250808 - Siani to Jordan

The morning was ending with a sleep-in followed by a panicked packing. We settled our bills, which I was certain mine was under-charged, and then paid cash for a breakfast of pancakes with banana. Fraser had had a particularly big night last night, having to resort to Hair of the Dog to become active. One of warm beer in, he felt better. Two cans in, he felt great. I left to get my things before the inevitable. Packs were humped to the van and a final toilet stop is all that delayed the departure.


Having practised the art of Hurry-up and Wait, we got to the Ferry terminal in a rush and then did nothing for about 2 hours.
The boat was late, so were our tickets.

I felt bad for Emam, this portion of the trip is Tipping-time. Many of us were running low on funds and so I'm sure that our contributions were not as large as she deserved. One of the couples in the group had taken care to point out that they had no intention to offer a large tip, everyone else deciding to tip individually or in small groups so as to make sure that Emam could see the gratitude of those she had guided, leaving those who felt no need to show appreciation to do as such.
John, Aaron and I each put in as much as we could afford and Emam looked temporarily overwhelmed at our thanks and took little notice of the small fold of bills that we passed her. She was glad to feel appreciated, this had certainly not been the easiest group for her.

Goodbyes and promises to email were made after the protracted passage through security, customs, security and immigration control. We slouched out to the boat and waved goodbye as our packs were man-handled into a pile against the rear railing.

Once we had found seats, gone looking for nibbles, and returned to our seats, the boat got under-way. It became rapidly apparent that the air-conditioning hadn't been “off because the engine was off”, it just wasn't working. As the DVD started playing, a crew-member walked to the front of the cabin and opened the two windows onto the bow. He returned to his station amidst cheering and applause by the passengers.

The journey up the coast to Aqaba took about 1-1.5 hours. The DVD was shockingly bad (“Rush Hour 2”) and the disc must have been in even worse condition than the dialogue, every 5-25 minutes into the film it lost its track and restarted. Taking the opportunity to stare into space, I whiled away the time until we arrived at our destination.


JORDAN

Aqaba was a welcome change to Egypt. Once we had found our guide and gotten our bags (a nail-biting activity of crew-members passing them over the water rather than using the walk-way), we boarded the bus.
Our guide was Faisel, a Jordanian from Madaba (the terminus of our tour). He had been a communiations specialist in the Jordanian Army for 6 years, 2 months, 1 day and 1 hour (or there-abouts... he had been very specific) before getting out and becoming a tour guide. Speaking with an accent that appeared to be normal for the region, the bus took off to the hotel.

The trip from here on in appeared to make a change for the better. The bus was much bigger (piloted by Captain “Drizzle”) and had excellent air-conditioning. The hotel we arrived at was very nicely appointed, definitely a step above what we had been used to. Indeed it had air-conditioning AND hot water.. just no cold water to go with the hot. Still, getting our rooms, I settled down for a nap.

Dinner time was to be directly after the orientation walk. Being guided through the main tourist district of Aqaba, Faisel directed us to money exchanges and banks as necessary. The majority of the group went to sea-food restaurant, Scottish left before too long. Having noticed the after-effects of the night before, despite the temporary remedies that morning, for most of the day, he decided it wiser to retreat to the hotel.

The fish at the restaurant has to be some of the best that I have ever eaten. It was almost still swimming when it hit the plate and came with a strong lemon sauce that it had recently been married to in a beautiful ceremony by the chef. There were drinks all round and we all left, feeling satisfied and hunting for desert.

Wandering through the streets, Sarah-british found a pharmacy and asked for suitable treatments for her fire-coral injury which was getting worse. Continuing on down to the end of the street, we saw the corner leading to the beach. Heading back, we found some icecream in a store that seemed dedicated to deserts. Laddened with water and icecream, we licked our way back to the hotel.

With new confidence, having succeeded in the hunting expedition, I went looking for internet access. There was a small, dodgy, store that offered “ADSL” just behind the hotel. Entering into the hot, smoke-filled room, I wasn't entirely filled with hope that I would be able to get my iPhone fully functional, or that I'd be able to get my various tasks completed.

I wasn't too far off...

About 3 hours later, I wandered back to the hotel. 3 computers had blown up on me, at least one of them releasing its precious blue-smoke from an over-heated powersupply. I had succeeded in sending an email (after re-typing it 3 times) and checked my banking. I'd given up on my phone for the day, after 3 partial attempts. It was on the way home that I found some free access just adjacent to the hotel. Standing out on the street at 1AM, I completed the emails and banking from my phone.

Victorious, I hurried off to bed.