AQABA, JORDAN Mon, June 17

Aqaba, Jordan – on the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea – is a very different kettle of fish from Safaga, Egypt, on the other side of the Red Sea. During the night the Sea Princess followed the coast of Egypt on the port side, then the coast of Arabia on the starboard side to berth at Aqaba about 9am.

The bare, brown desert peaks tower over the city, which combines neat concrete square buildings with the much more modern resorts and hotels of a tourist paradise. Aqaba offers sandy beaches, clear blue water and a fascinating coral reef. The Red Sea water is very blue, and people who swam in it yesterday, on the Egyptian side, said it is cold. The temperature expected today the ship told us was to be 35 degrees.

The ship is berthed in the cargo port, so shuttle buses were provided into town. No one is allowed to walk around the cargo wharves. We took our wheelchair across the high quality black tarred wharf to the shuttle bus with all the other passengers and crew who wanted to go ashore. The bus dropped its entrance step so that it was not so high off the ground, the driver stowed the wheelchair underneath, and we drove through the outskirts of the city to a resort overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba with lots of small boats dotted on the blue water.

Again there were lots of taxi offering deals of one hour around the city, but we started off in the heat with just us and the wheelchair. It was too hot, and there were deep gutters and steps everywhere to make wheelchair progress difficult. A large map in a bus shelter showed us we were on the edge of the city, and we decided to take a taxi into ‘town’ to the post office so we could post our Egyptian post cards from Jordan, and wander around a bit.

Roads are good with three or four lanes, and parking on the side. Roundabouts are huge and manage to spew traffic about in slightly alarming ways, with good quality modern cars going in all directions. Near the port there is a huge flagpole with the large Jordanian flag held near horizontal by today’s wind. There were lots of flags in evidence right around the city. And lots of photos of the Royal Family.

When we found the Post Office to buy stamps they would not take the US$s that Bruce offered, so he parked me in a bit of shade provided by a notice board and trudged off to find a bank. It was a surprise to find the local currency – the Jordan Dinar – was higher than the American Dollar, which was only worth about three quartres of a Dinar.

By then the hassle and the heat began to tell. There are steps everywhere: up gutters, in the open doors of markets, bazaars and shops along the footpath, and even in the parks with tree shade here and there. The highlight was Bruce finding a Liquor store where he thought he’d buy some red wine or his ‘five o’clock’ tipple in the cabin before dinner. He was reluctant to buy the Jordanian wine which was the only variety on offer, so I suggested he be brave and regard it as a cultural experience.

Taxis here are grassy green and seem to be found in special taxi ranks. We couldn’t find a rank, so Bruce found a quieter street and tried hailing one. A driver stopped, picked us up and had several phone conversations on his mobile while driving to ask what fare he should charge. Several times he passed the phone back to Bruce who found himself begging pardons of ‘the boss’ whom he couldn’t understand anyway, and they eventually agreed Five Dinar would be OK. The driver found the particular resort where the Princess Shuttles dropped and picked up passengers.

We were met at the gangway by crew with cold wet washers and cauldrons of very cold water.

The ship’s Excursions today went out to the Ancient city of Petra, and to the Wadi Rum in four wheel drives through  the rough desert country. Both  excursions were expected to be hot and tiring.

Again – it was very pleasant and civilized for us to rejoin the cool of the ship and have a late lunch.

Tomorrow is a ‘sea day’ for the intrepid travellers to Petra and Wadi Rum to recover, and we all look forward to the experience of the Suez Canal the following day. All day.