Day 48, 21 August 2012, Old Town Istanbul by Night - Sultanahmet Blue Mosque by fountain light (pictured), Hagia Sofia, Hippodrome and Obelisks, roasted corn, baklava, ice-cream, tea house and chicken kebab. Not necessarily in that order - Forgoing the company of others after almost 2 months with organised tour groups was a relief. The group in Africa had two functioning morons. The group in Egypt had one who combined the attributes of the previous pair - with ...

Day 47, 20 August 2012, Sharm el Sheikh to Cairo, Cairo to Istanbul, Turkey - Just loving EgyptAir. Once we got away from the pernicious slackness of On the Go's Jordan operation everything went swimmingly. Due to it being only a 2 hour flight to Turkey we are using actual cash instead of points to pay for it. And so, were in cattle class. However we could just about do in-flight yoga in our exit row seat and the onboard meal was superb - sort of lunch at 4.3...

Day 46, 19 August 2012, Wadi Rum Desert Camp to Aqaba Port - A very, very long day. At least 48 hours. Felt longer. Up at 8 am for a 9 am departure for a 12 noon ferry. Must be pointed out that the Jordanians are quick to say it's an Egyptian ferry company. Must also point out no one from Jordanian branch of On the Go Tours could be bothered to phone ferry company for updated schedules due to Eid holiday. We arrived at the port at 10.30 am. Ferry postponed t...

Day 45, 18 August 2012, Hike to High Point of Sacrifice via the secret Al-Madras route. (The hike went past cave rooms believed to be ancient classrooms or in the modern language Madrassa). Drive to Wadi Rum Desert Camp for the night - Now we're both literate, articulate and more or less capable of reading a tour itinerary. That being said, the phrase High Point of Sacrifice (not low point of sacrifice, not medium point of sacrifice) should have been a clue. Ri...

Day 44, 17 August 2012, Full day exploring Petra topped off with a Turkish Bath - Today we spent 8 hours hiking around Petra - via Donkey, Camel, Horse and of course, Shanks's Pony. Whilst James has ridden a few horses, I can honestly say I've ridden only 5 times. And three of them were today. We walked through the Siq in daylight this time and the Treasury was imposing in brilliant sunshine. We continued through the Street of the Facades and also past the Ro...