Aqaba

Tuesday 24th
We woke early as today we have arrived in Jordan and have our trip booked to the ancient city of Petra.  Buffet Breakfast and listening to the Captain's 7.00 update from "the commanding bridge".  He then had a special announcement.  There had been some protesting in Petra overnight and the "Authorities" directed that visitors cannot enter Petra.  We are all devastated, as Petra was the highlight for so many, particularly with the cancellation of our Egyptian ports.

However there is nothing we can do about it, so there is an alternative trip to Wadi Rum, which is not as far as Petra and is closer to Saudi Arabia.  As an aside, we are absolutely amazed at Aqaba, which is situated at the end of the Gulf of Aqaba, off the Red Sea.  What is intriguing is that Aqaba is on one side of the harbour and Israel just 1 km away on the other side.  Just back a couple of km on the Israeli side is Egypt, while the Saudi border is just past the port where we are docked.  It all seems so civilised, despite the media reports.

We bus out of town along Kings Road, which apparently has much biblical significance, back to Moses!  It is about an hour and we reach the Wadi Rum information centre, where we transfer to 4WD vehicles.  I now know where all the Land Cruisers go to die!  Because there were so many people on this tour, they had roped in every Bedouin for hundreds of miles with anything looking like  4WD.  Six to each vehicle and off we go across the desert.  Our vehicle had a problem with the back wheel becoming loose and almost came off.  Fortunately our driver managed to stop the last vehicle behind us ( who had a wheel brace).  The other vehicles had all gone, so we could have been stranded - but we weren't.

Stopped at a Bedouin camp site for herbal tea.  There were also ancient writings on the rocks, depicting Lions, tigers, gazelle and other wild animals that used to roam the Wadi thousands of years ago.  Perhaps I should explain, the desert/wadi and indeed the whole of Jordan that we travelled through is very hilly, with magnificent granite & sandstone structures - nothing at all like I expected.  We were expecting straight desert, more like the Sinai, along the Suez.

After our little cup of tea, we just had to - yes moved up to riding Camels now.  Just a very short ride, but got the photos to prove it!  Vivian had a little one and I think that mine was it's mother.  But the camels are a lot smaller than the Australian ones thankfully.  After this, more 4WDing and stopped off in Lawrence of Arabia territory - magnificent rock formations and another Bedouin camp, with stuff for sale but no free tea.  Finally out of the mountains and on to the Wadi, where there is another more commercial camp complex, where people can stay overnight.  More tea & biscuits, as well as local dates. 

After a further rest, back onto the buses (which had come around the road from where we started our adventure and a leisurely drive back to the ship.  We really enjoyed the day and the experience.  Our guide was so knowledgeable and we almost suffered information overload, particularly the biblical significance, as Muslim & Christian history is the same.  Jordan is unusual in some respects as it has many different nationalities and welcomes all beliefs.  They also have over 1 million refugees from Syria as well as about the same from Iran.  All these hot-spots just a few hundred miles away, yet Bedouin still tending their sheep, hosts & camels as they have for centuries.

Back on board and currently sailing down the Gulf of Aqaba, where we have 6 sea days until we reach Dubai.  We have extra security on board until then and our water-canons are all prepared and tested by the crew a couple of days ago.  We are aware that this is the most dangerous part of the cruise as we head down towards the Somali area.  Not that anyone expects anything to go wrong, and we are sure that Princess has all systems in place.  With all those sea days coming up, I'll be sure to complete the entries for our trip on the Royal.  Boy, we were lucky there, we hear today that it has broken down in Naples and they are cancelling the next 2 cruises.  That puts missing Petra into perspective.  We are truly lucky with what we have.