The ship and Jordan

April 29 - May 2, Monday through Thursday, at sea.  Not much to talk about, but these days at sea have been very good for us.  The first night both of us were up coughing all night long, so when morning finally arrived, I headed down to see the ship's doctor. He gave me some cough syrup with codeine, a strong decongestant, and a Z-pack to start if I don't feel dramatically better in 48 hours. My cough was so obviously better by the next morning that I managed to talk John into seeing the doctor then. His cough is deep and wet where mine is hard and dry, and he was also running a fever, so he got cough syrup with no codeine because of his blood pressure, a decongestant, and a longer course of antibiotics that he started immediately.  A day later, he was much improved, and I decided I still didn't feel quite right, so I started my antibiotic. Three days in, we are both doing better.  Not much coughing, and feeling more human. We were relieved not to be quarantined, and we may have figured that part out.  I think if what you have is a cough or cold, they leave you on the loose, but if it involves gastrointestinal distress, they need to confine you. 

The ship's executive chef has been very accommodating about our vegan diet, but the food is getting old. Nearly every evening our entree choices boil down to some sort of Asian dish with rice noodles or some sort of Italian pasta dish, often with rice noodles as well because apparently the European noodle of choice on board is made with eggs. Maybe in the future we should just say no meat.  Mushy rice noodles with tomato sauce and no cheese aren't all that appealing.  But the chef has been very willing to work with us, so we really can't complain. Nevertheless, our culinary experience on board is boring at best, and truthfully, inadequate because there is only rarely an option that includes a plant-based source of protein, much less much in the way of fiber or nutrients. There IS a difference between food a vegan can eat and real vegan food. There are so many wonderful vegan recipes out there.  What a shame they aren't more widely known and eaten.

As always on a cruise, we have met dozens of really nice people.  That is always one of the best parts of the experience, especially on a smaller ship like the Voyager. You eventually probably recognize at least half of your fellow passengers and have had conversations with dozens of them. Most of us are frequent travelers, so it is always interesting to hear other people's stories about where to go and what to see, and what their lives have been like.

May 3, Friday. Aqaba is actually worse than I expected. The vast majority of the tours from the boat go to the ancient site of Petra and/or Wadi Rum (click on the links for a glimpse of what we missed) where much of the movie, Lawrence of Arabia, was filmed. These were all long tours, from 5 hours to over 13 hours, however, so John didn't want to do them. I didn't either, really, but now I wish we had. We have seen photos of Petra and it is stunning enough that a nine hour tour with a few miles of walking is starting to look much better than it did when we were booking. NOTE: Later about half of the people we talked to who had taken one of these tours told us we had made the right choice.  They said the walking was very difficult, the heat was unbearable, and the sights were not nearly as spectacular as they seemed in photos.  Maybe we made the right choice.  Maybe not.  Hard to know. 

So what did we see?  We started our tour of the highlights of Aqaba at a small, old aquarium that was more sad than interesting. Our guide told us there are plans to build a new one, and we would all agree that would be a big improvement.  This one is not just old but run down.

The exhibits look several decades past their prime

But as always, once in awhile you see something good

From there, we drove to a museum in what used to be the home of the first king of Jordan back in the early 1900's. Behind the house were ruins of a fort that dates from several hundred years ago.  There was no access to the fort and the museum was also pretty lame. I don't remember whether they banned photography inside or if I just didn't see anything worth shooting.

Near the entrance

The fort

These people may have been Jordanian visitors, but they may also have
been Syrian refugees.  We were told both are camping in Aqaba.

This is my favorite shot of the whole day.

Back of museum on right, wall of fort on left

What is left of the fort

Our last stop was through the small, rundown city of Aqaba to a place where we had access to washrooms before walking around a less crowded shopping area. Today is their weekend so Aqaba is jammed with locals who have come in to Jordan's only seaside area. Some families are even camped on the streets, mingling with Syrian refugees and local shoppers who jam the small shops. Jordan has no oil and is the only poor Arab country we have seen. Here we have seen our first graffiti, litter, and poverty since India. Jordan is nowhere near as squalid as India, but also nothing like as grand. 

Typical scene in the city

A carriage waiting for a tourist

The crowded beach

The same beach, trash and all

Compared with any of the emirates, Jordan seems to be stuck in the 1960's, before oil and around the time when the king of Jordan married the beautiful American who became Queen Noor. Now there is almost no new construction. Poverty is a pretty good predictor of these countries feel about the West.  If capitalism is working for them, it seems they are more able to recall the peaceful intent of their religious beliefs. It would be good if lives here were easier.

Meanwhile, what we have seen of the surrounding countryside is mountainous, arid, and barren. I wish we had gone to Petra, but hindsight is 20/20.  Everyone on our bus is complaining that this tour was a waste of time. I agree.  In fact, I wish it had not been offered.  If we had had no alternative, perhaps we would have done something more worthwhile.

Here are some of the people we saw going about their routine business today.

You wouldn't see this in the West!

Traditional and slightly less traditional garb

Traditional and slightly less traditional garb for men, too.

Traditional and considerably less traditional garb

Not very traditional and western wear

Back to tradition

Later: I've just had a sort of surreal afternoon. I'm sitting in our stateroom watching the movie Argo, which is set in Iran during the Hostage Crisis. We are nearing the end of a trip where  one goal has been to learn more about the good side of Islamic culture, and we have had a lot of great experiences everywhere we have visited. The movie, of course, concentrates on the atrocities of the Khomeini Islamic regime in Iran in the late 1960's and the very real fears that fanatic regime generated for the lives of the Americans who were caught up in its early days. So here I am in the comfort and safety of our ship, watching the tense scenes near the end of the movie, when suddenly I hear the wailing of the call to afternoon prayer outside my window.  When I heard the call to prayer at 4:30 this morning, it was a nice, albeit early, bit of local color. At 4:30 this afternoon it was creepy!  We have sailed very near to Iran on this trip.  Along with Iraq and Afghanistan, it was never on the agenda. While the countries we have visited are more or less allies of the US, there is still plenty of justifiable fear and suspicion on both sides in many parts of this region. We have repeatedly been told the tolerance for others we have seen on the coasts changes dramatically in the more conservatively religious interior regions.  I am glad to have seen this part of the world and experience the warmth and smiles of the many locals we have encountered, but we haven't actually interacted with any local people who weren't paid to be nice to tourists. I still don't have a sense of who the people of this region are or how they think, and I suspect they would say the same about us. So much for international understanding.