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I am considering doing Egypt / Jordan / Israel from Dec 16 - Jan 1. Any recommendations on an order in which to do the countries? I'm an American if it matters. I'm not big on tour groups as I like to manage my own time and I have my hotels picked out (spending points and F&F discounts), but I'll likely stitch together some smaller / day tours in each place. So, more links to recommended tour groups would be super appreciated.
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May 29, 2017 11:06
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| # ¿ May 4, 2024 06:25 |
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I travel very aggressively. If I get bored of something, I want to bounce that day. And I usually get bored if everything starts to look the same. Like, I did maybe 6 hours at Angkor Wat and felt satisfied whereas other people spend multiple days there. Still, sure, three countries is possibly too aggressive. I might just skip Israel. I'm atheist and it's so ungodly expensive anyway.
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May 29, 2017 19:02
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Thanks man. I think you help me out nearly every year I plan my Christmas trip, so I think I owe you a drink or two or something.Saladman posted:I get skipping Israel, but OTOH it's Christmas season so Jerusalem would be neat even if you're only vaguely Christian-by-forced-inheritance and not any belief. I generally think terrorism threats are massively overblown and totally disregard them, but I'd be pretty goddamn worried myself to go to any Copt events during Christmas anywhere in Egypt since there have been major simultaneous bombings at every single major Christian holiday in many major cities the last couple years. (Seriously every single holiday, it's quite bad.) Unfortunate. I definitely wouldn't go to any Christmas events anyway in Egypt besides maybe some hostel's random get hammered and hook up event. The original reason I started traveling during Christmas is because I don't care for the holiday much and I'm usually lonely while other people are doing family stuff. quote:If you do to go to Petra and you do it in one day make sure to hike all the way up to the monastery. One day is kind of reasonable if you start when it opens though Petra is actually QUITE large and you definitely can't do it all in one day even if you're quite athletic and don't like stopping. The monastery is not the treasury (i.e. the Indiana Jones place). It's on top of a hill, maybe an hour walk from the big plain with the ruined temple, and it has an absolutely amazing view of the Jordan valley. There'll probably be a guy selling tea up there, unless it's too cold and none of them go out. Thanks. I plan to do 2 days at Petra. I'm in pretty good shape so getting around shouldn't be an issue. I was also planning to do Mt. Siani if it's safe enough as well, so I'll have reasonable hiking shoes. quote:Wadi Rum is neat but you need a guide, and it's expensive, at least $100. I did whoever the top-rated one was on TripAdvisor in 2013 and it was great, the guy spoke perfect English and etc. This was something I was undecided on. It seems like people were hit-or-miss on Wadi Rum. $100 isn't really a deal-breaker for me, though. quote:There's absolutely no reason to go to Aqaba in winter, so if you do travel down by that crossing (which is probably the most convenient) I would not waste time in Aqaba unless there's some weird reason you have to. It's a modern, somewhat less dusty, small town. Eilat is also a modern, not dusty, incredibly boring small town that also has zero draw to it in mid winter. I assume the water is far too cold to do anything? I was tentatively planning to stay at the Hilton there (F&F discount) and visiting Wadi Rum while there, then going to Dahab from Aqaba. This is also without me doing any firm research on what travel routes are safe / no-go, so forgive me if that laughably risky and stupid at this point. quote:I found Jordanians to be amazingly friendly, and I told everyone I was American. My diving instructor, a young Palestinian-Jordanian, for some reason thought I was Israeli until the very end of the day, and it was the first time I'd dived, and he didn't even try to drown me or stick a lionfish on me. Jordan has the most anti-American views of any country, apparently, but this doesn't seem to match their views of specific American people (especially those interested enough in Jordan to visit it) and is more towards the government. I did a bunch of sketchy things there too, like picking up male hitchhikers in the middle of nowhere (though single men only, obviously), paid cash for a rental car with no documents of any sort (with Hertz or Budget no less... somehow I doubt that rental made it into their records. Car turned out to be legit though, because I got stopped by a cop and had the documents checked.) etc. I also almost got a parking ticket in Petra, which is pretty goddamn amazing. I'd probably be the first person ever in the Arab world to get a parking ticket, at least judging by the average state of parking in Amman, which makes Naples look pretty organized. Awesome. I usually keep my politics to myself when traveling, but yeah I get it and their position is completely justified. As for Egypt, I'm thinking a 2D/N in Dahab, 1D climb Mt. Siani, 2-3D/N in Cairo, 2D/1N in White Desert, then 1-2D/N in Cairo for NYE and fly out Jan 1st.
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May 30, 2017 09:30
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