Are we re-entering the land of Genta?

Hi again!

Thanks to everyone for your comments - we love reading them!

In Jordan now thankfully, it has been quite a journey! I am happy to say we left so early (5am - leo says I have to put the exact time in as he is so exhausted) from Dahab we drove through the Sinai mountains at sunrise so I got to see it after all and it truly did not disappoint. I will not over indulge in the descriptions this time except to say that it was tremendous. The colours, the light - O.k I am overindulging as Leo pointed out! I rarely see sunrise though, nevermind in Egypt, so it was pretty impressive! Watching the sun rise in the sky I couldn't help but swell with emotion a bit. It's hard to try and understand or explain why ... it's something like a pride for the earth we live on and a sense that we are blessed to be able to see it but there is something about being on another continent and seeing this natural phenomenon that makes you think of everyone at home that you love too so I prayed for you all.

Enough of that! We then proceeded to the border at Taba to cross into Israel at 6:30 in the morning and the temperature was already in the 30s. The Egyptian border was not my favourite experience. They double charged me departure tax because the first stamp they gave me wouldn't stick .. then the tourist 'police' tried to get it in U.S dollars from me! Granted it was the smallest amount of money you could imagine but still, you think at a border they could at least pretend to not want baksheesh. He was also really annoyed that we had been smart enough to get a double entry visa in Ireland already because he couldn't charge us more for that. About 15 feet later and we were in Israel and we couldn't believe the dramatic change. The people, their accents, mannerisms - it made us want to stay! They were so friendly and it was the first time we had been anywhere where there was about 10 woman working and talking to us. We had been a bit worried about getting a taxi from the border here thorugh Eilat, in Israel, to the Israeli - Jordanian border as it is the Sabbath in Israel today but they just charge a holiday price so we were fine. We got a lovely South African woman take us to the border telling us all about Israel as we drove along the waters in Eilat. You hear so much about it on the news you never contemplate going and suddenly you're there, albeit briefly, and I felt like saying onwards to Tel Aviv!

I didn't of course and left the Star of David behind for Jordan. Leo said the first noticeable difference at this border was once again being greeted with "friend or wife?" by the security who then let me sit in between them to fill out my form. Mum, you will be happy to know they also thought the way I hold my pen is hilarious - they probably think we all write like that in Ireland now!

Final part of our journey was the hour and a half car ride to the town of Wadi Musa, beside Petra, from here and we managed to get a taxi quickly again. Jordan currency is almost exactly equal to the Euro so after a week of Egyptian prices it was a bit of a shock to the system. Our taxi man was lovely though and bought me mango juice and Leo a (really really awful thick black) coffee. He stopped a few times to let me take pictures in the desert, of Wadi Rum. We also pulled into a tourist shop where we met the people we travelled with at 5am who got the boat across to Jordan and they convinced us going through Israel was a better choice. We also met a lovely American couple from Rhode Island who must have been in their 70s and who were doing an Egypt/Jordan trip independently like us.
We have been exhausted so we have not done anything else today - just rested in readiness for the Dead Sea and Petra. It has been so hot and we have been so tired that it has been nice to not do anything more today. Our hotel is fine - basic but clean and very friendly people. It almost feels like being in their house, they have pictures of their children in the lobby and tonight their mother cooked a Jordanian buffet for any guests who wanted to partake. It was delicious! The nicest meal we have had so far. Lovely to have something homecooked. This lovely sticky rice, fish cooked in herbs and vegetables that even Leo liked, and plates of different salads and hummous and typical mezze dishes. Really relaxing we'll def. eat here for our stay as the town is so quiet with little in it.

I apologise for the length of this post but I will just recap our last day in Dahab before I sign out. I had mentioned that we might snorkel or Leo might get me to go on a camel. Well, I still am not too keen on the camel but i DID snorkel. Now, I don't even swim with my head under water so this is a bit of a big deal. Let's be honest, I don't even really swim in the sea but Dahab is so renowed for its waters I was curious to give it a go. We went to a place called the Blue Hole, infamous in the area for its coral and clear waters that divers love. We got an ancient open 4x4 drive over the desert to it which believe us was not for the faint hearted. It was more like 4x4 terrain but not exactly 4x4 car, a pick up truck of sorts so after that snorkelling was a bit of a breeze. It was really hard to get the hang of it, putting my head under water and breathing through my mouth. A few times I breather thorugh my nose and inhaled water which was horrible. I managed to get some giant man in a tiny speedo's snorkel mask as mine didn't fit me well and I was screaming out the Hail Mary in the beginning so he took pity on me. After that it was amazing. It was like being on the set of Finding Nemo and I was the Little Mermaid. A lot less glamorous in a lifejacket granted but we had so much fun and it was the perfect end to our Dahab break.

and that is the end to this post as well. They always become so long - sorry! It's just so I can remember everything.

Love, as always

xox