FROM ST KATERINES IN EGYPT THROUGH JORDAN TO ISTANBUL TURKEY

Since our last post, we have still found it difficult to get on the internet or when available in the hotel its is grossly expensive. But here we are, our first day in Istanbul and the internet is cheap and free in the hotel; if you can get a computer!

We visited St Katherines on Mt Sinai which was quite moving, where Moses received the ten commandments and we touch the burning bush. We then drove back down out of the mountains and north up the coast to Nuweiba to catch our 2pm ferry up the Red Sea to Aqaba, Jordan. We wait but by 2.30pm our guide returns telling us there is no ferry but one may come at 10pm tonight. We discuss options and decide to try our luck crossing through Israel. The border is about 80 km north, so we set off driving. We complete customs on the Egyptian side and pass through their border checkpoint and then we walk dragging our cases behind us 200m across no mans land towards armed guards on the Israeli side - just like the movies but no ones running and there are no shots !!! We are received and questioned as to why we are entering Israel and what are our plans. When we say we are just passing through from Egypt to Aqaba in Jordan on a family holiday, they then want to know where we are going and what countries we will visit later. Satisfied with the answers we are moved through to a section to Xray our bags. All is well until the last bag, when they demand who's is this bag. We check the label and its Jenny's. She melts into the ground and they ask us to open it. Searching through, they find her Epilady leg shaver with transformer next to a container filled with pure perfume oil we bought in Egypt - it all becomes clear, they thought it was a bomb. The bag goes back through the Xray and they start smiling again. We walk past the guys holding AK47 machineguns and head on out of the border post for a change of undies!! Outside we find ourselves in the town of Elat. We talk to a taxi driver and ask how much to the border post of Aqaba, Jordan. We get scalped US$20 for the 15 minute Taxi ride, despite my attempts at negotiating. We were told US$10 max is what we should pay. We arrive and pay US$82 departure tax and are allowed to pass with little fanfare. We walk the 200m through no mans land like old pros and cross into Jordan no problems. We meet our guide Mahmoud and then wait one hour for an entry visa - some excuse that the system is down, meanwhile being eyed out the window and Mahmoud explaining why we have come through Israel. Finally its getting dark and they issue the visa and away we go the 15 minutes to our hotel - and finally the change of undies!

Our hotel, The Movenpick in Aqaba is very nice, on the shores of the Red Sea. We have a good rest and swim the following morning. At 12.30pm we meet Kamal our guide and driver for the Jordan Tour and leave heading north to Wadi Rum, a desert area where we meet a Beduion Tridesman and have a ride in his 4 x 4 (no camels anymore!) into the desert. Amazingly tall rocky hills extend out of the desert and we drive around exploring the landscape where Lawrence Of Arabia was shot. He takes us to caves and then we stop at the base of a massive sandstone hill 300m high and he makes Beduion tea in ther shade and we eat pita bread with cheese segments. lots of fun and we communicate with his broken english and lots of hand gestures.

We drive north 180 km and stop at Petra. We stay in an old village that has been converted in to a 5 star hotel called Taybet Zaman, where each room was one of the tridemens houses but has been rebuilt with modern appliance - very novel and a great view from the side of the hill. The following day we drive down to the new town of Petra and then walk 1km to the Siq, a narrow passage 1.8km long through the mountains towering above. This was where one of the Indiana Jones movies was filmed. Walking out of the end of the Siq, we see an incredible view of the Treasury El Khazneh, carved into the red sandstone - breathtaking! We rest, its 32c and only 10-30am. We walk on another 2.5km past incredible temples and tombs carved into the sandstone mountains, then past a a more recent Roman colonnade and Amphitheatre. We have a break and some snacks for lunch then start the gruelling walk and climb 1.5km of tracks and 850 steps up the Ad Deir mountain to the Monastry, which like the Treasury but bigger and not as elaborate has been carved into a red sandstone mnountainside. The view from the top is breathtaking and we need the rest as we are exhausted. Many people are making the trip on the back of donkeys, but not us kiwis - mad buggers walked it!! The walk down although faster and less tiring is tricky passing people and donkeys on the narrow steps and then at the bottom the long walk slightly uphill all the way out of the valley and the Siq. We collapse at the Sandstone Restaurant where we are to meet our guide and after a rest and a drink we have some food. Back to the hotel we fall into bed at 7pm and sleep.

We proceed on with our trip heading to Amman in the north. Along the way we see the vast changing countryside, from desert to mountains to massive canyons to green valleys, travelling up the Ancient Kings highway, route of the ancient trade caravans. We stop and visit Kerak Castle on the way.

Then on to Madaba, where we see the Greek Orthodox Church of St George with the oldest known map of the Holy Land in its floor as a Mosaic.

Next we drive to Mount Nebo where Moses looked out over the holy land after his 40 years of wandering in the desert. In the distance in the valley through the heat haze, we can see the north end of the Dead Sea and the city of Jericho.

We arrive in Amman the capital of Jordan with a population of just under 2 million. We have got on well with Kamal our Driver/Guide and he asks if we would like to visit his family before going to the hotel. We agree and find he lives in a 3 storey house on the east side. The ground floor he rents out, the next level his widowed mother lives, then his family consisting of wife and 5 kids live above. He is part way through building a top level which will be for his eldest son (now 20 years old) when he marries. We arrive to find the house full of relatives, as it is a three day public holiday weekend to celebrate the Prophet Mohammed's birthday and they are visiting their mother. She invites us to sit in her level and have tea and meet the family. This we do (she is left on the couch) and chat in broken english with Kamal translating for an hour.

We have a couple of days in Amman and drive north with Kamal to visit Jerash, Pompeii of the East. Amazing how the Greeks built their city over earlier towns. It is an amazing site, with an Amphitheatre seating 7000 and a beautiful Circle collonade and street which was the market and main street. Jerash had a population of 20,000 people with a water supply and its own sewer, attested by the manholes in the middle of the limestone paved streets - incredible. Abraham our guide was very wise and knowledgeable and despite the 34oc temperature we enjoy the visit.

We then spent two days at the Dead Sea about 80km west of Amman. We needed the break from being on the go and the Movenpick Reort was wonderful. Floating on the Dead Sea due to its salt content or covering ourselves in the mud was a lot of fun. We also enjoyed a massage each to get us ready for our Tour of Turkey.

And so we have arrived in Istanbul Turkey. We are staying in the Old City and having a good time before joining our Tour in 2 days. The weather is noticeably colder, only 20oc when we arrived yesterday and I would guess 160c today. First time I have put trousers on.

Well we will keep in touch as and when we have internet access and update you on our Turkey experience.