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Paris:- Sunday, 24. October 1999:- There's nothing like starting a vacation at 05:00 - 5 am! - to get to the airport for your 10 o'clock flight and then to be asked if you'd like to volunteer for the afternoon flight on another carrier because Air France has overbooked!

Declines Beard Trim In Jordon

LindaThalm
2005-12-02 17:14:18

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years ago in one of the caves of Petra. From his small shop we managed to do one-stop shopping for trinkets, a carpet, t-shirts, postcards - and he took French francs as well. Who needs ATM's?

Our short stay seemed almost over, but we didn't want to miss Wadi Rum - where T. E. Lawrence 'of Arabia' took part in the 1917-18 Arab Revolt.

Our guide was 20-year old Selman, one of 12 sons and 14 daughters of the village sheik with three wives. He spoke excellent English and handled his pickup truck like a professional Paris-Dakar rally driver. He said he couldn't imagine living anywhere but in his village and the desert.

The call of the warm sea waters on the Gulf of Aqaba beckoned, so off we went to spend an afternoon in the shade as the temperatures hit 33 C. Even the south of France is seldom this warm in mid-summer.

It was time to turn in our Nissan 'Sunny' with no options. Ayman Al-Zayed of Montecarlo Rent-a-Car in Amman, took a bus to Aqaba to pick up the car we'd rented four days earlier. His is a small but reliable company.

After crossing back into Israel at the Aqaba-Eilat border on foot, we were whisked by taxi to another rental company. In a newish car, with air-con and a tape player that 'ate' our music cassettes, we had the whole day to get back to the hotel in Jerusalem. Our guide books said it was worth a detour to see Timna, but having just been in Petra, it turned out to be slightly disappointing.

Floating like a sardine in a tin full of olive oil in the Dead Sea has to rate as one of the most unusual sensations I've ever experienced. Just don't leave your towel in the hotel room in Aqaba like I did.

We dried off in the car with air-con before getting to the extraordinary site of Masada, the fortified city built by Herod, 400 metres above the Dead Sea. A speedy cable car carried us up from the parking ...