This past weekend I skipped my last class on Thursday in order to take the overnight bus trip to Sinai. I laughed to myself as I soon realized that my luck has not changed since my time in Syria. I once again had the great fortune (if you don't sense the sarcasm in this, please read on) of being assigned a seat next to the largest Egyptian man on the bus. However, the trip was not all that unpleasant. I arrived in Sinai just in time to catch the sunrise, but also too early to find a reasonably priced taxi to the beach camp where my friends were staying.
That morning, upon arrival at the ferry ticket office, we debated on whether to take the fast ferry or the slow ferry to Jordan. We decided to take our chances with the slow ferry even though Lonely Planet warned us about the possible consequences for our actions. As it turns out, I am seriously considering becoming a contributor to the next edition of "Egypt" in the Lonely Planet series in order to add a one liner,"If you're a non-Egyptian or non-Jordanian do not, I repeat, DO NOT take the slow ferry from Sinai to Jordan. Paying the extra $10 American will prove to be well worth it. Needless to say, my friends and I spent close to 12 hours on a stuffy ferry, were for some reason locked on the upper deck of the vessel, and were limited to a steady diet of potato chips and cookies packed with preservatives for the duration of the journey.
Despite this nightmare of an experience, we made it to Jordan safe and sound. We were able to spot a "shawarma-ry" open at two in the morning, and the delicious wraps proved to be well worth the wait. The next day was solely dedicated to visiting Petra. It was absolutely amazing and well worth the trying experience getting there. I will post pictures soon. As a side note, listening to the soundtrack from "Indiana Jones: The Last Crusade" truly enhances the experience of seeing the famous Treasury carved out of the Petra mountains. I've posted a video of this point in the trip. Please excuse the commentary. :)
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Jon, I love the video clip. Petra looks to be a truly beautiful and amazing site to see. I'm glad the trip was worth it in the end - I guess we "Live and Learn" huh! $10 more dollars wouldn't have been much, but look at it this way - the experience once you got there was amazing and like you said "worth the wait". Too bad there wasn't at least a more comfortable situation on the ferry though. Were there any windows or anything to look at scenery while you were so long on the ferry?
ReplyDeleteI think you meant to say "excuse the coughing."
ReplyDelete:)