Jordan’s only coastal city,
scenic Aqaba is set amid coffee-colored desert hills. With its central location
between Africa and Asia, it has played a significant role in the region’s trade
for thousands of years. Today, its prosperity rests in its position as the sole
port of the nation, and in its pristine snorkeling and dive sites. The city’s
history, too, draws inquisitive travelers. In 1917, T.E. Lawrence (known as
Lawrence of Arabia) led troops in the Battle of Aqaba here. The white-robed
English ally helped the Arabs run the Turks from the city’s fortress during a
camel charge. Famously, Lawrence used nearby Wadi Rum, a vast desert canyon, as
base camp during the campaign.
As we came in to Jordan this
morning the sun was just rising over the mountains.
When you look over the port side
of the ship you see Israel directly across, Egypt to the left and Jordan to the
right. Very close neighbors.
Israel
Egypt
Jordan
Israel
This port is famous for being
the gateway to Petra and Wadi Rum; however, we were at both of this in 2015, so
we did not do a tour. Instead we took the shuttle bus to Aqaba and did a little
exploring.
We did have a band as the tours
got off the ship. And, they had swords and bagpipes, go figure.
Tamborine
We took the shuttle bus to the
center of town and then walked along the beach to Mamluk
Fort, also known as Aqaba Fort. The beach was interesting, but it was strewn
with cigarette butts. I think all men here smoke.
Here is an example of what the Muslim women can
wear on the beach.
On the way, we saw this great statue of the
camels and what looked to be small garden patches. We saw these gardens all
along where we walked.
The fort was a mighty stronghold on the
waterfront and was made famous when Lawrence of Arabia coordinated a camel
charge on its fortifications when it was held by the Ottoman army in 1916,
resulting in an Arab victory. Well there
is not a lot left here. It was not open to be able to go in and explore, so all
the pictures are from the outside.
In the compound was the house of Sharif Hussein
bin Ali, great grandfather of King Abdullah II. He was a Hashemite Arab leader
who was the Sharif and Emir of Mecca from 1908 and, after proclaiming
the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire, King of the
Hejaz from 1916 to 1924. At the end of his reign he also briefly laid
claim to the office of Caliph. He was said to be a 37th-generation
direct descendant of Muhammad as he belongs to the Hashemite family.
There was also an archeological museum there,
but it was also closed.
So, then we were off to part two of our
personal tour, which involved shopping. We first stopped at souk. Notice the
meat, there are still heads on some of the meat. But, here it is refrigerated,
which we did not see elsewhere.
I then found a fantastic place to shop, but I
did not take a picture. It was a small store that sold items made by Jordanian
women that were trying to make a change in their lives. They had all sorts of
great jewelry, hand bags, and all sorts of items. When I finished she listed
the four families that I had helped. In one case I found a pretty necklace with
some crystal stones and asked her if they had some earrings. She then called
the woman who made them on made them for me and brought them over. Very
impressive.
On our way, back to the shuttle we noticed a
wall of wall art, or graffiti. It was really interesting.
And that was the end of our personal tour.
Tomorrow we go to Luxor on a 10 hour tour. We are looking forward to seeing
Egypt. Except for Spain, we have not been to any of the upcoming ports.
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