December 2006 more than 130 South Africans went on a 2 week tour through 5 countries in the Middle East. After spending 4 days in Egypt we would depart from Sharm el Sheikh on day 5 after breakfast by coach to Nuwaiba which lies beside the Gulf of Aqaba.
We headed by bus to Egyptian immigration in Nuweiba that morning.
A short while later we boarded a luxury ferry to Aqaba.
I remember having a hot dog for lunch with additional “Mochachos seasoning” on that ferry.
Immigration in Aqaba, Jordan was swift.
We then proceed by bus to Petra where our guides gave us a good briefing on our current location in the middle of the Middle East.
We checked into the hotel and had supper.
After breakfast on the 6th morning of our trip I took a walk outside our hotel on the mountain.
It had cool views which we did not see the previous night on arrival.
That morning we visited one of the ancient wonders of the world, Petra City. This is an ancient city that is reached via a deep, winding canyon.
We spent approximately 3 hours exploring the site
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbbjIFcFTX0
As it was a Friday we prayed Juma salaah in a mosque in Petra.
We then stopped at Zaid bin Haretha Shrine along the way to Amman.
After arrival at the hotel in Amman we went out for a snack.
Some of us visited the pricey Mecca Mall.
On morning 7 we made a brief stop outside the King Abdullah Mosque in Amman.
We then visited the Cave of the Sleepers (mentioned in Surah Kahf in the Quran).
The next stop was Mount Nebo with the temple of Moses (Moosa A.S)
From this site we had a great view of the Jordan Valley.
We were basically overlooking Palestine from Mount Nebo.
Our ears popped as we descended the steep road to the Dead Sea.
After lunch at the Dead Sea we returned to our hotel in Amman for dinner. In the prior 2 days we managed to see a lot in Jordan. We’d be up early the next morning for our visit to Palestine.
