Our travels have moved to more backpacker sort of accomodations as we have left the luxuries of Amman for the hostels of Israel.
Our last night in Jordan was amazing as we stayed in Wadi Rum- which means Red Valley. We took a bus (Kenny bribed the bus driver with persistence and charm to let us off before the route ended). We then took a beat up VW bus into the Wadi Rum Reserve.
This area is run by bedouin people, a nomadic Arab people who are 99% Muslim, and have become quite good at taking foreigners out in their 4x4s and camels into this beautiful land. We spent the evening watching the sunset, then have a great conversation with our team, the bedouin guides and some other english tourists.
We spent the night under the stars that were dwarfed by the full moon that night. It almost had a Alaska feel as the bright moon lit the sky the entire night. With a thick blanket, the cool air and zero humidity made for the best rest I have gotten yet.
With woke up early to catch a bus to Aquaba. Luckily, it was not a problem as the sun was in full effect at 6:00am.
We walked around a deserted Aqaba until finding a place that would serve us coffee/tea. Most of these cities do not get going until 9:00 and it was about 8:30am – so oddly not much is going on.
From here we took a cab to the border crossing into Israel. After a couple check points before, we walked up to the border crossing, praying for favor and for as few of issues as possible. The Jordanian side was great, he even stamped on a different sheet of paper so that coming back in and going to other countries would be easier for us in the future. If you have an exit stamp from Jordan- border authorities all over the Muslim world know where you went and it is an invitation to extensive questioning or a refusal to enter their country. The border guard actually fake stamped Kristin’s passport- a quick scare we were able to laugh about later.
We’re feeling confident as we make it the the Israeli side. More airport like luggage scans. Extra ones for me since my bag is bigger than everyone elses and I’m carrying the majority of the load (think Samwise Gamgee). They give you extra scares by keeping your passport as they may have seen certain stamps they didn’t like such as Lebanon and Turkey- a new addition to the ‘we don’t trust list.’ The girl we were with made it right through. The three of us had Turkey and Lebanon on our passports- so guess who got held up for an hour and a half of questioning… It wasn’t bad. They were just trying to check stories and show a bit of dominance- we think. After they saw us playing with the air conditioners and a dragonflys- I think their idea of our potential threat went out the window and we were let through. Hallelujah!
We took a taxi from the border, we a new confidence and an excitement that we were in the Promised Land. Milk and Honey here we come!
