Sea, Sand, and Relaxation

This day started early waking up in an incredibly comfortable bed and heading up to the 6th floor to have breakfast over looking beautiful Aqaba! Breakfast was very good! I had a freshly made omelet with pita and salty cheese.

We got up early so we could all go snorkeling in the Red Sea. It was absolutely unbelievably awesome! We were out at sea for about an hour and 15 minutes. You swim up a channel following the rope. When you get to the end you turn right and fish and coral paradise began. There were so many beautiful fish. Large schools of silver needle-sized looking fish. It almost looked like long floating glitter. Then there were schools of teaspoon size yellow fish that would swim almost right up to your mask. Most of the time when you didn't move they could come so close.

There were hundreds of palm-sized fish that were black and white stripped, bright yellow fish, schools of coal black fish. There were also a few large fish. I saw this amazing long and skinny silver fish and this amazing black fish that looked like it had a neon blue line on its back and stomach, Sue saw this large cobalt blue fish with black fins and tails (very much like Dori from Finding Nemo) We both saw a few large silver fish with black fins. On the way up the rope, I saw a puffer fish (not puffy) and sea urchins that we all managed to not step on!

All crowding around was some beautiful monotone coral. You could see sponge-like ones, stick trees and trees that swayed with the current. It one of those amazing travel moments where I realize my life is so good and thankfulness to be a part of this world washes over me. It's some of the best part of traveling.

The snorkeling company then dropped us off at the hotel where had about an hour and a half to shower off all the salty water, grab lunch and then head back to the hotel to get on the bus. We ended up getting take-away, in fact most of the tour got haloumi cheese sandwiches with fries (actually EVERYTHING comes with fries.) It was really good, grilled cheese with pickles, tomatoes and lettuce. Very awesome!

We headed to Wadi Rum, the Valley of the Moon. These amazing rock formations that were sandstone and granite. First stop was the visitor center where we all headed to the bathroom! The bathroom keeper offered to tie my scarf Bedouin-style. I went with it thinking I would take a couple of pics and it would be so hot I would have to take it off. As it turns out, it was incredibly cool and kept the sun off my head so I decided to keep it until it unravelled. Interestingly our guide always warned the others to keep a hold of their hat but never told me to hold on to my scarf!

We all piled into jeep trucks and set out into the desert! First stop was this climb where you could see for miles and take some amazingly beautiful pictures of the rock formation. We then climbed back in the jeep and drove to a shaded side of a rock formation where you can climb the sand, take some awesome pics and run / slide down the sand on the way down. I must stay we all got a great workout climbing as far as we could. Back in the jeeps, with the next stop being a Bedouin tent. Our guide showed us the camel and hunter drawings that were over 2,500 years old. He explained, as the caravans came through Wadi Rum they would go in smaller groups so the first group would leave information about where they went next. Also written there was directions to water from that point, expressed in the number of camel days of walking. At this location there were CAMELS!!! That's right Sue and I rode camels!!! A lot of our fellow tour people got some great shots of us. I love the one of the camel shadows.

After the camel ride we had some traditional Bedouin tea and a bit of Bedouin shopping. We then piled back into the jeep and headed back to the visitor center. We all grabbed some great ice cream and took a few moments to rest while the van cooled enough for us to get in and then we were off to Petra.

Along the two-hour journey our guide, at our request, spoke about the Jordanian culture and being a muslim. He spoke about marriage both arranged and love, births, and death. It was so interesting to get such an introspective view. I would say our tour guide is fairly liberal so he gave us (what appeared to be) a very balance and accurate account.

When we arrived in Petra we went straight to the hotel... it's going to be the full experience tomorrow! Another very glorious hotel! The beds are amazingly comfortable and dinner was included and was a great buffet with chicken, fish, lamb with a large variety of salads and dips. This hotel has a Turkish bath that Sue and I decided after much thought to give it a whirl.

So you show up in your bathing suit, they wet you down and stick you in a steam room, with the steam going full blast! They then come and get you and take you to a heated room, with a heated marble table where you lay down. The women working on you then puts on a scrubber mitt... think green pot scrubber and then starts scrubbin' you down, legs, back, stomach (if you are not sporting a one piece) and then arms. It's both a bit painful and refreshing. Seeing the balls of skin that's peeled off was pretty ick. Sue was mildly horrified when she found out that all those little balls were her exfoliated skin. You were then moved to another room that was cooler where they wet you down and give you a soapy body massage. Very relaxing! They then rinse you off and you sit in the lobby like area where you enjoy a very relaxing cup of chamomile tea.

Holy crap it was a long and amazing day!

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