Domina Aquarmarina Iii Aqaba

... security, passport control and entry onto the ferry itself. Because we have missed the ferry, we have to wait in the ferry terminal for over 3 hours. It is not a clean facility and the toilets in particular are just plain disgusting. We finally board the ferry at 4:15, but it does not leave until 5:10. The ride to Aqaba takes over an hour and is very smooth. There is a DVD program on the TV screens which is extremely violent and graphic and lasts until we ...

... dat we zouden bellen als we nog eens een lift nodig hadden). De touristiki informatiki wist wel een goedkoop hotel voor ons, maar gelukkig wist de Rough Guide een nog loucher kakkerlakken gat: Dweik (1).

We gingen eerst even internetten (jaja, is een hele bezigheid als je geen couch surft) en Chinees eten (onze darmen kunnen geen droog witbrood meer aan!). Heeeerlijk! Beetje hangen op onze geaircoode hotelkamer (en dat voor 18 eu per kamer!), de ...

... to do some shopping. Aquaba is tax free and I bought some Dead Sea products (they ended up being the cheapest of the whole trip), a cook book and some wine for our night in the Wadi Rum. A few girls bought jewelery. We also explored the food market, seeing bakers, butchers and fruit vendors before going back to the hotel. Marta, one of the solo girls on the tour, had gone off on her own to explore. She said she didn't get more than a few blocks before ...

... stuff in a tent we were staying in for the night and then walked out into the desert and just sat in the sand, miles from anywhere and looked up at the stars - amazing. After a while we ate a bit of food, managed to get lost in tiny Rum village (it was dark) and then slept.

Wadi Rum is where Laurence of Arabia made an impact in this part of the world, the landscape it unbelievably special, so so nice - when I upload the hotos you will see. Yesterday we met a dude that will drive ...

... Weiten hier beim Gucken immer viel kuerzer vorkommen, als sie tatsaechlich sind. Als ich dann auf halben Weg noch bemerkte, dass ich mein Ladegeraet vergessen hatte, war die Freude umso groesser. Die Szenerie um mich herum hat aber alles wieder wettgemacht. Mehr faellt mir jetzt nicht ein, ist aber auch genug fuer den Moment. Wenn alles gut laeuft, sollte ich ab jetzt wieder im normalen Rhytmus schreiben koennen. Wenn ich da mal nicht zu optimistisch bin... Bis denne, Brisko

Friday, Feb 6

We head out to the tourist office just around the corner, darn, it's closed, today is Friday! We go to McD's, they're closed until 10 and don't serve breakfast, so we wait outside until 10, but can get online.

We go inside at 10 and plug in and order. We check out Wadi Rum and decided we had been through similar places in Arizona, the main attraction here is to sleep in the dessert. We read up on Petra and how to get there. The ...

... the whole time...well, except for the dancing part. Of course, she shook her booty for that. Not many other tourists did though....actually just our group and the dancer our guide calls a genie always picked Natasha as his partner. It looks like he met his match. Ha ha. The next morning was just as gorgeous and so relaxing with solid rock mountains with just a couple of trees growing from them...how amazing. We wish we were staying there longer :(

... During the offseason when we toured we saw very few fellow travelers and mos tof the t ime it was just us and our guide and, well, silence. There is very little in the way of flora or fauna here, although we did see some fox tracks, and if you are a fly afficianado you might be enthralled. Most of all it is about soaking up the sun, heat, vasatness, and overall harshness of this minimalist landscape. Our day here consisted of a long jeep tour across very large distances ...

... making the ascent in time for sunrise was something I've never done. I've never hiked all through the night. At the top the stupid guide Josiph told us to go up for 5 min, come back down, and watch the sunrise from the coffeeshop. I had trucked my tripod up the whole hike and basically refused, I watched the sunrise from the top and it was beautiful. :) When I came down, not only was my group not in sight, but apparently Josiph fell asleep. I didn't know ...

... traveling in a large semicircle from its Western edge through the wilderness zone to Wadi-Fur'a before coming back to camp. By 'suppose to' I mean it was recommended, but we were free to do what we liked as long as we showed up in camp in the evening. We took the map, pictured, with us but failed to actually read the legend, therefore spending ...