Leslie is FAST and captured our first two days in Jordan so well with those great pictures.

We love our bus we have about 40 seats for 16 people and it sure helps as Jordan is a lot of bus time. Today we had a lunch I loved with tons of food including lamb and it was good. We rolled out of there and then had a three hour drive to Petra. The tables I bought in Luxor and managed to stuff into my suitcase worked great for cards. We had both tables in action and it made the time just fly by. We were in Petra it seemed very quickly.

About 11 of the group are doing PETRA by night, they light the entire walk and the treasury with candlight. As I think back on the trip it seems we managed to get almost every possible activity crammed into our time in Egypt and Jordan. Then tomorrow Petra for real in the morning.

We have the same guide we had before but this time he is better somehow. He has shared so much with the group about so many current day issues that the Jordanian people are facing. I am very pleased with him and he is doing every thing he can to make the trip as good as possible.

We have been blessed with great weather everywhere we have been.

Only two days left and in some ways it seems we have been gone forever but in another way I cannot believe it is already close to the end.

Off to bed big day tomorrow!!

Wow...you folks really did add some lovely extras. Sounds wonderful. What a pretty girl in Leslie's picture above.

I am fast because I am not doing any commentary! The Movenpick will only let you log in one device, period, so I chose my iPhone since my photos are on here and I am sending them unedited, whereas for Bead's regular shots I would feel compelled to crop and edit a bit and I have to shrink them down to use the photobucket iPad app, but the iPhone app reduces size automatically during the upload so it is all fast.

Hard to type a lot on the phone, but Jordan is really interesting and the food is terrific, so much better than in Egypt. The lunch yesterday was fantastic. Hard to imagine we all ate again in the evening.



Restaurant courtyard flowers



And an interesting sign in Madaba: we couldn't tell what they were selling or providing inside?

Beautifully done Leslie!! Wow what a trip.

Hard to choose what to upload from Petra! What a fabulous site!

Heading into Petra 



And into the Siq



Shopping for myrrh



First peek at the Treasury





Kim and Alice pose



Waiting for passengers

Those pictures are magical and Petra has always been #1 on my bucket list!!!

Kim, how did you get that donkey to stand still while you stood on him?

Continuing on

Sand painting - one of many shopping opps







More tombs



Great colors

Back from Petra it was a perfect weather day.
Perfect clear blue skies with just a light breeze could not have been better.

Ken, Alice, Kim and Mike went to the Monastery and Ken just got back. That is a TON of walking in one day they will all crash tonight.

Tomorrow we visit Wadi Rum and we are having lunch in Bedouin tent. The food comes from a restaurant so perfectly fine to eat and a unique enviroment to enjoy lunch. Then the final card playing bus trip back to Amman. For some a quick stay for a shower and repacking for those with early flights home and for others a full overnight then home tomorrow. Kim and Alice have to spend an extra day in Amman.

Been a great trip such a shame this area is so unsettled it is a wonderful place to visit.

Oh my gosh, Karen! That's hysterical! Almost as good as the Susanfish!

What a fantastic day! Petra has so much more to it that I knew about, Alice and I are exhausted... probably Ken is too. We did the extra walk after lunch to the Monastery and then a bit farther to the "top of the world". Excellent weather and a beautiful day for photos.

Still going. It is 2 1/2 miles in to the end of the canyon. 



New excavations being conducted by Brown University in this area. They think it might have been a temple, but the prevailing Jordanian view is that this area was more of an administrative center



Zoom in to see the elephant topped capitals. 



Val and Sally





Young entrepreneur half heartedly trying to sell some rocks



Temple at the base of the canyon

Heading back after lunch

Val opts for a camel ride



So does Sally



More shopping opportunities



Back up the canyon



The Treasury in the afternoon



Missed this shot earlier



Bedouin sheep



Final shopping opportunity!

Wow! I so wish we could have made the additional journey but work beckoned. It looks like you guys were able to shop relatively unmolested? I missed that in Egypt. Usually I enjoy the shopping ops but just could not deal with the super-aggressive vendors there.
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Helen

Helen, we missed your group today. Please tell Fred he was thought of several times while Ken, Alice, Mike and I made the 3 hour trek RT up to the monastery. He would have loved it, but of course, it will still be here when he's ready.

Spectacular! Thanks to all! (Kim and Alice, love the picture of the two of you!)

Will do, Kim.
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Helen

I'm jealous that you got to go to Bethany, but a million thanks for the pictures.

Wow, as soon as my son's travel restriction ends ( he can't go to Egypt or Jordan for the next 5 years), we are doing this trip! I would go sooner, but I really want to experience it with him as he speaks Arabic fluently and actually lived in Cairo for awhile.

Absolutely stunning photographs. It sounds like the trip has been wonderful. Thank you for taking us along.

We are all back in Amman. Some fly out late tonight. Most leave tomorrow morning. Alice and I don't leave until Sunday morning. We have a couple of small groups having drinks in the lobby. Can't believe it 's nearly over. Ngaire et al did such a fantastic job putting together the trip of a lifetime.

neat. thanks

Final photos from our morning in the desert at Wadi Rum

Lawrence of Arabia's Seven Pillars of Wisdom



Morning workout climbing the dunes






Time for a last camel ride







Tea in a Beduon tent

Thanks for taking us along. Safe travels home.

Glad you all enjoyed your trip. Thank you for the pics and notes sharing the experience. It was fun to do it again with you. Safe travels home to all of you.

Echo the wishes for safe journey home
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Helen

Alice and I enjoyed a relaxed breakfast today and said our goodbyes to the last folks to leave, we alone remain in Amman for 1 day. So, we headed out to explore the shopping areas in the old part if town. We walked towards the Citidel which was fortunately down hill most of the way. I was happy to get to try Turkish coffee for the first time. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the flavor was very good--- nice spices. A "to go" cup helped us keep on our way:



We walked for 2 hours ending in a very busy area at about 12:30. We opted to take a taxi back to the hotel.. Many people were out on the street doing their shopping and maybe a lot of browsing. Noon prayers were going on at a large mosque that we were able to peak into from the street. Women in the small section in the back. Large fountain out front where men washed hands and face before entering the mosque.

On the walk we passed many small stores and a area with lots of small furniture making shops. Once we got to the main part of the old downtown area, things got quite crowded and we were greeted by shop owners with many "welcomes" and smiles.

Anybody need a date?



Lots of lentils:



Measuring out the herbs, spices? Not sure.



A large variety of things on many blocks :



When we got back to the hotel, we asked a doorman where to go for some good falafel. He directed us to Alia's about 3 blocks away. Get this: we paid 1.25 dinars for lunch! That's about $1.75 USD total. Alice got 10 falafels and a container of hummus. I got a falafel sandwich.

Great pics, Kim. So glad you figured out a way to enjoy your unavoidable delay.Amman looks like a much more pleasant city than Cairo for getting out on your own. Turkish coffee is tricky tho, cant drink to the bottom w/o a mouth full of grit!
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Helen

Kim, those pix were fascinating, the dates alone would of amazed me!

Just got home from the airport about two hours ago, bags upacked and washing going and about to go to the office. Waiting for Ken to finish up some things first so I thought I would do a quick post.

Looks like the girls had a great final day in Amman - great pictures. No one did much commentary but certainly a ton of pictures. They will be on the plane now on their way home. Kim and Alice are so much fun to travel with I really enjoyed their company.

The tables worked GREAT to play cards in the bus so glad I bought them and squeezed them into my suitcases. We had both tables going and the time just flew by.

Also Zohair our guide, was in to top form and talked about EVERYTHING. I think we all found it fascinating so it was like not enough time to do everything. He covered so much about Islam, the Middle East conflicts, the Royal Family, the issues in Jordan, the everyday life of the people. What was interesting was the huge and expensive houses that Iraq's owned after they left Iraq. I mean BIG houses. Of course even after all that I am still confused these issues are not simple to understand. It does help to travel to the region but one trip does not bring understanding of such complex issues that is for sure.

It was a good trip, 15 days with 22 people usually something will go wrong but it all went very smoothly and I think everyone had a really good time. The weather and the lack of people in both Egypt and Jordan certainly contributed to the enjoyment of the entire trip.

The Egypt operators are without a doubt the BEST land operators I have experienced anywhere in the world. The guides and organizational people are wonderful and their ability to get all these private events arranged and handle us like ROYALTY in the airports is truly amazing. I was in tears saying goodbye at the Cairo airport I feel like these people are really wonderful friends.

I am catching up on this thread today and am blown away by the pictures, which are descriptive in their own right. No need to apologize for brief commentaries!

What a fascinating trip this was. I enjoyed every photo, every post. Really spectacular.

Welcome home, all!

Welcome Home...I've LOVED reading all of your posts and looking at such fabulous pictures. I know what a trip of a lifetime this has been for everyone. As always, so happy you took us along!

We arrived home this afternoon after a 14 hour flight from Amman to Chicago and an overnight in Chicago to break up the trip.

The contrast between the security (and crowds) at the Amman airport and the airports in Egypt was dramatic. In Egypt there was cursory security screening at the airports - no pat downs, no problems with liquids or anything else, almost no scrutiny at all - if the metal detector beeped nobody made a move, you just walked through. At all the sights in Egypt you entered through an inactive metal detector.

Jordan was a different story. Royal Jordanian has a dedicated check in area for business class before you get into the terminal. Once you get your boarding cards and luggage tags you go to a dedicated immigration window and then on to the xray belt and metal detector. All women must get a pat down behind a curtain before proceeding.

Once you arrive at the gate you first go through the xray/metal detector/pat down again and then all your carry-on is thoroughly searched - again segregated by sex - a woman went through my backpack and a man literally dissected Brad's stuff, made him take his camera battery out of his camera and inquired about a lot of items, particularly those little metal camels he bought or our grand nephews.

It was also interesting to fly a Middle Eastern airline (Royal Jordanian). Our plane was fine with a nice business class cabin, but the service was different from anything we have experienced. For the lunch and dinner service they didn't take an order, but rolled a cart with the items on it and served everyone from that. We were in the last row in business, row 4, so by the time they got to us everything was either gone or cold. There was no beverage service - they came by with a large bottle of water first and then with a bottle of wine - red or white - they never returned to offer a refill or anything else. After the lunch meal they delivered a small bottle of water and then we didn't see them until about 8 hours later when they repeated the process for dinner. I wondered whether they also had to do everything in the coach cabin. They spent a lot of time picking up around passengers seats, for instance the plastic from your pillow cover and quilt and anything else.

Chicago was a zoo when we arrived around 5 PM - the line for immigration was backed up into the hallways, something we have never seen in all the years we have flown into OHare. Security there this morning was nuts too, taking over 1/2 hour even though we were in the Priority Access line.

Great trip but glad to be home!

Wow! I am assuming we flew Royal Jordanian two years ago, from Amman back to Cairo, and we didn't go through anything like that! Ngaire and Ken flew home from Amman both times, hopefully she'll check in with comparisons between the two trips.

Glad you had a good trip; looking forward to hundreds of pictures (hint, hint).

We are on the long-term parking lot shuttle bus. Stuck at an open draw bridge. Our flights were great. We were picked up at the hotel this morning and made it to the airport and thru immigration and security and to the lounge in under an hour.

It was a long travel day, but at least we did it all in one day w/o having an overnight in the US.

My experience was similiar to Leslie's and we went through the process at the same time. They flew to Chicago we flew to New York. I understand that Saturday (when we flew) is an especially heavy flight day.

When we got to the immigration line we were supposed to be let through as we cleared immigration in the business check in area.

This very authoritive man keep saying "go in the line" although we knew that could not be right. Finally another authority figure turned up and we asked and he said of course "go through here" and we managed to escape a long immigration line.

The immigration line was a nightmare They were all just all pushing and shoving to get through no clear line whatsoever and Val and Mike who were flying coach nearly missed the plane. Luckily the plane was delayed 45 minutes.

We had time to go to their business lounge with Scott and Niki and there the treatment was so different. I asked if I could bring in two guests and it was "no problem at all". When Val and Mike did not turn up he came over and asked if there was anything he could do to help find them as they would only have about 15 minutes in the lounge before it was time to board. Above and beyond the call of duty.

The security at the gate was a nightmare as well. Women on one side men on the other. I saw a mother with two small children, a boy about five and younger girl. They refused to let the little boy go through the clearance with his mother and made him go by himself to the mens side. I thought that was really bad. The mother was beside herself as was the little boy. I think that was carrying it way too far. One of the security men stepped in and got the little boy through (but still on the men's side).

THe stewardesses were pleasant enough when serving but not friendly at all when trying to reach the bathroom and just sat and talked while I moved the carts on two occassions. Strange situation really.

Food was okay and in fact many years ago this is how they always served the food where you could see it on a tray and select what you like. I prefer that but they usually replenished the food with hot serving after every four people. Leslie is right they just kept going down the rows. We were in the second row so our food was hot.

When Val and Mike finally made it to the gate they said they had loved Jordan and the people and were sorry to leave. However the airport and how people were acting made them feel quite differently.

Wow, these stories of leaving Amman make me glad that we decided to leave Jordan via Eilat and Tel Aviv. After Wadi Rum, our guide gave us a short tour of Aqaba and then to the border crossing with Israel. There, they inspected our luggage before leaving Jordan, and we then walked across the border where we went through a painless Israeli inspection. Our driver met us on Israeli side and then whisked us to Eilat airport for our quick flight to Tel Aviv. We stayed overnight and flew out the next morning. When we got to the airport, our guide took us through security and even jumped us in front of the Business and First Class lines though we were flying coach. Very painless.

For Nile 3, that might be a reasonable option to avoid the long bus ride back to Amman and the issues at Amman airport.

Ron and I made it safely home. We had a much different experience at Amman Airport for our 1:30am Air France flight to Paris. We breezed through immigration with no problems at all. We met Cindy and Paul at the lounge as they also had a 1:30am flight to Frankfurt. Air France business class was great, although for this flight, they just block off the middle seat wiith the normal coach seats. We were dreading our 7 hour layover in Paris, but I have to say the Air France lounge in terminal 2E was one the best I have ever experienced. Lots of food/drinks, plenty of outlets for recharging and using all your electronic devices along with numerous computer stations with free internet/wifii. They even have a relaxation lounge where you can lie down to sleep and showers. 2E is a much newer terminal than 2F with beautiful shops that was like a mall.
I don't even know where to begin to describe how wonderful this trip was for us. So much to take in - Ngaire and Ken have this down perfectly to every detail you can imagine. Thanks to the both of you for this wonderful experience. The service, sights and comforts were incredible. I'm still in awe of the whole trip. Now, my task will be to go through all of our pictures!
Also wanted to let you know Mike and Val made it home. I feel so bad they had to go through with what they did as their final experience after everything else was so perfect!

Sounds like Saturday morning is not the time to fly out of Amman! Although the Cairo airport was pretty empty it was so nice to have the South Sinai people whisking us through everywhere and handling everything for us. Apparently the Jordan ground operator doesn't have that kind of clout. The airport handler tried to get Val and Mike checked in at the Royal Jordanian business class check-in/immigration area with us and Ngaire and Ken but they wouldn't let him do it. They should have checked who was flying coach and picked them up earlier from the hotel so their experience would have been less stressful. Our flight left about 45 minutes late too and some people were still boarding up to right before we left.

I agree Leslie, don't think this would have happened in Egypt with South Sinai's incredible ground operations. With all the mayhem and confusion at the airport, I would have been scared about what to do if I missed the flight in Amman.

We had an issue at Cairo airport involving some problem with getting our bags tagged thru to LAX and we just stood around and shuffled our feet while Hassam took care of all of it! We just loved every person associated with South Sinai, each one was pleasant and warm and helpful. And BTW the Intercontinental Hotel at City Stars: even nicer than the Four Seasons. Huge shower and really good Lebanese restuarant! Sorry you all had difficulty getting home but our most pleasant experience on our final day in Cairo almost makes up for missing Jordan (JK!)
Glad eveyone made home safely.
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Helen

Our experience at Amman airport was good. We were checked in and settled in the lounge within 45 minutes after arriving at the airport. This was likely due to the fact that our flight left early Saturday morning (3:00am)and the airport was fairly empty. We flew in business on Turkish Airlines from Amman to Istanbul then Istanbul to Toronto. It was our first time on Turkish Air and the experience was terrific. We wouldn't hesitate to book with Turkish Air again. Nile 2 was the trip of a lifetime for us. We expected to have a fantastic time and the trip exceeded all expectations in every way. Thanks again to Ngaire and Ken and to all our fellow travellers who made the experience even more unforgetable.