We awoke with tentative hopes of a good day. The logistics were going to be tricky. We needed to get to Cairo in time for our flight, fly overnight to Nairobi, and hope a driver would be there to take us to our hotel so that we could finally get some solid sleep. It did not start well. Barry went to take money out of the bank machine but the first two didn't work. When he returned, he discovered that our 500 Egyptian pound taxi, had "mechanical problems"...

A month ago, we'd had no sleep, arrived in Corfu an hour and a half late only to discover that we'd missed our $2.00 bus and had to take a $50.00 cab ride instead! One month later, we should have known it was going to be "one of those days". We started off OK. Annetta had told us that everything in Israel takes three times to get right, so when we were quoted 50 shekels for a cab to the bus station, we ignored the driver, went to the street and got a ri...

Hostel living is great as long as a person knows what he or she is getting into. The internet is an excellent tool for booking places, but only if the bookings are sound. Our time at the Citadel Youth Hostel was not what we'd agreed to. When we arrived, we were not given a four bed room as booked, but delegated to the ground floor in a muggy, cave-style 12 bed dorm, with questionable beds, no clean sheets and 8 other people - one of whom was a monumental snorer -...

Our driver arrived at 9:00 am and we set out for the Egyptian Embassy to see about getting visas to re-enter Egypt from Israel. When we walked in, we were told, "Yes, you need a visa." After waiting in line for almost half an hour, we got to the front and were told, "Yes, of course you do, but it will be easier and cheaper for you to get them at the border." Argh! So, we got back in the cab and drove to the Jordan-Israel border with no difficu...

We met with Ahmad, our driver, at 8:30 am and headed for Amman. He had agreed to drive us down the King's Highway, a most ancient route lined with archaeological sites and natural reserves, winding its way through the different ecological zones of Jordan, including forested highlands, open farm plateaus, deep ravines, and the desert's edge. The scenery was stunning, although some of it was obscured by unusual low clouds that even Ahmad took pictures of. We stoppe...