jordan and middle east

May 14

What a port! I've just fallen in love with Jordan.

We went to Egypt the day before, in a big group, and lots of long minibus rides and big tourist spots. Not much interaction with anyone, not much time to linger and stroll the streets. Egypt was pretty cool, but Jordan...

It started when we - my roomie and I - somehow got off the boat a bit later than everyone else. I had intended to join four or five others - including a couple of guys - but we missed them. You hear many things about the Middle East (although Jordan is less strict than most Middle Eastern countries), and in our port orientations we were told several times, 'try to stay in a group; girls, it's better if you can travel with a guy', etc.

So it was with a little trepidation that the two of us set off alone from the port at Aqaba. It turned out to be a blessing. I felt like I enjoyed it much more than Egypt. We didn't rush, and we met lots of people. Travelling in a big group is good for safety, I guess, but it's all too easy to not interact properly with the country you're in; it becomes hard to make decisions; it's easy to just kind of sit back and let other people make the decisions about where you're going to go next, what you're going to do.

We managed to do the budget tour of Jordan. We took a bus to Petra, then at Petra we met a Spanish couple who took us to Wadi Rum and invited us to join their desert camping site. The next day, the same couple took us back to Aqaba, where we chilled for the afternoon.

We met lots of lovely people in Jordan. Our first impression was not great, with lots of guys trying to convince us to get in their taxis, but once we got past them, there was the shopkeeper who gave us directions and free map, the old newspaper seller who took us to the right bus for Petra, the minivan driver who gave us advice about going around Petra... Pretty well everyone in the shops and restaurants, everyone working, was a man. The first lady we met was a Jordanian nurse on the bus.

We were both conservatively dressed and wearing headscarves/bandanas. Some guys did stare a bit, but it wasn't really intense; I never felt uncomfortable about it. My roomie got into a habit of calling out 'salam alekum' (peace be with you) to almost everyone we passed, which prompted many people to wish us peace (alekum es salam) in return. Lots of people asked us where were were from, what our names were. Many people said, not 'welcome', but 'you're welcome'. I liked that. I felt welcome.

Apparently my name was difficult to remember, so I have the new Arabic name of Baraka (this is what someone mispronounced my name as).

The ladies in Jordan all wore headscarves of some kind; some wore jeans and shirts, or long coats, while a few wore the full black burqa, entirely covered but for their eyes. Many men wore Western clothes, others Arabic dress (I don't know what they're called), and quite a few of them also wore head coverings. It's good against the hot, bright sun. I got a lot of vitamin D in the Middle East. ^_^

Our impression was that Jordan was pretty chilled. People ambled around the streets; nobody seemed in a hurry. Families and friends sat in the shady park and chatted or napped. In the evening, lots of people sat around at the beach, drinking cups of tea from the chai sellers, or smoking sheesha, the children and men playing in the water.

People who tried to sell us things weren't persistent and didn't follow us; they'd offer once or twice and then leave us alone. It was pretty hot, and the town wasn't really built-up - lots of small shops, no skyscrapers - so it didn't lend itself to a fast-paced lifestyle.

Compared to Egypt, I felt like people were more relaxed and friendly. Most people had lighter skin, and some had light eyes. There were posters of the king of Jordan everywhere. The scenic main highway was called 'The Kings Way', and all the main roads and parks in Aqaba were named after princes and princesses.

The sightseeing was great. It took over two hours to drive from Aqaba to Petra, so we could see a lot of countryside.

Jordan is very dry; so much desert and great rock formations; the whole countryside varying shades of red and brown and yellow. However, it didn't seem as inhospitable and barren as the desert around Safaga, Egypt. There were hardy desert grasses, the odd eucalyptus tree, some patches of green, birds. Like Egypt, though, I found it remarkable that people could live there. You'd see some guy, in the middle of the desert, near nothing at all, driving a small herd of goats... or our bus would stop in the middle of nowhere and let someone out, when there was nothing but bare desert for miles around.

The ancient town of Petra was quite an amazing sight to see. I knew very little about it, but I now know that some of the rock formations were in the movie 'Mission to Mars' (or was it 'Mars Attacks'? I forget) and the ancient treasury featured in Indiana Jones (it was where the Holy Grail was). Hahaha... okay, I did learn more than just that. ^_^ But I can't say anything very interesting about Petra; a picture will do more than any words.

Wadi Rum is a desert, kind of between Aqaba and Petra, popular for 4WD drives, camping with Bedouin tribes, camel treks, etc. Again, the landscape is pretty amazing. We stayed at a campsite. These campsites are marketed as Bedouin camps, with Bedouin guides and hospitality, but they are set up for tourists; you're not actually staying with Bedouin families (though this is also possible). You have a little camp set up in the middle of nowhere, with three or four guys looking after things. There were also some pet cats eager to greet us.

Dinner was awesome - a kind of barbecue with shish kebabs and sausages and hommous and tzatziki and salads and pita bread and many delicious things. Actually, everything we ate in Egypt and Jordan was brilliant. ^_^ They turned the generator and the lights off for a while, so we all sat around in silence and looked at the stars in the silence. We saw a shooting star, and lots of satellites.

After that we sat around a campfire and drank Bedouin tea with rosemary, and smoked a narghile (sheesha, or water pipe), and everything was great.

There were eight of us at the camp; four pairs of people. We got up just after 5 to see the sunrise. Since the sun rose behind some great rock formations, it took a while, but we saw the light increasingly creeping across the valley. Breakfast included pita bread baked over the campfire, with fresh yoghurt.

The friendly couple who drove us around took us back to Aqaba but first they stopped off at their hotel. Aqaba is on the coast of the Red Sea, so it has lots of beaches and palm trees. It's a popular spot for diving. From their hotel we could stand on the dock and see lots of fish.

We spent several hours doing Aqaba on the cheap. We spent ages just sitting in parks. Several kids came up to talk to us. At one point, about nine kids gathered around and convinced us to come up and say hi to their parents. None of them spoke any English (beyond 'What's your name?' and a couple of other words), and our Arabic was mostly limited to greetings and 'shukran' (thank you), but we were able to communicate a little. They managed to explain that they were two families, and tried to point out the relationships - sister, mother, brothers. The ladies asked if we were married (actually, several of the ladies we met asked us this). No, we said. 'Enshallah' (God willing), they said. Hahaha.

I drew pictures for them and showed them some pictures on my camera. They all wrote their names in English for me. The oldest ones did fine, but one of the younger girls couldn't remember beyond 'S' (her mother rolled her eyes). Then one of the boys remembered that he could say 'I love you', so we got a big round of 'I love yous' and pictures of love hearts in my notebook. They departed with lots of smiles and handshakes and 'see yous'. ^_^

Aqaba was an interesting place. On one side, all desert; on the other, all palm trees and beach sands. In the beaches and the parks were almost only local people, but the streets in between were full of tourist shops selling souvenirs, and that's where we saw other Westerners.

Anyway, I have been writing for a long time - sitting in the free space part of the ship, drinking tea - and now I am sitting on the outside deck, since the weather is so lovely. A few minutes ago I saw three dolphins, jumping alongside the ship.

I still need to write about Egypt, but I will leave that until another time. ^_^


Egypt

We stopped in Safaga, Egypt, for one and a half days, and we packed a lot into that time. Too much, I now feel. Because Luxor is considered a 'must-see' place, we felt we must see it, but if I had my time again, I'd probably just go to Hurghada and chill out in a hotel, walk around the town, etc.

The trouble was, we had heard that it would take about 3 1/2 hours by car from Safaga to Luxor, but in reality it took about 5. We travelled in a big group - about 18 of us at first, later pared down to 13 or so.

This was our Egyptian itinerary:
-get a minibus to Luxor
-look briefly at Karnak and the Valley of the Kings
-take the minibus back to Hurghada, where we stayed in a hotel
-go snorkelling/scuba diving in the Red Sea
-go back to Safaga and our ship

So, we got a minibus, but he had to stop at a checkpoint for over an hour while they sorted out our papers. It transpired that he was not licensed to carry more than 14 passengers, and we had 18, so every time we passed a checkpoint we had to close the curtains. Although they got passport copies for 14 of us, nobody ever actually checked to see how many people were in the van.

Actually we were supposed to be 14, but somehow several random Japanese people had attached themselves to our group - probably nervous to make their way around by themselves with their non-existant English - and so the van was very cramped. Some people had to sit on the floor, another on someone's lap. And we were in that van for 5 hours! After we got to Karnak, some of us went elsewhere which eased the squeeze.

As seen from a car, Egypt is a land of satellite dishes, unfinished houses, and sand. Lots of sand.

Anyway I'm so tired I can't be bothered finishing my posts about Egypt. So I'll finish. I did have a few splendid moments, like seeing the sunset (before we were interrupted by a truck full of soldiers) and seeing all the stars come out, while listening to my music...



May 17

I've just come back from our day trip to the pyramids.

Yesterday we went up the Suez Canal, which took far less time than anticipated; originally our arrival time was predicted for 11pm, but we arrived at 5pm. During the day they opened up the topmost part of the bridge to passengers, so we could get a good view. They were selling shaved ice and snacks there. We also had some Egyptians come on board and set up a kind of mini market in the free space, where they were happily fleecing the innocent Japanese passengers. ^_^

Since we arrived early, we could go off the ship for dinner. I tell you, it's pretty weird to leave your room and go for a stroll in Egypt before going back home to bed...

We are at Port Said, which is at the northern end of the Suez Canal. It's a bit of a grotty town, with lots of stray cats, garbage, rather dirty shops, many without lighting inside. My roomie and I tried to copy the local habit of linking arms as we walked around - it's common among friends of the same gender - but had to give it up as we negotiated the narrow laneways, uneven pavings and constant weaving around curbs and gutters.

Customs consisted of walking through a hut past some utterly uninterested officers, then out the gate. Some locals set up a kind of souvenir market in the area directly outside the ship's gangway.

We found a place for dinner - I have eaten SO many yiros-type items now, I think I've had pita bread for about eight meals in the last week.

As mentioned, I went with my roommate, my companion of Jordan. As in Jordan, she was wearing her headscarf, and she greeted passersby cheerily in Arabic, but the responses were mixed; most people didn't really answer at all. I had the impression that the people in Egypt were a bit harder, somehow.

***

Today it was off to the pyramids, yay! It was my first time to be on one of the organised tours, and it was rather nice for a change. At a couple of ports I've felt a little wearied, trudging out into the hot weather to walk the haggle with taxi drivers, while all the Japanese passengers climb into the air-conditioned comfort of the waiting tour buses. Last port in Egypt, particularly - when they got taken straight to the tourist spots while we spent over an hour at a checkpoint getting approval to use the road.

The tour was pretty simple. Cairo is about three hours from Port Said, so we started super early - it was still dark - and went straight to the pyramids. We went to a couple of different vantage points, and the Sphinx, with just enough time to take a quick stroll and some pictures. For lunch we got taken to a restaurant on a boat on the Nile. Then we had a couple of hours free in Cairo, near the Egyptian museum. Most people went in there, but I went off by myself for a bit.

Cairo is full of irritating people. I was walking around muttering imprecations at everyone I passed. I don't mind the kind of merchant that shouts 'look! look! one dollar!' or 'come in! come in!' because I can keep walking. In Cairo they all had their own little strategies.

Like giving you something as a 'present' and then asking for a tip. No. If you want to try to sell it to me, fine, but don't leave me with a bad taste in my mouth, thinking I had experienced an act of kindness only to find it wasn't.

Or helping you cross the street (a daring feat in that part of the city), then striking up a conversation (where are you from? Oh, Australia? I have an uncle in Sydney. How many Egyptians have an uncle living in Sydney?!), which leads to 'let me give you my business card'. I don't mind getting their business card, but they wanted to take me into their shop to give it to me. Go away. I'm not going to buy anything.

Speaking of crossing the road, in theory there are a few pedestrian crossings, but most streets, even the huge ones, didn't have any. People just step out into traffic. By the end of an hour, I was quite adept at stepping out into six lanes of oncoming cars, buses and motorcycles.

Also, it was 42 degrees in Cairo today, so not altogether pleasant.

Our meeting point was a Hilton, and it was quite a contrast between outside - masses of locals waiting for buses, while people sold pita bread and grilled corn; lots of hole-in-the-wall supermarkets and sprawling vegetable stalls - and the inside.

I enjoyed seeing the pyramids, though we didn't have a very long time there. When I was 11, I remember going to see the pyramids, and feeling disappointed that they weren't as large as I'd expected. I don't know what I was expecting as a child, because as an adult, I was pretty impressed. Almost all the teachers are obsessive photo-takers - I am not alone - so most of our time at the pyramids was spent in a variety of poses. 'Holding' the pyramids, kissing the Sphinx, walking like an Egyptian, and making a human pyramid in front of the real deals.


May 18

Only a day after departing Egypt and the Middle East, and bam, the weather's turned cool. After a month of scorchers, I can say it's the first time I've been able to wear a jacket since we left Yokohama. The ocean - now we are in the Mediterranean - has been a wee bit rougher than we've been used to, and the ship has been rocking all day. A few people are sick, either from seasickness or from tummy upsets.