Not in love with Jordan

Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan

We’re in one of those hotel rooms that is just beds in a room, all facing the wall, with a refrigerator that doesn’t work and a plywood wardrobe with one hanger. I’m glad we’re only staying here one night. The midday meal we had here at the hotel was meh. The Bedouin salad was the best - finely cut cucumber and tomato, cilantro, maybe olive oil, plus small bits of pita.

We were calling it the Red Sea, the body of water that is just outside our window, but more specifically it’s the Gulf of Aqaba. I didn’t expect to snorkel on this trip, but today we did. Leo opted out of renting snorkel gear because he’d “seen everything already,” which at first sounded a bit pompous, but he was right. It wasn’t near the experience of snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, plus the water was really cold. I was only out there 45 minutes, tops.

There are mosquitoes in here. UGH.

I’m not in love with the country of Jordan, maybe in part because we experienced our first proper scam here.

There’s a free shuttle from the Petra Visitor Center to a different entrance to the park. Quickly after our arrival on the second day, we were intercepted by a taxi driver. Where are you going? Where are you from? No, the shuttle doesn’t go that way. You will need to take a taxi back, it’s 35 JD ($45USD). Better I take you now, then you walk back. How old are you? Let me guess - eight? Nine? And you, you are 14? No, he’s 11. Oh, I am also a father. I have four children, I also want to save money, just like you. Here, let me take you. Normal price is 20 JD, I charge you 15. Um…okay? After a 5-minute drive, we arrive and see the shuttles parked there. Wait, what? That doesn’t seem right, but he says enough words quickly enough so we exit. He doesn’t have change for a 20. Of course he doesn’t.

One should really visit Jordan first, then Egypt. Egypt has more, older, bigger, and better-preserved, ancient artifacts. As cool as it is to have a city carved out of rock cliffs, Jordan cannot compete against Egypt with Petra alone.