and did not want to go to a restaurant that served seafood without a proper translator. We decided to chance it and try some Jordanian food. We ended up ordering a mix kebab plate with gigantic bread for dipping with the various sauces. I had to look at other patrons plate and do a thumbs up in order to order. It was okay but ended up costing $42 USD when Jamous told us it would be no more than $12 USD a person. I asked to see the menu but Jamous kept taking it out of my hands saying, "In Arabic, no English." Then why I said I wanted to see the pictures, he said, "No, only Arabic." The food was okay, the meat was extremely greasy esp. the lamb. The chicken was so dry you had to dip it into something before you ate it. The bread was dirty as the waiters held it with their hands as they carried to your table so we threw out the top piece out. The worst part was when we were ready to leave he wasn't so we had to wait about 15 minutes for him. Really? Aren't we the paying customers?

We were really tired and just wanted to go to our hotel to rest esp. since we were going to Petra the next day. When we got to our hotel, Jamal did not even try to carry our bags. My Mom even asked him to help and he just ignored us and walked away. We were left to fend for ourselves while he went to check us in at the front desk. Prior to depart he told us pick up in the hotel lobby the following morning at 8 AM. When we asked him how long the drive was and what we needed to prepare for the following day, he looked at us with a blank face. The hotel staff had to translate for us as Jamous did not have very good command of the English language. I was just glad that we at least were in a Marriott so we finally would have access to the internet. Hooray for Facetime and emails!!!

Side note, I went around our hotel, Marriott Amman to check out the prices for a meal and they were no more than $13 USD a person for local cuisine or even a hamburger meal at the sports bar, Champions. Even the fine dining restaurant had a fish entree with sides for less than $13 USD a plate. Jamous was a liar and cheat. I'm sure he got kickback from the restaurant for taking and swindling us.