Day 3 & 4 Jordan

Off to the Dead Sea!

All but Pam swam in the Dead Sea.  The water was warmer than the outside air and we bobbed like corks.  I felt like I was in a brine and heading to the BBQ.

We dried, showered, dried and found the hotel bar.  Beer and wine was good and off to see the spot where Moses died, then to lunch.

We demanded no more sites, just get us back to the hotel, which he reluctantly did.

The Dead Sea!

First in!

Trying to stand, but not touching bottom.

Petra

Our final day was a 3 hour drive to Petra.  We got up early for breakfast and our driver was 10 minutes late.  It was my turn to be laying low, so I crawled into the third row of seats and bounced around.  After 90 minutes we pulled into a tourist trap rest stop so our driver could have his free breakfast and a couple of smokes.

Drove through the country side and snow to arrive at Petra.  We were met by a local guide who was knowledgeable and mellow.  “About a 2 mile walk down and the same coming out.”  I was thinking, “What? How do old people do this?(us)

260 foot elevation down and the same up!  4.2 miles and 520 feet elevation according to my watch.  Very interesting, but not nearly as impressive as I had hoped.

After another stop on the way to the hotel, free snack and smoke for the driver and we fought through traffic to get back by 6:30.

Good news: the top floor restaurant was open so we went up to check it out.  The place was empty, but we needed to make a reservation.  “Yes, we can squeeze you in.”  It was on the 7th floor, our room was on the 6th floor.  No alcohol in the restaurant so we went to our room for a pre-function and a few times while waiting for the pizzas.  There was a total of 7 folks in the restaurant, so thank goodness we got a reservation!

Now time for the exit!  Our driver got us to the airport and we were meet by a guy who asked to see our boarding passes which we didn’t have as it was booked by the tour company.  He was a little shaken, but we found our flight and and headed back to Cairo.

Our Cairo contact said we needed Visas, which we had, but no, you need another because you are coming in for 12 hours.  $25USD each please.  Fortunately the tour coordinator was outside the gate and would reimburse us the $100, which he did.

Duty Free and then the airport hotel with ultra slow WiFi.  I think my 2600 Baud dial up modem was faster back in the 90’s.

Cairo to Heathrow for an hour layover then to LA.  We got a LATE start out of Cairo and were met at London by a gal telling us to run to the next gate, which we did.  Made it on the plane with seconds to spare and settled in for an 11 hour flight.  Then to SFO, then PDX.  Home at 2 a.m.  Happy Valentine’s Day!

These pictures are in reverse order, but they are in!