pictures: Egypt and Jordan (Part 1)

At the end of may I decided it was time to getthafuckouttathisplace yet again. My friend Joey was chilling in Egypt but going to Jordan. The plan was to meet up with him, check Jordan out, then head solo back to Egypt and check out the sights. (very) Luckily I had stops in Amsterdam on the way. 1 day on the way there, 3 on the way back.

(Pictures part 2 is HERE of Cairo)

AMSTERDAM

I was just here for one day this time, got there early, went to a few coffee shops to have some..umm..coffee. Checked out the World Press Photo exhibit, then left.

Here I am right near the old church. (self portrait)

some street art

EGYPT - Dahab

I arrived in Cairo and was supposed to go straight to Jordan but we decided to stop in Dahab. Dahab is a small village situated on the south-eastern coast of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

You might recall this place from the bombing that happened there 2 weeks before I was there. There were three seperate explosions at the same time. The town was very small, pretty much only consisted of one main strip on the beach where all the hotels and restaurants were. There were lots of tourists here...but by the time I got there none were left. I have to say, I felt safe here at all times.

This was the place I stayed. Ultra laid back.

JORDAN

Getting to Jordan from Egypt is a mission because there is a tiny sliver of Israel between called Eilat which is an amazing place in its own right. There are two ways to go. 1-Egypt-Israel-Jordan by land or 2-Egypt-Jordan by boat crossing the red sea. The first way is faster and cheaper but getting an Israeli stamp in your passport can complicate things for your travels in the region. With it you can forget about traveling to any other country in the middle east besides Egypt and Jordan. We both already had "the stamp," as some travelers called it, and we wanted to check out some cute Israeli girls at the beach, so we went the Israel route. Only passed through though. The boarder city is Aqaba.

This was the most exciting thing happening in Aqaba, so we took off for Wadi Musa to check out the ruins of Petra.

PETRA

Petra is an archaeological site in Jordan, lying in a basin among the mountains. It is famous for having many stone structures carved into the rock. You don't stay in Petra though, you stay in Wadi Musa which is 2 minutes away.

We woke up at like 5am to get to Petra before the crowds. Worked out great. Nobody was there and it wasnt viciously hot yet. You might recognize some of the rock carvings at Petra from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Such an amazing place. Right up there with Angkor Wat, Machu Piccu, Great Wall, etc.

This was where Indiana went inside to find the Holy Grail. All I found was some bedouin's old tea glass. There really isnt anything inside, its just a small room. Besides that the place looked amazing. Because its hot and extremely dry there the carvings have held up very well. This room was really the Treasury for the original inhabitants (read more about that here ).

This was the monastery. It was one mission of a walk. All those pictures between the treasury and this was the 2 hour hike up. Well worth it. As you will see, great view from up here.

We went back at night. Luckily the night we were there was the one night of the week they had "Petra by Night." Couldnt get many pics because I didnt have a tripod and it was VERY dark.

Joey fell ill the day we were supposed to leave so I walked around town for an extra day taking pictures.

WADI RUM

Wadi Rum is a valley cut into the sandstone and granite rock in south west Jordan. It is the largest wadi in Jordan. Wadi Rum is probably best known to many people because of its connection with the British officer T.E. Lawrence, who was based here during the Arab Revolt of 1917-18. The movie Lawrence of Arabia is based on T.E. Lawrence's time here and was filmed here as well.

Back in Petra me and Joe linked up with probably the funniest/coolest/craziest/hippiest/pot-headiest Japanese kid of all time with the best name ever.

YOSHI