Vacation hot spots

Yeah so Aqaba and my lazy day didn't happen until about three days later than originally planned. Robby and I secured us spots on a jeep trek through Wadi rum. We had originally decided to go to Wadi Rum, but then the Bedouin's told us it wasn't pretty and we should go to Wadi Araba. Yeah we didn't listen. So at 7 am we hopped on a small city bus with three other backpackers (a nice Japanese couple and a bizarre Czech) and headed to the desert. Our trip organizer, Mohammed (go figure), met us at the crossroad and we piled all our gear and 5 people into a tiny pick-up. We ended up at Mohammed's house where the odd Czech decided to take his chances and attempt the desert on foot while the rest of us preferred to see the 20 KM mountain filled plains by jeep. We left our bags at Mohammed's, taking only the things we would need for an overnight at a Bedouin village, and hopped into the back of a 1950's or so Jeep/truck that ran on four gears and black smoke. All four of us were piled in the back of the Jeep with no Shade cover while our two Bedouin guides sat in the cab. The heat was about 40-43C. I think that's around 110 degrees F. The Japanese couple was smart and wore long sleeves and pants, but not us - shorts and tanks. I looked like a lobster for a few days afterwards.
We started our journey rolling around on the practically wooden seat because Bedouins do not understand the concept of safety. 50Km or 100 Km through a sandy dune or up a mountain, doesn't matter. People in the back holding on for dear life with white knuckles, alls good. After a few minutes of adjusting to the driving we started to look around and realized we were in a magical place. Wadi Rum is comprised of giant mountain peaks that tower above red sand and white sand plains. The mountains are carved by erosion into masterpieces of thin rocky lines on top of small caves that seem to stair step 100's of feet high. The rocks almost look like they're dripping pieces of themselves. Very cool.
After an hour or so and two "stuck in the sand" pit stops, we halted under the shade of a tall cliff and rested for a bit. The Bedouin's made us tea and sang a few songs. They also decided to climb a 15foot rock using their selves and a small rope. They succeed and I think that all Bedouin's are part Monkeys. They can climb mountains like they're walking on flat ground. When we were in Petra our Bedouin friends weren't even winded when climbing the 500 stairs to the top of the Tresaury. Here, in Wadi Rum, they went up and down the small rock face in 2 seconds. Robby, the Japanese guy and me climbed the same rock, but with a hand boost and one scratched tummy. Not so easy if you're a normal person who hasn't lived in the desert for your whole life.
After the climb it seemed to be nap time, but Robby ended up venturing off a little with one of the guides who in turn asked her to marry him 4 times. He said that she was old and that all his siblings were already married, including the 17 yr old who had 2 kids. Yeah, nice married proposal, "You're old. You should marry me." (To all the guys out there - this is not the way to get a woman).
We continued our interesting jeep ride up a rocky hill almost vertical to look out onto the valley. At some point along the way we wondered if anyone would find our bodies if the Jeep flipped and crushed us, but since the Bedouins live all over the desert, we were sure someone would have found us and have given us a nice burial. We had already passed one make-shift grave while driving.
The lookout was betaking. A vast plain of white sand with a red sand mountain in the far corner and wild camels graving in the middle. There was a road that stretched across the whole area that went to Aqaba. We joked about going on it because we had to go to Aqaba the next day, but then we remembered all our stuff was at Mohammed's.
Our next stop was an arch made out of rock that we all climbed. The Bedouin's raced up the jagged edges while the rest of us contemplated the least deadlist way up. On the way down the poor Japanese girl got frightened and her husband and the two Bedouins had to slowly coax her down. I was proud of her for even going up, but she vowed never again.
We ended the crazy drive at a Bedouin camp about 10 km's from town. The Jeep sort of broke down which ended the sight seeing early. Oh well, we ended up meeting a very nice Northern Ireland girl at the Bedouin camp that we semi-latched onto because she spoke fluent English and we hadn't realized how good it felt to speak properly again (it had been two weeks of broken English and miscommunications.) The Bedouin's feed us a great feast, sang songs, and danced until we went to bed.
We had to get up at 6am to catch a bus to the crossroad to catch another bus to Aqaba. We ended up sitting at the edge of the Wadi Rum town with 5 other backpackers after having been refused entry on the bus because it was full. The five other backpackers hitched a ride to the crossroad, but didn't get much further since we met up with them a half hour later when another bus showed up. Since there were now 9 of us all head to Aqaba (the Northern Ireland girl went to Petra), all the buses that drove to Aqaba were mostly full and refused to stop for us. Our next idea was to hitchhike. We managed to cram all our gear and 9 people into a small F-150 type of truck that smelled strongly of piss and BO. We made it a mile before the driver stopped at a gas station and changed the agreed rate to include highly expensive gas. This prompted us to abandon ship and hop into a van that smashed 7 of us into one row of seats that had two sides. Very uncomfortable, but a cheap ride to where we needed to go.
We lost half the backpackers in Aqaba and went with the Japanese couple to Petra Hotel - apparently the guide books backpacker paradise. Tucked between two other equally scummy hotels and down a dank alleyway we found a surprisingly descent and cheap room. We had planned to stay in Aqaba for two nights but upon arrival we changed it to one night.
Aqaba is the "beach town" of Jordan, but if you are a girl you better approach the beach in nothing short of an overcoat. The public beach is crawling with sleazy men that believe women should be covered at all times and it's very rocky and dirty. The heat is terrible that we felt like we were going to pass out and were thankful our room had a fan. We managed to wander down to the old fort that is really neat. It had a couple prison cells that are now crawling with beetles and bats. We also decided to relax a little and maybe wander around an air-conditioned mall, but after the taxi ride to the "big, new" mall we realized that wasn't going to happen. The mall was primarily deserted. I think there were maybe 2 other people in the whole place besides the employees and half the stores were closed. There was no AC and it smelled funny.
We quickly exited and decided to try the next mall. One step inside told us the same story. Robby and I had been told by numerous people that Aqaba is the place where Jordanians go to buy all their clothes and presents because it is cheap. They forgot to mention the fact that malls are open, but the stores are closed and no one shops there during the day. The places were like a scene from the "Stand" - after the world has gone to hell. We ended up watching movies on the one English TV channel until night when we dared to venture out again in hopes that the heat had dissipated a little and more people decided to walk around. One out of two isn't so bad, there were a lot more people walking around, but I think the temperature jumped 10 degrees. It was hella hot. We had taken a shower and immediately wanted another one.
In the morning we got the hell out of dodge and crossed the border to Eilat - the Israeli beach town. Now Aqaba and Eilat are so close you could almost spit on each other, but they are a world apart in atmosphere. The minute we entered Eilat we felt more secure - less creepy stares from guys, people walked around in bikini's, everyone was general nice and didn't care how you looked. The place was built up as a mini paradise and it had name brand hotels to prove it. We had a hard time finding somewhere to sleep that wasn't a fortune because it was high season and everything was right on the water.
We managed to find an air conditioned mall that was swarming with happy, friendly people. We played "girls" for the day and window shopped. Israel has some of the most unique, but stylish clothing. I would have bought so many cool things except for the fact that Israeli's are built different than other people and nothing ever fits correctly. I guess it's a safety precaution for travelers, because where were we suppose to put all our newly acquired clothes? Our backpacks already weighed a ton and our funds are not yet ready to take a shopping plunge. We enjoyed ourselves and shopped around and went to the movies. This was our long awaited relaxing day.
The following day we went to Dahab, Sinai. We had bought a "Let's Go" book on Egypt because we were sick of not planning our trips and the book said that Dahab was a backpacker's paradise. The book didn't lie. Dahab is beautiful. It is a lazy sea side town of ex-backpackers that originally came to the town for a few days and woke up 6-months later as dive instructors. The reefs and fishy's are some of the best for scuba or snorkeling. The water is that green-blue shade that we all wish American beach's had, aside from the constant haggling Egyptians everyone is respectful and we can wear whatever the hell we like. Stuff is cheap and there's alcohol. (Egypt is a Muslim country and they don't drink, so very few places serve alcohol).
The first day here was check in - we walked the boardwalk for a while before we found a place that didn't look too run down or built of straw and mud. We unloaded, walked along the boardwalk of cute shops, many restaurants, and scenic views. We found a small club that showed free movies at 9pm and stayed until 2am watching Ocean's Eleven and The Punisher (which is a truly terrible movie by the way).
We woke the next morning intent on snorkeling. The hotel was supposed to have trips everyday, but they canceled the one that day. Luckily the scuba center next door hooked us up. We ended up riding ATV's out to Three Pools, where we snorkeled for an hour and then rode the ATV's back. This trip proved that I am definitely a land animal and Robby a creature of the sea. I loved the ATV, going three times faster than Robby. I don't know if it was her ATV or her, but she was often too far behind me to even eat my dust.
Once at the sea I freaked out a little in the water. I really hate not being able to touch the bottom or see the bottom, plus a snorkel is not a great reassurance that you will be able to breath underwater. I panicked a bit and swallowed disgusting salt water. Not a healthy diet. After a little bit of flailing around, I clamed down and enjoyed the fishy's swimming below. A couple schools of small purple and blue fish passed by and the coral was amazing. I decided that when my hands turned all wrinkly it was time to exit the water. Somehow I had upset something or other because I had small cuts all down my legs. I looked like I had just learned how to shave my legs for the first time. It was very odd, but everyone said it was nothing deadly and to just put Neosporin on the cuts and I'd be fine. Another reason to hate the water, random things attack me.
On the way back from the snorkel hole, our ATV guide picked up a friend and so I drove the guide back to the shop and Robby drove the friend. We had to stop a lot because Robby went too slow and the friend made funny faces and comments about Robby's "Driving miss Daisy" skills to me behind Robby's back. It was entertaining. The guide loved driving with me because I went really fast - but we almost tipped twice. Oppps.
We had decided that we wanted to go to Mt. Sinai since it was supposed to be beautiful. The taxi to the Mt. left at 11pm and arrived at the mountain at 1 am. We signed up and decided that sleep was for the dead. At 1:30 am today we climbed up MT. Sinai in the moonlight with camels on our asses and annoying foreign groups that brought retarded cameramen with them who liked to turn on their camera lights at sharp curves, essentially blinding you, and film you almost stumble off the cliff. But when we reached the top, 3 1/2 hours later we were rewarded with a magnificent sunrise that was worth all the hard work. For those of you who don't know, Mt. Sinai is supposively the place where God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. It's is very religious and very beautiful.
On the way down we had a choice of taking the 3700 step staircase that some crazy monk built out of repentance for his sins or walking back down the camel path. After 700 stairs, us and another guy that was traveling up the hill with us, decided to hop on a camel and be lazy. We thought that the camel would be a very easy and relaxing trip down the long mountain. Oh how wrong we were. I should have know that camels are a bad idea from the short camel ride I took with Birthright. Apparently I needed another go at them to realize just how much I hate camels.
We all made it a 6th of the way down the mountain before I called it quits and said I'm rather cut my leg off then continue down the mountain on the camel. Just to give you an idea of how bad a camel is riding down a hill with many steps - You rock back and forth between the two hard wooden posts of a saddle while your groin painfully smashes again the front post with every forward motion. Then the rest of your body is swaying around like a rag doll as your stupid camel decides he doesn't like stairs and jumps down them when hit by the guide. You have to straddle the camel in order not to fly off him, but this is so uncomfortable you end up straining your arms to keep yourself centered in the saddle, which doesn't work too well.
I've decided that riding a camel down Mt. Sinai would be the perfect punishment for a pedophile because after the first ten minutes he would undoubtedly have suffered numerous blows to his balls and by the time he reached the bottom, he would be shooting blanks for the rest of his life if he even managed to get himself to ever work again. It hurts that bad. Kind of like someone punching you over and over again in your groin. But I encourage everyone to try a camel at least once in your lifetimes because it is a unique experience. just down try it down hill. Maybe straight or uphill only.
So in the course of three days Robby and i had visited all the beach towns from Jordan, Israel and Sinai. I think Sinai is the most laid back and peaceful beach town, Israel the busiest and best for shopping and hanging out and Jordan for creepiest.
Now it is 2pm and I think that I've been awake since 9am yesterday (with a few short naps thrown in). Until next time take care and protect yourself from camels.