Israel to Jordan

Yesterday I took a bus from Tel Aviv to Israel's southern-most city of Eilat, where I spent just a night. (I will be passing through Eilat at least once more and maybe twice so I will have another chance to spend more time there if I wish. But, to be honest, I am not sure I will. Eilat basically consists of two groups of people: Israelis on vacation and tourists. The only reason I may spend some time there is if I decide I want to go diving or snorkeling there.) On the bus I sat next to a English guy named Edward. We shared the spare bedroom of some lady that night and headed to the Israel-Jordan boarder around noon. At the boarder we ran into another English guy, Tom, that Edward met when he was in Haifa, who had befriended a German couple, whose names I am blanking on right now. The five of us are staying in a hostel just outside of Petra, which, after paying a JD21 fee, we will be exploring tomorrow. (Yes, there is an entrance fee to the city.) The following day the plan is to go on a real camel ride (unlike the one I did with Birthright) and then to spend the night in a tent in the desert. After that, we will probably head north to the capital. Then, back south en route to Egypt.

A funny thing is that I originally had no intention on visiting Jordan at all. When I was still making plans from the States a relative convinced me to spend a day in Petra. After talking with friends of friends throughout my time in Israel I was conviced to spend more time there. Luckily for me the four people I have met all plan on spending nearly a week here, so things worked out nicely.

Jordan is not what you would expect. Everybody is friendly, which is the opposite of Israel where everybody is rude and kind of a dick. The currency is stronger than the USD, but everything is cheap. I ate an outstanding buffet meal of authentic Jordanian food at my hostel for dinner for JD4 (between $4-5). 1.5 liters of what cost JD.5 (about 60 cents) where in Israel the cost is at least 5NIS (more than $1) but usually 8NIS (about $2). A hostel in Tel Aviv is about $25/night. My hostel here is about $8 and much nicer. I have only been in Jordan for about 12 hours and I am already happy I was convinced to come here.

The Internet in this cafe is pretty slow so that is all for now.