World Cruise Day 102/152 - Aqaba, Jordan - A lazy day and shopping

Cruise day: 102/152

Ports days: 44
Sea days: 58
Countries: 17
Continents: 5
Ports: 31

Well, I'm shocked.  It seems that every time I make a mistake in this blog, someone is quick to point it out.  Not to be mean, but just to let me know I had something wrong.  Well, yesterday, I completely forgot to update the counts in the header right above this paragraph and nobody noticed.  I have since updated it and it is correct, but thanks for letting that slip by unnoticed. :-)

If you are really interested, I did add a few more photos and comments to yesterday's blog.  Nothing earth-shattering, but just things I forgot in my stupor last night.  There are also a couple of photos of us that a friend took and a night shot of the lights of Aqaba since we'll be sailing tonight before the lights come on.

After talking with a few other folks that took the included excursion yesterday, we did opt to cancel that and just take the shuttle into town.  

The port control tower and lighthouse

Several small boats were hanging out right near our ship - I assume they were fishermen

As I mentioned yesterday, we are right across the bay from Israel.  There is a mosaic of the Israeli flag almost straight across from Aqaba's port.

We rode the shuttle bus into town.  Can you tell where they stop the buses?

There was a small park across from the bus stop where it looked like they had just repaired and were refilling a small fountain.

We wandered around doing some window shopping and looking at the sights.

Hi - I'm from out of town and am looking for a place to stay - I'd prefer someplace with a nice view - can you recommend a place?

There were tons of little shops - most with a lot of the same stuff - tons of clothes - I'm not sure how they can all continue to be in business since they all seem to offer the same merchandise

One shop had this full-body women's swimsuit - check out the label - Port Huron to Sarnia - if you're from Michigan or Ontario - you'll understand why we found this an interesting find

The holy month of Ramadan started yesterday and we noticed these decorative lights on the lamps last night - we can only assume they are Ramadan decorations that are similar in concept to Christmas decorations in towns back in the U.S.

It wasn't all window shopping today.  Arlona found this set of earrings, a pendant, and a ring all set with Goldstone - something we've seen in several Jordanian jewelry stores.  It is really just glass that has had copper flecks included within the body of the stone, but it seems to be very prevalent in Jordan and was unusual.

After about 90 minutes of strolling, we hopped the shuttle back to the ship, skipping the opportunity to dine at a local place that had an air of familiarity - McDonald's.

As I was loading photos and starting to put this blog together, I heard a pretty loud roar outside and stepped out on the balcony.  This is what I saw.

It was a Boeing C-17A Globemaster III from the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. Based on its markings, it appears that it came out of Charleston Air Force Base's 437th Airlift Wing (437 AW) in South Carolina.  I'll rely on military experts to correct me on this.  Its heading, plus the fact that the wheels were down and full flaps were deployed, suggested it was on final approach to runway 01 at King Hussein International Airport.

We read for a while this afternoon and then went up on the Aquavit deck to watch the sail away.  That lasted for a bit, but, wow, it was really windy, and ultimately that chased us inside for dinner.

Sunset over Israel

The four-country photo - Egypt to the far left, Israel from the left of the sun to the right, Jordan straight back, and Saudi Arabia on the far right

We are now sailing roughly 115 miles south through the Bay of Aqaba to Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, near the southern tip of the Sinai peninsula.

We have a day in Sharm El-Sheikh tomorrow, then south for a day is Safaga, Egypt, and then, back up through the Suez Canal to Port Said and trips to Cairo and Giza.

We got a note in the room tonight to set the clocks back an hour, so we're starting to regain some of the hours we gave away.  That will move us to UTC+2 or six hours ahead of the U.S. east coast. It will be interesting to see if we lose an hour again when we head to Israel as they are UTC+3.  Tomorrow, we start the day with a glass-bottom boat tour in the morning followed by a desert jeep tour in the afternoon.  Good thing we gain an hour of sleep tonight.

Our thoughts on Jordan:

• Petra - go - it is worth seeing and amazing
• Talking to others, the Wadi Rum desert trip is equally amazing - kind of wish we went there too
• The people - generally friendly and welcoming
• Safety - we felt safe all the time - crime is relatively low
• Cleanliness - this is the one issue - there is trash everywhere - in Aqaba, in the desert, everywhere - I don't get it - nobody seems to care and they just toss trash all over

So farewell, Jordan. We enjoyed our time and encourage others to visit.  Next up, Egypt.