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.

Giza, Sakkara, Memphis and Cairo, Egypt: Day Seven (11/26)

I finally had a great night of sleep and didn't wake up at 3 AM. The beds at Mena House are so comfortable and dreamy. Our hotel was very nice and modern as we stayed in the newly built extension. We walked about 8 minutes from our building to the main house and as we walked we got closer and closer to the Great Pyramids. What an awesome sight pre-breakfast. 

After breakfast at Khan El Khalili we met with our new guide, Ahmed, not El-Prince. He took us to see the Great Pyramid of Giza. But from the outside, each base stone is about 5 feet tall as you can see from my pictures below. I'm barely 5 feet, seriously! Since Memphis Tours does an excellent job in avoiding crowds, I was able to climb inside the Great Pyramids by myself. Of course, no pictures inside but it was so cool and slightly scary to be the only person inside. When you first walk in, you go along a path to set up stairs that are very narrow and steep. You climb until you reach a plateau and repeat this until you reach the top, which is about 60 meters. At the very top there is an empty room where a tomb once was. There are no windows or ventilation. The higher you climbed, the more humid and muggy the air got. I can't imagine doing this climb full of people esp. in the summer months when it is scorching. Pro tip: Go early around 9 AM to avoid the cruise boat folks.

Then we were off to the Giza Plateau for a view of all 3 pyramids (Cheops, Chefren and Mykerinus) and camel ride/picture. If you have never ridden a camel, when the camel sits down to let you off it is pretty scary but lean back so you won't fall off.

Sadly, our new guide wasn't so good, so we missed seeing the solar boat. Bummer.

Next up was the Great Sphinx. My mom loved it so much she took some selfies on her iPhone for memories. Pro tip: There are a lot of horses. Do NOT walk behind them as they can kick and cause serious injury.

Back into the car we went to the Sakkara complex and to see one of the first ever pyramid, Djoser Pyramid.

We made a quick stop to the Sakkara carpet school to learn how patterns and different materials were woven into elegant rugs. At the school, you will see people of all ages learning and refining their craft.

Now we were off to Memphis, the old kingdom's capital and the name of our tour group. As you can see, all the shops were closed due to the lack of tourism. It's sad as most Egyptians depend on tourism to survive.

Finally, we had a late lunch outside at Andrea Restaurant. It was nice to be away from the hustle and bustle of Cairo city. It was such a luxury to watch the ladies make our bread from scratch, see our chickens roasting on an open pit and just down to a multi-course meal. The chicken was juicy and perfectly seasoned with local spices. The dips and vegetables were as farm fresh as an organic vegetable you could buy at Whole Foods. This was local Egyptian food at it's finest. It wasn't fancy but it was fresh, delicious and we had no time schedule except to enjoy this feast. At the end of our meal, we were given a plate of tiny bananas that were firm but extremely sweet and juicy. Delicious!

Since we had lunch starting at 3 pm, we decided to explore our hotel for a bit before dinner. Due to the lack of tourism, the upstairs bar was literally shut down. Had it been open it would have been a pretty cool lounge as you can see from the pictures. The downstairs bar was open but with very limited hours. To learn more about the history of Mena House, turn right past the reception desk, there is a hall with pictures and plaques telling you about the history of Mena House. I would highly recommend allotting 1 hour to do this rather than buy the book which costs $40 USD but then again, I am not a fan of lugging a heavy coffee book home when I am on vacation. Pro tip: Tip the housekeeping staff $2 USD per person and you will get access to the Churchill Suite (if available). Go outside to the balcony to see a breathtaking view of the pyramids. Inside the suite you will also see pictures of Chiang Kai Shek, Winston Churchill, Teddy Roosevelt and other famous dignitaries.