Edom Wadi Musa

... or even steal him have tenfolded and thus HelMan decided to keep Hermann in a backpack from now on to minimize the risk of dissappearance or injury. <br><br>Apparently Petra was even so magical that it almost didn't allow HelMan to leave it- we had to fight for 1 hour at the bus station to actually get on a public bus because the common denial of the existence of a bus (and one bus even driving away without us because he refused to take us) and the sheer abundance of taxis who wanted to ...

... it here.<br><br>Aqaba is Jordan's only port city, a city of about 65,000 people. It is starting to develop more as a tourist destination spot and we predict within a few years the number of hotels will be staggering. Aqaba has a very balmy climate, even in winter. It is a duty free zone and the prices are quite good.<br><br>We wake up at 8 AM and realize that we would have already left by now if we were on the snorkeling tour. After ...

... to bother. In case you go, we got them down to 20JAD ($30) round trip before they gave up. <br>The walk was fun anyway. You basically walk through the ruins and can visualize the different cave these people lived in. It is absolutely amazing. We bought a few boubles and made friends with a couple of bedouin little girls. They were so darn cute! I put lipstick on one little cutie. She thought that was pretty cool. They gave us presents of Petra rocks ...

... mastered the skill of saving and channelling water for themselves. The surrounding rock walls are many coloured with reds, yellows and browns all making beautiful patterns in the cliffs and the buildings also captured these colours. The defining icon of the treasury was stunning and displayed Greco Roman influences as it has vases carved and columns and was so high being 38m tall carved into the Cliffside with huge rooms carved out inside. Apart from anything the ...

... large and roomy, and very inviting. It would not be difficult spending the night here. <br><br>Dinner was relaxed, accompanied by a Bedouin softly strumming a mandolin-like instrument and singing age-old traditional songs. As we dined under a blanket of stars in the cooling air, the effect was ethereal. We were overtaken by a sense of calm and serenity and asked ourselves, it this a real or a dream? It was an early evening, as we were exhausted by the day's events. The ...

... different but geez it felt good after. The man and women were separated on different floors so I had bid farewell to Katherine and meet her afterwards. First up had to get changed into these small shorts (little did I know that the girls had to do this whole process starkers) and then it was into the steam room for what seemed like an eternity. 30mins later it was under the cold shower and it was so nice to be cooling down, next step was onto this stone slab where the guy washed ...

... back to the Crown Plaza.  There were frequent stops with some good group pics at the Treasury on the way out.  Once we got back to the top-bathroom stops and then some lunch out on the patio at the hotel.  I had ice cream and coffee while the others had sandwiches. Time to get back in the car and make the trip back to Amman. This ride was just a little bit quieter than the way home.  We were back in Amman by 7:30pm and exhausted.  A good day was had by all!

... hot water so it's not an option. Went to an internet cafe to update this and got a discount as I'm staying at the hotel opposite. Lovely stuff. Same story for the restaurant I had dinner in tonight. Looking forward to a change of food now. It's nice stuff here but I'm looking forward to some fiery curries in Asia.<br><br>Didn't do much for the rest of the day. Napped for a couple of hours. Watched BBC World News on the tv in the lounge ...

... drive along on the dual-carriage King's Highway. On the way we stopped at Mount Nebo, which where Moses is supposed to have first seen the promised land. He never made it and is believed to have been buried nearby. <br><br>After a brief stop at a mosaic workshop, where Cameron again showed his interest in all things manufacturing, we went to see a rather older mosaic at the Greek Orthodox Church ...

... actually one block that has been ripped apart by tectonic forces. At many points you can match up the distinctive layers of rock on either side. The rock itself is quite stunning - red, orange, black, yellow all swirling around. The rock is tortured beauty. At the end of the siq you come across the magnificent Treasury (Al-Khazneh), which is the building shown in the movie. <br><br>Walking further you see a large ...