What? You are going to the Jordanian borders?

That was a brisk question of the bus driver. Currently we are near Egyptian border, the opposite side of  Gulf of Aqaba and our time is ticking - we have only 15 minutes to the borders before their closing time. How did we ended up here? 

Of course, Wizz Air flight had a small, tiny, one hour and half delay. We went through the nice welcome of Israeli officers (don't worry they put visa on separate paper, no stamp at passport), found our backpacks and appeared at the small parking lot in front of Eilat Airport. Basically, there is only one company ensuring connection to Eilat, Egyptian and Jordanian borders - Flo Shuttle. And there was only one bus with their logo. Piece of cake, right? 

The driver didn't even check our tickets, just responded with "hmmm" to our question about our destination, Jordanian borders. We realized that something is wrong after dozens of stops in Eilat and proximity of Egyptian borders. But he took our challenge bravely, complaining about company not informing him about our stop, cutting edges of roundabouts and pushing tiny slow cars in front of him. Despite his effort, we reach the border at 20:03 that appears late and they are not letting us in. Israeli officers are really helpful, getting us taxi to Eilat and informing us that border opens at 6:30 on Sunday. 

Now, we have to reschedule everything (our friend Angie should meet us in Aqaba in the evening, now she has a big room just for herself), rebook hotel, find a cheap hostel for few hours and most important mission of all - get us some food. With some luck we check in to the hostel, receptionist recommends us a bakery on the corner and after some time, we are falling asleep as three piglets - me, Fra and Martin.

"closed" borders at 20:03

a pure desparation

finally food (hummus, pizza, shwarma and bread)

At 6 am we are already walking to the bus station, getting tickets from bus driver (approx. 4 Shekels per person) and we are on the way with few military soldiers (all of them are teenagers carrying weapons bigger than them) to the stop near borders. Since we are leaving Israel by foot, we have to pay the exit fee 100 Shekels, answer few questions about our plans and we can happily get into one of taxis waiting for tourists - we settle ahead on 15 JOD for a drive to our hotel Golden Rose (that after a week in Jordan turned up to be most clean and comfy).

borders & birdwatching (just in case you wait for a while)

small walk from bus stop to borders

do as this tourist - show your Jordan pass, get a stamp and off you go

Martin goes for diving in the bay and we girls are going for a coffee and brunch (you know, priorities :-). In meanwhile I go to pick up a car from Europcar - they give us SUV Citroen C4 (cost for one week was around 6 300 CZK) - when you are getting a rental car, always ask about insurance coverage (in most cases it is just partial and to be applicable, you have to have a police report, even for a scratch on the parking lot) and make photos of every angle of your temporary car (it's easier to have evidence ahead).

We withdraw the cash from ATM (after some days we find out that Jordan Kuwait Bank has no fee with my Revolut card), we walk around and chat with locals - we get a recommendation for a restaurant hidden in the middle of Aqaba, full of locals and delicious meals - you can find it on google maps as Al Mohandes Cafeteria. They speak a bit of English, but it's somehow easier to take me to the kitchen than to explain what are the ingredients of meals with unknown names (the complete lunch for 4 person costs us 8 JOD). As a three girls without proper male companion we are seated in the first floor that is an area designated to women. 

the first encounter with a Jordanian food - hummus, falafel and some lamb meat in vegetable spicy sauce (I have no idea about official name)

a fish soup

finding Nemo

After two diving sessions, Martin joins us in restaurant, finishes the rest of our lunch and shows us the video from underwater world - they call it Japanese Garden and you can see Nemo and Flo together (with million other creatures). 

Now it's on time to get on the road and continue in our roadtrip - we are going to experience amazing moments in Wadi Rum! 

Interested about it? Check out the next part of the blog!

In case you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact me (in Czech or English). And, ehm, sorry about my non-grammatically correct English, this blog is mainly for my non-czech speaking friends :)