Our trip stared out with the idea that we would join Mick's brother and sister-in-law in a sailing trip in the Red Sea. We would be sailing on a crewed catamaran, with a total of four cabins, with a captain and cook. The idea sounded great to us and at the time, we thought the boat was based in Eliat, Israel. Subsequently, we learned that the boat was based in Hurghada, Egypt, which changed the logistics, and added Egypt to our itinerary.
Because we would be so close to Petra, we agreed to go there, so I planned a tour of Jordan for the four of us with a driver for about a week, with three nights at Petra. We used Jordan Select Tours. They were an excellent company to work with, responsive and providing us with an excellent driver.
Austin and I also decided to visit Israel at the beginning of our trip; we joined the Merendas later in Amman.
Just as we were about to depart this January, Egypt erupted in riots. We weren't worried in particular about our safety or our itinerary since we weren't planning to be in Cairo, or any urban area in Egypt, but we did worry about this situation impacting our flights to and from Egypt. As it turned out, we did end up having to change flights, but this made a minimal impact to our trip.
On January 31, Austin and I flew to Tel Aviv where we landed in the morning, rented a car, picked up a good road map, and rented a portable GPS system. We stayed one night in Tel Aviv at the Regency Suites Hotel. We walked around part of Tel Aviv, visiting the Carmel market and old Jaffa. We enjoyed an early dinner near our hotel at Armando.
Early, the next morning, we drove off the the far northwest corner of Israel, at the border with Lebanon, to Ha-Nikra where we took a cable car down to visit some sea caves. We drove down to the ancient city of Akko, where we walked around some Bahai gardens outside the city, then visited crusader tunnels and knights' halls within the city.
From here we drove to the Galilee area where we stayed at Shulamit Inn for two night. This is a well-known excellent restaurant, which also has several bed and breakfast rooms. It is located on top of a hill and has great views out over Galilee. While in Galilee, we visited several places associated with Jesus, and also drove up into the Golan Heights, where we could see across a barbed wire fence into the demilitarized zone with Syria. Scattered around the area of the Golan Heights, in addition to an excellent winery, are bunkers and military bases. We drove to Nazareth where we visited the Basilicia of the Annunciation, then drove south through the Palestinan West Bank to a kibbutz near the Dead Sea, where we stayed for a night. The kibbutz is like a small town, with a school, community center, pool, dining hall, and clinic, in addition to the hotel. It is set in a botanical garden.
This whole area is a desert, and surprisingly it was rainy and the next morning, when we went to Masada, it was still misty. Masada is set on a high hill; you take a cable car up and it has commanding views of the surrounding countryside; however, we could see very little with the low clouds all around. Masada is a huge walled fortress built by Herod the Great in the first century and it contains the ruins of several palaces, roman baths, stables, storerooms, cisterns, and a fortified wall. There are still frescoes and mosaics which have survived. It is known for being the place where Jewish rebels held off Roman soldiers for weeks, until, with the Romans advancing, the Jewish rebels killed themselves, their wives, and children rather than allowing them to become Roman slaves.
From Masada we drove to Jerusalem, where we spent 5 nights at the Dan Boutique Hotel, overlooking the old city. We turned in the car and used cabs and walked to get around the city. We saw all the main sites of Jerusalem, the old city, Via Dolorosa, the Western Wall and Western Wall tunnels, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Mount of Olives, Garden of Gethsemane, Mount Zion, the Israel Museum and Shrine of the Book, and Yad Vashem. On one day, we had a guide who took us to Bethlehem and Hebron, and on another, he gave us the walking tour of the old city, including a tour inside the Dome of the Rock (which is officially closed to non-muslims).
On Feb. 10, we left Israel, crossing the Allenby Bridge into Jordan, where we met our driver for the next 8 days. The Merendas were flying in late that night. In Amman, we stayed two nights at Le Meridien Hotel, right in the middle of the city. While in Amman, in addition to a driving tour around the city, we visited the ancient Roman city of Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman cities in the Middle East, and Ajlun, with a giant fortress built in the 12th century to defend against the crusaders.
From Amman, we drove down the Kings Highway to Petra, visiting Madaba, Mt. Nebo, and Kerak along the way. In Petra, we stayed for three nights at the Movenpick, which is located adjacent to the entrance to Petra. Petra, a World Heritage Site, is the ancient capital of the Nabataeans, and its giant structures date from the 1st century BC. We were able to spend two full days at the main Petra site, and also visited Little Petra, a mostly residential area.
From here, we took a jeep tour of the desert area of Wadi Rum, a place where Lawrence of Arabia fought. After a night at the Movenpick Resort in Aqaba, where we could see Israel, Egypt, and were a mere 7 kilometers from Saudi Arabia, we set off for the Dana Nature Reserve, where we were planning to hike and spend a night in an eco-lodge. However, we received a call from the lodge with the news that we would not be able to travel there due to icy conditions. Icy conditions!! We thought we'd left all that behind in New Jersey. We changed our plans to add another night at the Kempinski Dead Sea resort.
On the way, we visited Bethany, where John the Baptist baptized Jesus. At this site, the Jordan "River" is actually just a small muddy creek. Directly across from it is the Israeli version of the Baptism site. But no walking across, because that is the border between Israel and Jordan. In fact, this area had been off limits because it was a military site, and before opening it to the public, the mines had to be cleared away. Today, there are several churches of various denominations which have been built at the site, and Pope John Paul II conducted a mass there in 2000.
We arrived at the Kempinski, a huge hotel, where we had huge rooms, late in the day, but it was so windy and cold that the beach was closed. The hotel seemed practically deserted. We had a great Thai dinner that night in the hotel.
The next morning, we drove north of Amman to see the ancient desert castle, Qasr Amra, a World Heritage Site. The 8th C building on the site was used as a hunting lodge and is covered with frescoes. Along the way to the site we passed a military base where the US army is training Iraqi police. Arriving back at the hotel in the afternoon, where it was warm and sunny, we all went into the Dead Sea, posing for funny photos.
The next morning, we took off for our flight to Cairo. During our trip, we were watching the developments in Egypt with much interest. The local people we came into contact with were also quite interested in the events and the several Jordanians we talked to after Mubarak resigned were quite certain that this was a very good thing for the Egyptian people. We were also checking every day on the status of flights into and out of the Cairo airport. It turned out that our flight to Cairo, which had been cancelled several times, was fine for the day we were leaving, but the subsequent flight to Hurghada, where the boat was located, had been cancelled. We were lucky to be able to work with the concierge at the Kempinski to get our flight changed to a later one.
Given the change in flights, we had a long wait in the Cairo airport, where all the airport personnel were glued to the TV--showing great crowds of jubilant people celebrating Mubarak's resignation.
We arrived at the boat around 9:30; where our hosts prepared a little food and dessert for us before we were shown to our cabins.
During our sailing trip, we had some great snorkeling. The water was cold enough that we all wore wet suits, but the clarity of the water was amazing, and the coral beautiful, with pretty large and unusual fish. The food on the boat was pretty good and we enjoyed two nice dinners on land.
Our flights from Hurghada to Cairo and out of Cairo were fine. Both the Merendas and we flew home via London; Austin and I spent an extra night in London and visited the British Museum to see an exhibit on the Egyptian Book of the Dead, as well as other treasures such as the Elgin marbles, and the Rosetta Stone; we also toured the Victoria and Albert Museum before flying home on February 27.
We had a really great trip which was made all the more interesting by the events in Egypt. Being so close made it all seem much more real, and it was fascinating to be able to see and hear the reactions of the people we were with. Israel is an amazing country and after visiting it, one can relate in a much more meaningful way to the political situation there. We recommend that everyone who has a chance should go to Israel. You will not regret it. Jordan was also interesting and Petra was amazing. We felt completely safe during our entire trip and felt welcomed by the people in the places we visited. We would be glad to provide any additional information/advice/help to anyone who might want to visit one of these countries.
