Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Day 3 Aqaba






Monday February 21st.

Today we boarded our nice bus for the four hour drive to Aqaba. The bus is quite roomy and comfortable because we aren't full. We now have a Jordanian guide and driver too.

The drive was very pleasant as we drove south from Amman along the desert highway to Aqaba. Aqaba is the only port town in Jordan. It is located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. From the harbour you can see Israel and Egypt.

When we arrived we checked into our hotel and then immediately regrouped for an orientation walk. Jess showed us around the area of the hotel and told us what there was to do. At the end of the walk we wound up at a little restaurant where we had a quick lunch of various pastries. Then we all split up to go and do what we were interested in.

I teamed up with Krys, a woman from London, Ontario. We walked to the ruins of Mamluk Fort, which dates back to the 900's. It was heavily destroyed during the First World War. Then we walked down along the waterfront and waded in the Red Sea. We watched Jordanian families on the public beach. Here women are not allowed to wear swimwear. If you want to go for a swim you have to go to one of the private hotel beaches in the area where you won't upset cultural sensitivities by wearing swimsuits. The rest of the afternoon we spent walking the streets, checking out the shops and trying to find an ATM that would accept my card.

This is a nice little city. People are very friendly and greet you by saying “welcome”. It's a quaint sea side town that feels very safe. The city has been designated as a duty free city and the country is trying to encourage investment from foreign countries to make it a high class tourist town. There are lots of new hotels springing up.

Then back to the hotel for a briefing about the next day. After that we all went as a group to a restaurant that Jess knew. There we had a variety meze, which are salads or starters, like humus and babaganous (sp) and then some of us had a mixed grill too, of chicken and lamb. The best part was a beverage of lemon and mint. It was so good I had two!

I popped into an internet cafe on the way back and then spent the rest of the night relaxing in the room and talking to Celim.

1 comment:

  1. Hey Joe!
    You are getting some really great pics I must say. Jordan looks really interesting, there is a lot of history in the middle east, you are going to see some great places on this leg of your journey!

    ReplyDelete