Dahab, Egypt to Wadi Rum, Jordan via Israel – Day 11 Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour

As the Travel Talk Tours Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour continues on the group has now travelled further east to spend the final two nights in Egypt at the costal town of Dahab along the Red Sea. It’s then from here we’ll embark on yet another exciting milestone as we continue the journey onto Jordan.

The last two nights has seen the group spend some time by the sea in Dahab where we indulged in some snorkelling and quad bike riding, a really relaxing portion of the trip.

RECAP: Cairo to Dahab and the Red Sea – Day 09 & 10 Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour

Once we arrive in Jordan today we get straight into the sightseeing by jumping into the back of Jeeps to be taken around the amazing Wadi Rum.

Sites & activities include…

• Border crossing through Israel
• Jeep Safari in Wadi Rum
• Desert Camping

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Day 11: Dahab to Wadi Rum via Israel – 06 December, 2016

This morning the group wakes up in the chilled out surroundings of Dahab where we grab a bite to eat before checking out and making our dash to the border, leaving Egypt behind. We depart the Dahab Paradise Hotel in two vans, the first of three types of vehicles to transport us all today.

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We start on our journey heading north to the town of Taba which is the last town on the border in Egypt. Along the way we make a stop to check out the view as the Red Sea gets narrower and we check out the view of a castle perched on its own island just outside of Taba.

Once we get to the border our guide gets out of the car as he cannot accompany us beyond a certain point and we are driven and extra couple of metres where we then get out of the vans, grab our luggage and start the tedious process of going through customs four times.

We exit Egypt and walk across the border into Israel where we go through rigorous security to enter the Jewish State. We have now entered the town of Eilat and we have a new guide waiting for us who will see us from the Israeli-Egyptian border to the Israeli-Jordan border. We board a small bus that we all squeeze into for the 10 minute drive to the other side of Eilat where our guide then bids us farewell and we go through Israeli customs again.

From here we walk across what feels like no-man’s land to enter Jordan. Before you arrive be sure to organise yourself a Jordan Pass which includes your visa for entry to the country, more on that below.

One of the best value things you can do on this trip or any trip to Jordan is to jump online and buy yourself a Jordan Pass. The Jordan Pass can be purchased in three different forms depending on the number of days you plan to spend at Petra and will save you money by giving you free access to forty other attractions around Jordan and will also allow you to obtain a free visa on arrival.

Here’s how the numbers stack up. On this Travel Talk Tours trip of Egypt and Jordan you’ll spend one night in Petra meaning you only need a one day pass. Normally entry to Petra will cost JD 50.00, a tourist visa at the time of writing this will cost JD 60.00. The Jordan Pass Wanderer will costs JD 70.00 covering the cost of the Petra entry fee and effectively reduces your tourist entry visa to JD 20.00. On top of this you’ll gain free entry to forty additional Jordanian attractions, most of which visited on this tour are covered by the Jordan Pass.

Make sure you pick up your Jordan Pass before arriving in Jordan online, it’s worth every penny. For more information and to purchase your Jordan Pass click here.

Now that we have all cleared the Jordan border we are introduced to our new guide for the next couple of days, Osama. We are then taken to our bus which was a nice change as it was  full size bus and because we were a smaller group now it meant we could all spread out and get a whole row of seats to ourselves.

We take a short drive into the town of Aqaba which is a popular resort town and port city by the Red Sea where we are taken to exchange some money and to grab something for lunch. We are taken to a nice small shop that sells wraps however behind us was a Burger King for which I made a break for and many others followed, we just really needed to have something different from local food for once!

From Aqaba we head straight to the amazing Wadi Rum region and we are given an introduction to Jordan, Wadi Rum and what we’ll be covering over the next couple of days in Jordan by our guide. It’s only a short drive away and once we arrive at the visitors centre and go straight into our Jeep safari tour. At this point we hand over our Jordan Passes to Osama and he’ll hold onto them for the rest of the trip as they are also our entry tickets for everything we visit along the way.

VIDEO: Jeep Safari in Wadi Rum with Travel Talk Tours

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A strong recommendation I have to make is that when you leave in Dahab in the morning, have handy with you clothing for the weather conditions late in the afternoon in Wadi Rum. We didn’t have an opportunity to get to our luggage and travelling here in December once the sun goes down it can get a bit cold. It was quite warm leaving in the morning so I didn’t really think to bring a proper jumper with me for the afternoon, so keep this in mind.

We jump into the back trays of Jeeps and the three car convoy begins the journey around the impressive desert sands of Wadi Rum. We stop off at a spot where traditional rock carvings have been inscribed into the mountain rock, these inscriptions are thousands of years old, lasting the test of time.

We continue on further and stop off at another point where we get an impressive view of the valley below us. It is also explained to us how the region was formed over millions of years through earthquakes, floods and other natural movements.

From here it was only a short drive as we’re bouncing along in the back of our Jeeps to our pit stop on our tour, a traditional Bedouin Camp. When we jump out we are shown a rock carving depicting Lawrence of Arabia and learn about the story behind the man known the world over.

Here we are offered tea by our Bedouin hosts and we are told about some of the traditions of the Bedouin people. Whilst here we also have an opportunity to purchase some of the products the locals make and are all challenged to get to the top of a sand dune close by and to roll down it. For the record I didn’t roll down and I’m glad I didn’t, the sand is so fine even when I got back home to Australia I still had it in my shoes.

It was now starting to get dark and by the time we jumped back into our Jeeps the sun had fully disappeared and we were driving in the dark. I was in the third and last car and we had a bit of a funny moment when the two cars in front of us turned off in another direction and we kept on going straight. I think it was something to do with us going down the steep sand dune and the car wouldn’t turn so we went around in a large circle, but it got us all looking at each other for a moment thinking what’s going on.

We then arrived at our desert camp in the middle of Wadi Rum, our Hillawi Camp is what we’ll call home for just one night. We are then taken to our rooms which are very basic but also well equipped given we are in the desert. Believe it or not, wifi here was great! The rooms are essentially concrete rooms divided into two with a small bathroom at the back of the room. The roof and the tops of the walls are mesh so you can hear everything that’s going on in the rooms around you.

Don’t expect to have any hot water, if you’re travelling here in the hotter months you might be fine with having a cold shower, but in December it was pretty cold at night and no one was game to have a cold shower opting to wait until the comfortable hotel surroundings of Petra the next night. I am now even more glad that I didn’t choose to roll down that sand dune…

A short time later it was time for dinner and before we all sat down to feast on our buffet we were taken to the back of the camp to be shown how our meal was prepared. Lamb and chicken were cooked in a traditional manner in the desert sands using hot coals. Our hosts had to dig out the contents from a huge pot buried underground and I can tell you it all tasted amazing.

After dinner there was music pumping for those who felt like getting up and having a bit of a dance, which didn’t last too long into the evening as most people including myself were pretty exhausted from the many border crossings and travelling today.

It was time for bed and to rug up in two sets of clothing and lucky for me I brought my beanie. There is also a mosquito net over the bed, being stubborn I decided I wouldn’t need it until 30 seconds after turning the light off and hearing the buzzing sounds around my face. The drawback was that the net wasn’t high enough to cover the bed and I woke up several times during the night tangled up inside it. By morning I had a few bites on my hands so it didn’t really serve its purpose anyway.

The next part of the Travel Talk Tours Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Nile Cruse Tour gets even more exciting as the group embarks on visiting one of the most recognised attractions in Jordan and the world, Petra. We will have a good portion of the day to marvel at the wonderful buildings carved out into the rock and our hotel is even located right near the entrance to Petra. A real highlight of this entire tour.

UP NEXT

Wadi Rum to the Lost City of Petra – Day 12 Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour

LOOKING BACK

Cairo to Dahab and the Red Sea – Day 09 & 10 Travel Talk Egypt & Jordan Discovered Tour

Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Nile Cruse
During this two week adventure with Travel Talk Tours our journey starts off in the capital of Egypt, Cairo before making our way south, down along the River Nile. Travelling by road to Luxor and Aswan, and checking out many of the famous monuments and temples along the way, we also have the choice of participating in some exciting optional extra activities. From Aswan at the bottom of Egypt and close to the Sudanese border, we jump on board a boat and spend three nights sailing along the Nile back to Luxor, checking out Edfu Temple and get a brief glance at Kom Ombo Temple along the way.

We end up back in Cairo to explore the capital in greater depth with a city tour before we start heading east towards Jordan. Before hitting the border we arrive in Dahab for two nights of relaxation by the sea and then travel by road from Egypt into Jordan via a 30 minute crossing through Israel. We spend our first night in a new country out in the desert park of Wadi Rum before heading to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Petra, a real highlight. We’ll go for a swim in the Dead Sea on our way to the capital of Jordan, Amman where our tour will come to an end. Before bidding farewell to our fellow travel companions we’ll spend two nights exploring this exciting capital.

This tour of Egypt and Jordan can be taken in three different forms, however a number of people on this journey travelled on nine day Egypt tours that started in Cairo and ended when we returned to Cairo. Other travellers with the group also did fifteen day tours that followed the same path to Dahab and spent just short of a week there before returning to Cairo…

• Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Nile Cruse
• Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Felucca
• Egypt & Jordan Discovered by Land

• Day 01, 07 & 08: Cairo – Pyramids Park Resort Cairo
• Day 02 & 06: Luxor – Steigenberger Nile Palace Luxor Hotel
• Day 03: Aswan – Helnan Aswan Hotel (Felucca passengers)
• Day 03 to 05: Nile Cruse
• Day 09 & 10: Dahab – Dahab Paradise Hotel
• Day 11: Wadi Rum – Hillawi Camp
• Day 12: Petra – La Maison Hotel Petra
• Day 13 & 14: Amman – Art Hotel Amman