Traveling the Red Sea and Aqaba, Jordan - March 25 - March 28, 2019

It took us three days to travel the Red Sea. There really isn't much to see just water.  The sea is too wide to see communities along each side.  Looking at a map of the area in the LDS Bible Dictionary, it looks like about the area where it is 12 miles wide is where Moses parted it and walked across.  It would make sense that he did this in the middle of the sea rather than at the northern end where the Egyptians could have traveled around rather than driving through.

On March 28, we landed in Aqaba, Jordan, and traveled about 2.5 hours further north by bus to Petra.  This has been on my bucket list for a very long time.

This morning, Theron and I went to see the boat come into port.  Interesting that in this narrow bay, Israel is on one side and Jordan is on the other. If a conflict happens, they can walk to each other.

Entering Petra

 Walking in this slot canyon is like walking any canyon in Utah.

We have the tour to Petra. Wow what a terrific time here. There is so much more to this site than the Treasury you see on brochures. To see all the sites, you walk about 3 miles in and 3 miles out.  However, Steve made a deal with a camel guy and the four of us went on an hour ride on a camel, up hills, down hills, over rocks and ending at The Treasury. Steve was on the lead camel and tried to make it run, I was at the end and bouncing away.  The straight up and down motion hurt my back where I have rods, so I complained about going fast and the camel jockey led my camel alone and we walked a leisurely pace. 

Camels are interesting to ride, they get up from the back legs first then the front legs so you lean way back until they are standing.  I have to admit that it was a great experience.

Amazing how these people carved homes and temples into the rock walls.  The detail of the carvings is spectacular.

Salalah, Oman - March 24, 2019

 Ever wonder what Job's tomb looks like?  Well now you know.

Now, this is a real destination.  We don't know exactly why the boat stopped here,but it did.  The one site to see is the frankincense markets.  

Salalah is a typical Middle East city and country.  We rented a van and traveled to Job’s Tomb. A Islam site that they reverence, one of the Old Testament prophets and martyrs. 

The journey into the countryside was a wonderful experience. You see traditional homes, camels, and the country side looked a lot like Utah.

This is the last stop before entering the Red Sea.  Just around the corner from this country is Somalia and Yemen.  These are the countries that have the pirates who attack tankers and other ships entering the narrow entrance to the Red Sea.

This is a picture of our true middle eastern nomads.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Dubai is a big, modern city of lots of opulence!  

In the morning, we had tickets to take the elevator to the top of the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa. Wow, what a great view of things. We then explored the Dubai Mall full of a waterfall, aquarium, 400 plus upscale shops - not a Walmart in site.  This was one of the malls and souks in Dubai. 

 In the afternoon and evening, we took a land cruiser on a safari ride over the sand dunes and ate at an oasis and rode a camel. It was an intimate affair with us and 150 other cars. We got back to the ship about 9:30 pm and Theron had lost his cruise card.  We were able to prove who he was and no problem.  Every once in a while, we have problems but they can be overcome.