Colduphere -

I have really benefitted from reading your report and enjoyed it.

My daughter will be in Jordan this summer for an internship at an Architectural firm. I may go to help her settle in and to tour the various areas you mention. Once I know if I am definitely going I might call out for a question or two.

Thanks for sharing the report!

Annesherrod - that's wonderful for you and amazing for your daughter. The summer will be very hot but so worth it. It's a real shame that Syria is having such problems. Everyone seems to travel south from Amman but north to Syria is our hope for next time.

And thanks for getting this trip report to 100 replies. Three numbers looks so nice.

Just found this report today. We did a similar trip two years ago with our youngest son, (17 at the time). This brought back some great memories! We were the only three in our Bedouin camp and the camel ride at sunset is something I will never forget. We carried on to the new resort development southeast of Aqaba (Tala Bay?) and then crooked over into Isreal for a week. What a contrast to Jordan!

All in all this is an interesting part of the world. Thanks for a great report.

Pirouette - thanks for reading. And I love your name.

A few of us including Fra Diavolo, Thursdaysd, Moremiles, Grassshopper, Dgunbug and ... I apologize if I am missing anyone ... were talking about India above. Okay I REALLY hate parents who come on here and brag, especially indirectly. But I want to tell this story. Our oldest son graduated from high school today. He won an award for the student who best combines athleticism with an interest in international affairs (interesting combination). The award was given by the Indo-Canadian Community - the only such community to offer an award. When he was on stage he told the man representing the community that he would use the $600 to visit India asap. So I guess one of us is going to India, with a top-up in funding as required.

that's the most bizarre award i've ever heard of
but congrats to him
and have fun in india

What was the old English public school motto? Mens Sana En Corpore Sano? But it didn't say anything about international.

Good for him, although I think that top-up funding will definitely be required.

How fantastic! Congrats to your son winning such a unique award and India will be a wonderful experience for him-in fact, you should all go. We will all await your trip report...

Hi Cold, I just read this blog entry from a solo traveler/photographer and her month in Jordan. I wondered what your thoughts would be.

http://www.ottsworld.com/blogs/acts-...ess-in-jordan/

You know Grassshopper I find this a very difficult question. As I wrote I was very impressed with our hotel owner. He went out of his way to help us. I mentioned the hotel owner in Petra who said we could pay our bill after we arrived home. The guide in the street in Petra who noticed me staring at our car and assuring me it would be okay. They all did it so naturally. On the other hand we did not really notice people starting conversations or asking where we were from. Then again we were only there nine days. And there were a couple of instances when people were saying questionable things not knowing our daughter understood.

I think what I would say is that people are not afraid to talk and to help. It just comes very naturally. There isn't that reluctance to engage that the author mentions in her blog. It is not overly friendly. It just happens.

Our daughter is in Tunisia now. She was telling us that the men in Tunisia are more likely to say things to her than in Jordan. Nothing inappropriate but definitely more aggressive. I think she prefers the Jordanian approach.

I have a couple of other unformed thoughts that involve how comfortable westerners are in Middle Eastern environments. We are probably sending off a slightly nervous vibe that precludes more interaction. But it is very hard to analyze one's own behaviour.

Just stumbled onto this engaging yarn, Cold. Sounds line a great trip & I join the others in saying,"Good on you" to you & Mrs Cold for bringing up your youngsters to be independent, thoughtful people with an awareness of a variety of people, places & lifestyles.

I've not been to Jordan yet, but it's certainly on the list, with Turkey & Morocco.

Thanks for a great read.

Dear Cold,

I don't know how I missed this trip report. Beyond being an entertaining writer, you and your family do have some grand adventures and seem like a lot of fun. And your daughter has had a very interesting year. I'm so glad she was able to do her travels and advance her study of Arabic.

I do hope you will get to India as well. It's a nice contrast to Norway and Sweden;)

And Iceland where we are now. Have a good trip to Denmark Gruezi.

Bokhara our goal is still your second home Nepal. But I must say after a couple of very tough hikes in Norway and Iceland I fear that our goal of a family trek in Nepal may be giving way to something less strenuous.

Hope you're having a great time in Iceland!

That is quite a trip report!! I am going to Jordan this week, and I'm particularly looking forward to the WAdi Rum and Jebel Al Hash..

Have fun Ashwinb. I am just helping a friend organize a trip there as well. Please let us know how it goes.

So enjoyed this report! I may be travelling to Jordan in March 2015 (in conjunction with a trip "home" to Saudi Arabia), so I'm reading up on it.

Loved your description of the camels! I grew up in Arabia, and camels were known to be aggressively nasty and dirty beasts. They can run faster than horses, so if we ever saw them in the distance, we would go the other way.

Also loved your description of scrambling up the sand dune. There was a nice dune by the Persian Gulf at a place called Half Moon Bay, and we used to scramble up and roll down . . . and plop right into the water. Lovely.

I'm interested in the descriptions of the Petra at Night excursion -- is there a reason you skipped it? Did you have the opportunity to do it?

Anyway, thanks for fueling my dreams!

s

Hi Swandav. Good question about Petra by Night. As I remember it is not offered every night. If we had gone it would have been the evening of the day we had just spent at Petra. That seemed a bit much. I am sure we were also considering the expense. If you are already at a place you want to do things but with five people the cost of adding activities really adds up.

March should be a perfect time to visit. I hope you enjoy your trip, including back home. I was really looking forward to looking out over Saudi Arabi from the top of Um Ad Dami, but as you read we didn't all make it to the top.

bookmarking, thanks Cold

bookmarking - THANKS!

ttt