Ahlan wa sahlan... hello from Jordan..

Here we go one more time, we just lost our original entry…f***… this has been a learning experience.Anyways back to travels.We left Cairo on October 3rd for Mt Sinai, new tour leader and new tour group.After a 3 hour bus ride through the Sinai we arrived near St. Katherine's Monastery near the base of Mt. Sinai.Our accommodations were nestled in the valley surrounded by barren rocky mountains and dessert. Our hostel was interesting..two rooms, six beds each, connected by doors leading to the bathroom.The bathroom had a combo toilet/shower so if you wanted you could multi-task by s***ting and showering at the same time.It had a beautiful huge pool that Glen decided to do a face plant in by diving in the shallow end (which was also the middle of the pool) and Colin, who gracefully picked up a girl, walked in the pool, slipped and soaked both her, her passport, airline ticket, and camera - his book "how to pick up women" obviously had a profound effect on him…At 1:00 am we had our wake up knock on our beautiful old wooden door.Half hour later we were on a bus heading to the mountain.Mt Sinai is 2285m and is said to be where God delivered the 10 commandments to Moses…it is a place of pilgrimage for many religious secs.It as two main routes up the mtn; the camel route (the easiest and most chosen) and the Steps of Repentance (3000 stone steps).Both trails merge at Elijah's basin then continue with 750 stone steps to the summit.. needless to say we picked the camel route.Only lit by our head lamps, we made our way up dogging camels, camel s*** and many other trekkers.The continuous chant of "camel? camel ride?" resonated through the night air as we ascended the mtn.We stopped along the way, me to catch my breathe, Leanne to check out the sights.There were some canteens on the trail if you wanted coffee, tea, chocolate bars, etc… nothing for us we were reluctant to use the water closets. It was warm climbing up, but at Elijah''s basin and up, the wind howled and our sweat turned cold. But us hardy Canadians toughed it out with our fleece jackets, toques and mitts, said no to the blankets for hire and sucked it up as we climbed to the summit and waited for the sun to rise.We found a spot next to our own Greek Orthodox choir…it was enlightening to hear them sing hymns as the sun rose.Quite the contrast to another trekker who played the star wars theme while dictating Spanish into his recorder.It took a while for the sun to rise above the low cloud cover, we kept saying to our selves, has the sun risen??? Are we done???The sun shone on the mountains around us creating spectacular vistas, more beautiful than the sun rise we waited for. Check out our photos to see the ferocious mountain cats we encountered at the basin… they fed on granola bars and posed for pictures.Only on the decent (we took the step route) could we appreciate how f***ing high we had climbed in darkness and how many others, all shapes, sizes and ages, we climbed with.When we stopped for pictures our legs involuntary quivered.At 8:30am we arrived at the hostel, only time for a quick breakfast… save the s*** and shower experience for another life time.At 10:00 we left for the port city of Newubia to catch the hydrofoil to Aqaba Jordan.We had to be there for 11:30.We waited near the bus outside the port so our guide could get clearance to come inside with us (this was his last stop).Once inside, we needed to use the facilities, an experience in itself.We had to squat to use the floor urinals, which was okay.. it was the c*** roach that climbed out of the hole after Maria's pee that resulted in an involuntary scream from shock.We cleared customs and waited…and waited.. and waited for 3 frickin hours, sweating, waiting for the 1:30 boat, no… it is 3:00 no it's the 4:00 boat… "Egypt" say no more.When we were given the orders to leave, we picked up our bags and headed for our first experience at local transport.Our bus was about 100 years old (not really but ..) the windows barely opened, allowing the pungent smell of exhaust permeate our lungs, the seats filthy, the arm rest jetting rugged metal waiting to puncture an unsuspecting butt… our dark, dirty, ride luckily was short lived.At the dock we boarded the cargo end of the hydrofoil, laying our luggage on the greasy dirty floor.Our passports inspected 4 times, mere seconds from the previous one, before we actually handed them over to get to the 2nd class passenger deck.2nd class is overstated.The older seats were filthy, tattered rows of seating with 6 inches of leg room, and yes they also reclined… the air condition leaked in several spots creating unique waterfalls. We managed to find newer, clean seats with 2 feet of leg room and no waterfalls.We met our Jordan guides inAqaba. Brad, our self proclaimed tour guide while crossing the Red Sea, went with Ammar (our guide) to collect our passports.With saddened faces they returned to the bus…no passports… we must return to Egypt in 4 days to get them. "Unacceptable" cried one, "No f***ing way" another … after being up since 1:00 am, climbing a mountain, no shower… we were all pissed… okay jokes over, they were only kidding… just remember revenge is best served cold… look out Brad… ;-)Aqaba is totally opposite from Egypt… its clean, people actually drive like westerners, no constant honking, side walks are for walking, our dinner was actually hot, the restaurant clean. We were served about 10 different dips for our pita, our favorite… hot peppers and sour cream. Our mixed grill was yummy.We were treated to Ramadan dessert - fried pancake/dumplings stuffed with soft cheese and drizzled with syrup. From our hotel room we can see Israel across the Aqaba gulf a mere km away, how cool is that?It is 12:11 in the afternoon, a mere 31C… most shops and restaurants are closed due to Ramadan and the streets are pretty much deserted.We are sitting in the Internet café listening to Bryan Adams and other familiar tunes by North American artists…Today we head to the desert for a jeep ride then to Petra.Until next time…. Keep in touch… we appreciate you keeping in touch as well.