Coldup, thanks for sharing your trip to Jordan. i enjoyed reading it even if it was written 5 years ago- your adventures are timeless.

Hi Cold! xcountry; I am just reading this for the first time and I love your writing! I have to say you are a much more adventurous traveler than me, but it seems you were able to really experience the country. DH and I have been thinking about Israel and Jordan for next year but I am a little worried about the middle east and safety.

Gotg didn't you survive your job as a young woman on Wall Street? The Middle East will be a piece of cake. As I think back on our trips every incident that might be described as scary could also be described as humorous. Our first morning in Cairo (I didn't write a trip report on that one) I went out to find an ATM. I found one, but it had a soldier with his gun across his lap sleeping in a chair right in front/below it. I didn't know how far the next ATM was so I kind of tiptoed over/around him and used the ATM all the while ready to beg forgiveness, throw money in the air, start running etc. So funny now.

I know you have traveled enough to realize wherever you are there will be a lot of other people. The odds of you being hurt are very, very low. Just sign over your bank accounts to your daughters before you leave.

"Just sign over your bank accounts to your daughters before you leave. "
Maybe they will buy me the tickets! ;)

Girl, husband and I will be in Israel and Jordan next month, i will post my observations here upon our return ( if i have time, i’ll do a short trip report ). we had the same concerns but after asking in many travel forums and Middle East-knowledgeable people, we feel that the fear to go is unwarranted. im very happy with our decision to go.

country, it’s not too late to post your trip report on Egypt. i would like to know the rest of the story on that ATM episode...

Takemewithu the rest of the story is the soldier didn't wake up and I got my money. He was not there later in the day. Might be a nighttime thing.

I didn't write a trip report as that trip saw us visit six places in 21 days - Athens, Nafplio, Istanbul, Cappadocia, Cairo and Barcelona. Fodors 101 is that you can't travel that fast. Superficial and amateurish. So I kept the stories to myself. We did go ballooning in Cappadocia. Everyone loved it but me, but that was expected. I found the pilot to be a bit of a whackjob - we were going up and down like a yo yo. Then we landed on the back of a truck. But as I say everyone else loved it. Wadi Rum would be a spectacular setting for ballooning.

so no scenes ala Mr Bean Uses the ATM, with Dinar bills flying all over the place...we might have been in Athens and Napflio the same year. we were there in 2014. i posted a mini trip report here on that trip to Greece. the desserts we had were unforgettable. im hoping we would encounter them again in Israel and Jordan - ekmek kataif, galakto boureko, halva.