Monday 23-Mar-2009
I got up at 5.30 a.m. so as to upload some more pictures and take an early buffet breakfast. They start serving at six, although there were only staff (lots of them) and no guests there when I arrived. I’d decided to have a quick walk so, after a light breakfast, I set off about half past six. The sun was already bright but it wasn’t very hot so I was glad of my padded jacket. I crossed the King Hussein Bin Talal Street dual-carriageway and set off south.
Next to the hotel are the excavated remains of early Islamic Ayla. The gates were still chained and padlocked but the low walls allowed me to take a couple of pictures. I then passed a modern block with lots of restaurants, a Macdonalds and ‘The Rovers Return’ English Pub. By contrast, I then passed the entrance drive to the swanky Royal Yacht Club. Then, there are gardens on the seaward side of the dual carriageway and a pedestrian promendade between the gardens and the sandy beach. Two things surprised me. The ‘gardens’ turn out to be divided into small vegetable patches which appear to be privately cultivated. There are a series of cisterns, what might be wells and simply holes in the ground used to store water. Then there's a series of small portable pumps and firehoses to lift the water to a high point from where it flows down irrigation channels to water the crops. The other surprising feature was that every inch of the exposed narrow, sandy beach was covered with a series of ramshackle cafes apparently catering from the tourists. It all looked very unsavoury. Less surprising, perhaps, was that both sides of the promenade were lined with souvenir stalls of a particularly tacky nature.
I was picked up from the hotel at 7.45 (by a different driver and guide) for the short trip to Aqaba airport. It's fairly modern but smallish. There's one runway (01/19). A small high-wing monoplane was practising taxiing and take off roll: I discovered there's a flying school based at the airport. It's also the home of the Jordanian Red Falcons.
As I waited for my flight, to the west I could see the road traffic in Israel heading for Eilat: We'd passed a border crossing on the way into the airport just a couple of hundred yards away.
Jordan is 10th in the world ranking of counties with limited water supplies and it shares some sources with Israel. There is currently a furore because Israel is accused of polluting the Jordan River recently. Will we ever see a resolution of these problems?
The plane came in on time, a twin jet looking rather smart in the Royal Jordanian colours. The plane parked near the gate and we were allowed to walk to the aircraft. I was in the business section, where the seating is 1+2. It's an Embraer 175. With a 35 minute journey to Amman, there was only time for a glass of orange and an English language newspaper (The Jordan Times).
For some reason, we taxied to International Arrivals. I presume it's for the convenience of passengers who are transiting to an international flight. There were only two exits - 'Transit' (no) or 'Immigration' (I was already stamped as arrived). I eventually found somebody to ask and they put me in the V.I.P Immigration line. The immigration officer understood and waved me by. But there was a security check leaving the hall and this guy refused to let me pass because my passport hadn't been stamped. By this time, all the immigration officers had disappeared and there was nobody left to ask. So I went back to the security guy and eventually made him understand. By the time I got to the baggage hall, my bag was standing all on its own, everybody else having left. A new guy was waiting for me and he took me into Amman and the Kempinski Hotel for one night. Tuesday morning, it's back home.
Photographs
Aqaba, Jordan.
Kempinski, Amman, Jordan.
Movenpick, Aqaba, Jordan.
