aqaba, jordan

we rented a car and took the scenic route to aqaba
in south jordan.

– without car seats our family fit comfortably in a little car,
but of course we had to roll like the jordanians
with the girls able to get up and around the car at their leisure
which can be a bit stressful
if you’re used to the control offered by car seats –

the views of this scenic highway
were almost worth the trip by itself.

the often winding road took us around hills and mountains

through valleys, over rivers and dams,
through small city marketplaces,
and pass many-a-shepard with flock in tow.
we had to stop one time and let some sheep cross the road
followed by a young shepherd — probably no more than 12 — on a donkey.
apparently that’s how they do:
you’ll see a whole bunch of sheep or goats
with a lone donkey mixed up in the bunch.
maybe it carries the shepherd’s food, extra clothes and other supplies
while providing a ride when needed.
we’d see lots of bedouin tents and then there’s be a set of solar panels.
we saw some bedouin children being dropped of from school on the back of a truck.

the night we got there
we decided to check out the beach.
good thing we did cause we would have been disappointed the next day.
we stayed in aquamarina 2 which had beach views but not beach access.
however, another aquamarina hotel, #1, i guess, had “beach access”.
after parking you had to walk down about 100 meters down a
colorless, cement corridor to the unimpressive entrance to the hotel.
when we got to the back of the hotel
there was a dock.
next to the dock was the “beach” area
which consisted of some beach chairs on sand,
wide stone steps that went into the water,
followed by a chain link fence about 2 meters out.
what made it even worse is that you could see the beach
in front of the intercontinental hotel — read 5 star — next door
which looked like something out of a brochure.
the next day we went looking for something better.

we had a nice view of the red sea from our hotel.
directly behind the hotel
it seemed like some workers lived at their work site.

it was around 5 or so in the morning
and they were taking their clothes off the line,
walking from one building to another with a towel and a kettle,
looking like they had just woken up.
i see similar situations in amman.
at work sites in the area
you’ll see little boxes of cement blocks
covered in plastic and wood, with tin roofs
with a clothes line or two near by.

we went driving and found a public beach

not too far away from the hotel beach.
we took a glass bottom boat.

the water was crystal clear.

we could easily see the coral, fish, and tank at the bottom of the sea.

i can see why this would be a great place to learn to scuba dive and snorkel.
the gulf is surrounded by these huge beautiful mountains.

one side is jordan; on the other is israel.
just a short drive away is the saudi border,
and a short boat ride away is egypt.
the king also has a palace on the gulf.
there were huge tankers in the gulf, as well as yachts,
and old style ships with sails.
on the other side of the boardwalk from the glass-bottom boats and seating areas
were plots of land where it looked like people were growing food.

ishaq had a little side adventure after we took the glass boat:
we had parked and were heading down
to see what was available at the public beach.
ishaq closed the door of the rental car
and realized that the keys were on the seat.
he decided not to let it bother us
and that we’d take care of it later.
usually, i’d freak out and demand that we had to take care of it immediately,
but it was a lot easier to go along with ishaq’s calm flow.
after the glass boat trip,
i stayed with the girls at the shore,
letting them play in the water
while ishaq took care of the keys-in-car situation.
he told me later that he’d flagged down a policeman,
who referred him to a taxi driver,
who took him around looking for a key-maker the taxi driver knew,
who referred them to a mechanic
who was able to open the car door.
(note: we’ve been told that
there is no word for “locksmith” in arabic)
the mechanic and the taxi driver took payment for their services,
but then the taxi driver invited us for dinner at his home the next day.
however we were leaving the next day.
not deterred, the taxi driver took ishaq’s number and said he’d call.
fast foward to our return to amman,
the taxi driver showed up in amman at our apartment door!
he happened to find someone in the neighborhood who knew us.
he invited us to dinner at his brother’s house in az-zarqa,
just north of amman!
unfortunately, we were able to get ready in time,
but ishaq was able to have a short dinner with him
before he (taxi driver) got back on the bus back to aqaba.
what hospitality!
inshaAllah, we’ll see him again.

rewind back to aqaba after we got our keys out of the rental car:
later that day ishaq asked workers at a restaurant across from the hotel
where a “good” beach was.
just a few kilometers away towards the saudi border behind yet another aquamarina hotel
was aquamarina’s saving grace.

it looked like the beach we’d been expecting
with palm-covered umbrellas and everything.

sanaa and rahmah didn’t want to leave.

and if we’d brought food we could have stayed there the better part of a day.

i think 2 or 3 days in aqaba is just enough.
if i went back i would like to check out pharaoh island
and if i had an islamic bathing suit
i’d do some snorkeling or scuba diving.
i believe we went a little early in the season
because it wasn’t at all crowded,
but the weather was great.