Escape from the Golden Cage...

We found out today that our tour in Jordan will be different to our tour in Israel:

1 - We have our own private tour guide and tomorrow we are joined by another Australian woman

2- We are not traveling in the big bulky tourist buses but in a normal car with no seat belts in the back (apparently that is normal)

3 - We get to decide what we want to do, when and have  a lot more flexibility in the itinerary than the big group tours

4 - We are not sure if our tour guide/driver has a driving license (we are kidding, he drives exactly the same as the Israeli drivers and other Jordanian drivers ---which is any way he wants to ---such as overtaking vehicles in the wrong lane)

5 - he insists on calling us Madam and opening the doors for us even though we told him to call us by our first names to which he replied 'Yes Madam - I mean yes Madam Nur'

6 - Our tour guide is also our own private comedian entertaining us on the 2.5 hour drive from Amman to Petra with jokes

7 - Our hotel in Petra is very fitting given the history of the place - it is elegant, spacious and empty like a tomb

8 - Once again, they like the song Barbie Girl. It is very difficult to appreciate ancient artifacts in the museum with Aqua playing full blast in the background and the lyrics 'I'm a blond bimbo girl in a fantasy world' while staring at Roman pottery. We wondered if they knew what the lyrics meant (especially the lines involving words like 'hanky panky')

9 - Mr and Mrs M are not on the tour with us and not in our hotel so with 71 hotels and the 72nd hotel being built in Petra, it may be a little difficult to catch up with them. Of course, we could run into Mr M taking photos on his iPad on our tour of Petra tomorrow. Better bring an extra bottle of water in case he has been wandering around for some which we will sell to him for 50 Shekels because we know he ha some left

10 - We have escaped the Golden Cage because we were literally stuck in our hotel. We could see the city centre of Amman from our window which was close but with no pedestrian footpaths and heavy traffic with a tunnel way which seemed to be some kind of freeway, well...we would have ended up being flattened and decorating the Jordanian street

We have climbed the Karak Fortress today, seen Bedouin campsites, Moses's spring, lots of goats, a green camel and not had lunch. I'm sure we passed many other incredible sights but Alicia and I seemed to be taking it in turns falling asleep in the car. I had my first Jordanian tea with mint leaves brought to me by a little boy around 10 years old who seemed to be running his own little cafe at a popular tourist stop to view the Dana Wildlife Reserve. Our guide stopped to show us the view, stretch our legs and....his cigarette break. Two minutes later we were joined bay another guide and his small tour group doing the same thing. Having a cigarette break I mean. Ashtrays everywhere (including near the computer I am typing on).

 After dinner we have a night tour of Petra which will be illuminated by candles. That should be interesting.

If you don't see another blog update, it's because we got lost and didn't make it our of Petra at night. It will be a grand final resting place for us and tomorrow we may be joined by Mr M if the iPad distracts him too much and the heat gets the better of him.