Road trip to Southern Jordan!
We decided to drive down to Aqaba, a city in the south of Jordan on the coast of the Red Sea for a little 3 day holiday. The Gulf of Aqaba borders Israel, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. It is a vacation destination for many as the warm waters of the Red Sea are home to coral reefs and many beautiful fish, not to mention the luxury resorts scattered all along the beachfront.
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| Desert road trip! |
We woke up at 5 in the morning, quickly packed our bags and headed south, down the Dead Sea Highway. The weather was nice as the earth was still cool from the night. I drove us out of the city, as soon as we got near the Resorts on the Dead Sea, we were stopped at a check point. I slowed down, the guard saluted me through and I drove on. I was tired from having gone out the night before and pulled over so Papa B could take over, I got in the back seat, made a den for myself out of sun hats and swim trunks, kicked off my sandals and fell asleep. I woke up to the sound of people talking. We were at another military check point, Papa B was talking to the guard this time. I pretended to be asleep. They asked to see our passports, he showed them Amo (paternal Uncle) George's and said "Do you need the girls? She's asleep." I sat up and told Dad the passports were in the trunk. My dad said to the guard, "The passports are in the trunk, do you mind if we get them?" He nodded "yes." I got out, grabbed the passports, handed them to the guard and got back in the car. He flipped through them, saying our names as he looked at each of us. My dad started small talk with the guard, there were three other men sitting and laying on the floor to our right, 2 dressed in uniform and one in civilian garb. They were drinking tea lazily and gazing out at us. We finished our business with the guards and there was the typical "God willing you arrive safely," "Hopefully you enjoy your trip," "thank you for your hard work," etc. etc. Papa B said "aren't you going to offer us something to drink?" The man said "of course of course, you're our guests, you're more than welcome, please, please, coffee? tea?" Dad laughed, looked at me and answered, "the girl likes tea," I smiled. "Tfadallew, tfadallew." (Welcome). We parked the car, avoiding the spikes in the road and got out. They ushered us into the office where a Hollywood film with Arabic subtitles was showing a 3/4 naked blonde girl handing guns to some hunk of a hero. Seconds after we sat down, one of the guys brought a tray in with three small glass cups of tea. We were each offered a glass, I picked mine up at the top, so as to not burn my fingers and took a sip..mmm..it was extremely sweet. Black tea with fresh mint leaves and lots of sugar. The guards asked where we were from and showed us their English-Arabic book so they can communicate with the tourists. We finished our tea and got up to leave, "won't you join us from breakfast?" one of the guards asked, "it will be here in thirty minutes." "No, thank you" my dad responded. "Just thirty minutes, we'll prepare for you a nice spread, it will be delivered shortly." "No, no, we should be on our way." We thanked them, again and again as they walked us out to our car.
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| Dead Sea, that's SALT not foamy waves |
We kept driving. Not far after, we saw an SUV with a soldier sitting on top of it, his legs dangling in the sun roof, a machine gun on a tripod aimed out towards the road, my dad gave him a wave, he somberly waved back.
We got to a rest stop, it was mid-morning and we were ready for a coffee or something. This place was in the middle of nowhere, it served as a gas station, rest stop, cafe, restaurant, souvenir shop, convenient store, you name it.
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| outside the rest stop - a palm tree - full of dates! |
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| close up of the not-yet-ripe dates |
We went in and sat down, the manager of the place was sitting reading the newspaper. A waiter approached us and asked what we wanted. My dad said he didn't know, and wanted to know what they had in terms of juice. The manager had been listening to our conversation and said to the waiter, you go to the fridge, grab all the juices you have, put them on a tray and bring them for the man to choose. I ordered a tea and Amo George ordered a coffee. The waiter came back with a tray-full of juices...
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| My tea, Amo George's coffee and all the drinks for my dad to choose from :) |
We sat for a bit, my cell phone was charging in the wall. The manager made some small talk with us and gave us some tips for our holiday. He offered us the sandwiches he was eating. On our way out, voices were raised. My dad got his wallet out and the manager insisted it was his treat. They went back and forth for a little bit, raising arms in the air, my dad laughing, etc. "No, it can't be" my dad responded. "I swear to God." the manager said. Once you swear to God, that's it, the person who swears to God has the final say, and if the "contender" goes against it, it's a huge insult. "Well we thank you very much, and may you always have good health and happiness" my dad said to him. Thanks and praise were repeated and we left.
We made it to the hotel by 10:30 and spent the remainder of the day between the beach and the pool, only 30 meters or so from one another. I would take a dip in the sea, rinse off and dive into the hotel pool, swimming over to the in-pool bar for a drink and some nuts, then out to read my book and have a sun bath, then repeat. What a routine! You must be careful though as the sand will burn your bare feet only to be cooled by the waters of the Red Sea. It was perfect. You've gotta go!
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| Red Sea meets desert mountains |
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| view from hotel |
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| Sunset from hotel |