Email to Friends: Last Days in Aqaba, Jordan and into Israel‏

Hiya!

My stay in Aqaba was a wonderful way to wrap up Jordan. I can't recommend the Red Sea Dive Center enough. I checked out other dive shops and they either had dive guides that were more interested in a date or were just trying to get the most people on the dives possible, even if they weren't certified. The guys that manage the hotel are also dive guides, but didn't use high pressure sales. They are super nice and very knowledgable (I heard one worked at the marine preservation center in town). The hotel is small with only 13 rooms but has a nice pool and restaurant. All the guests staying there are all friendly and interesting... it isn't the typical dive hotel where people only talking about diving 24/7 (which gets old for me after a day or so). My first night on the roof was under a bright moon with lots of stars and a breeze coming off the Red Sea. Other guests came up to visit me on the roof since it was such a nice night. But the breeze died down during the night and I ended up with quite a few mosquito bites.

The second next day I went on two dives. We did Shipwreck and the Japanese Gardens. The sites were very busy, as it is a holiday weekend, so I think much of the marine life was scared away. But they were good shallow dives (I realized I haven't done shore dives since I was certified 24 years ago) and the coral looked to be in pretty good shape and I just played around with my GoPro. No nudibranch or seahorse sightings, which made me kind of sad. But in looking at some of my GoPro pictures, I realized that a) I am terrible at diving AND taking pictures at the same time b) I need filters for color correction on deep shots such as wreck dives and c) I'm pretty sure I got photobombed by fish several times... Ha!

That night, the Israeli couple let me know they were heading back to Tel Aviv the next day and there was room in their car, if I wanted a ride. As much as I was enjoying Aqaba, I couldn't pass up the ride, as it would be much easier to go with them instead of catching a taxi to the border, trying to navigate the customs and crossing on my own, another taxi to Eliat in Israel and then a 5 hour shuttle to Tel Aviv. Got an offer from a couple from Copenhagen to go hang out in their 3 bedroom suite at the Movenpick in the city center and have drinks with some prince from Saudi Arabia, and they laughed when I turned them down because I wanted my last night in Jordan to be spent sleeping outside under the stars (it just seemed fitting and I had a plan on how to rig my mosquito net I forgot I had brought and a couple of plastic chairs). A woman from the States who has been living in Amman for 15 years (the first person from the States that I think I have run into on this whole trip) and I go to a relaxed dinner in town at Ali Babba instead.

The next day, I woke up to a few raindrops and quickly packed my bag and dragged the mattress and pillow back downstairs to keep everything dry. Not much rain followed, but a huge wind storm blows through so we wait it out. Passed the time away chatting with everyone and saying my goodbyes, and joined Danielle, her boyfriend, and her mom to cross the border into Israel and up to Tel Aviv. It went pretty smoothly, even with the Israeli border guards pulling me out of the car separately to ask me a bunch if questions. At some point they started asking me questions about why I went to Egypt and didn't I know about the problems they are having and why would I go there since it is not safe... I had to bite my tongue not to sarcastically ask if they were my mother. Then questions about if I planned to try to enter the West Bank (luckily they didn't check my iPod as I had just been googling it and forgot to clear my browser) and how I had money to travel if I just graduated from nursing school. Finally, they let us go and we left for Tel Aviv. We arrive late and the super nice family invited me to stay at their house in a suburb near Tel Aviv called Hertzalia. Super helpful since everything is booked with Passover and Easter and Tel Aviv is really expensive.

Jordan had some difficulties, but every bad was outweighed by something or someone wonderful. It is not really a place for backpackers as there are few things that are cheap. When I first started traveling, this would have been even more difficult. I found a comfort and safety in knowing that I do have a larger budget to spend if things got too rough. Some if them men here seem far more aggressive than I found in Egypt. But I am glad I stuck with it, because there are some beautiful places and I met some wonderful new friends along the way.

Now that I am in Israel, I have my phone back on to text for free in case anyone needs to reach me. Will probably have more Internet connection when I likely head to Jerusalem tomorrow. It maybe Haifa? Or the family said something about a kibbutz up north this weekend? I dunno... The common answer of "no plans" prevails.

My trip photos from Jordan are up or you can view them as a slideshow.

Love,
Betsy