Jordan - Amman

Monday morning at 9 am I was at the Indian Embassy; I handed in my passport and at 3pm my visa was ready. It is a full page visa for 3 month, multiple entries; I paid $30.00 for it.

After I browsed in an artsy part of Amman; books stores, coffees shops, museums.

This evening was the last day of Ramadan. At sun set there were lots of people on the street celebrating. People in my hostel were celebrating too.

It was very interesting to observe Ramadan. At sun set all the places were shut down and everyone was eating. Ramadan didn't inconvenience us at all, there were still plenty of stores, markets, juice bars open for us to get something to eat. People here are very considerate to tourists and they don't get offence if we eat. We tried our best to be discreet and respect people religion and practices.

Israel back to Jordan Amman

I have a very nice and relaxing morning at my friends in Tel Aviv. I had good coffee and breakfast. I would have liked to stay at least one more day, but tomorrow Monday is a holiday in Jordan and Jewish New Year and apparently the border crossing will be a nightmare. As I have to be at Indian Embassy tomorrow at 10:00 am I did not want to take a chance.

I left Tel Aviv at noon and I arrived in Amman at 4:30 pm. Customs formalities at Israeli and Jordanian border were very fast; there were very few people. I had to pay us$50 .00 to exit Israel!

Myself and a Jordanian - American woman got a free ride from the border to Amman by a Jordanian - American guy; very nice of him :

Back to my hostel I read more about Amman and decide what I am going visit tomorrow.

Isreal -Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

I was a tourist in Israel for a day, so I would call my trip - Isreal in one day.

I the morning I visited Jerusalem. I was with Susan, her husband and son. They took me everywhere.


In the afternoon my cousin Romana and her husband came and pick me up from Susan's place. We went and visit Tel Aviv.

Late in the evening we went to Jaffa.

What a day! At midnight I was really ready to go to bed.

Jordan to Israel

Amman is an Ok city but not to much to see and to do; as I am stuck here until I get my Indian visa I decided to go to Israel. I have been told that I have have a Syraian visa on my passport Iwill not be allowed to enter Israel but I was thinking that is worth to try.

I left Amman on a service taxi with 2 Palestinian students that I met in my hostel. At Jordanian border we had to get off the taxi and had to go through customs. There was a huge line up of people. A policeman came up to me and told me that I am in the wrong line up. I am a foreigner and I was supposed to be in a foreigner line up. I went to the other line of the buildings; this line up was long as well; many tourists to visit Israel. After about half an hour I got my Jordanian exit visa.

After we got on a blue bus; only blue buses operates between the border, there are no taxis allowed.

First Israeli check point -an officer got on the bus and checked passports.
Second check point - we all had to get off the bus and have our passports checked.

we arrived at Israeli boder, wwe had to hand in our bags and passports. It was very chaotic, people were coming from everywhere with tones of bags; there iwas lots of shouting and pushing around.

Finally I got my bag and my passport checked again; now I was in line for customs and immigration. I was in line for 3 hours; when my turn I was barely asked any questions; I got my Israelei visa in a few minutes.

On the other side of the border I took the shared taxi to Jerusalem. Susan's husband Uzi came and picked me up.

I spend the evening with Susan's family; it was really good to see her and meet haer family. We had a wonderful traditional Israeli dinner.

Jordan - Amman - bad day

Sept 25 was a very bad day :(

I was supposed to fly to India this morning at 4:00 am. I went to the airport at midnight, and try to check in at 2:00 am. When checking in the guy at the counter asked for my Indian visa. I didn't apply for an Indian visa because for whatever reason I assumed that I could get visa upon arrival in Delhi. Apparently India doesn't issue any visas at any border. So I was declined to board the plane.

At 4:00 am I took a taxi back to Amman. All hotels were closed, it took me a while to find a hotel that will open the door.

At 9:00 am I went to the Indian Embassy; it takes 5 working day for a visa. I filledSept out the application and paid 30 Euros.

After I went to change my flight; I paid 78 Euros, and next available flight out of Amman is Thursday Oct 2.

I paid already for India tour that starts on Sept 27, at this moment it looks that I am not going to make it for the tour.

On the more happier note everyone here has been absolutely wonderful and trying to help; the lady at the Indian Embassy, the hotel manager, the airline reservation agent.

Today I am not happy :( I can't believe that I have created all this mess.

Jordan - Amman

Back in Amman for a day; getting ready for my flight to India.

Too many people on the street; spend most on the day on the Internet.

Jordan - Agaba to Amman

I spend the day on the South beach in Agaba.

Took the bus back to Amman.

Jordan - Petra to Aqaba

Three hours bus ride from Petra to Aqaba was spectacular.

Aqaba is a port city by Red sea. It is quite touristy but definitely worth visiting.

Jordan - Petra

I visited Petra the whole day. This time I was hiking on the upper trails and enjoyed the scenery from up top.

Jordan - Petra

Petra is about 4 hours from Amman.

I checked into Valentine Inn hostel with the beautiful view if Wadi Musa and Petra.

Petra is one of the most spectacular places I have seen so far.

Syria to Jordan- Amman

It was a Ramadan Friday morning when I crossed the border from Syria to Jordan; barely any cars on the road which was very nice.

I went to Amman by service taxi; service taxi operates between the 2 countries. The way it works, as soon as taxi has 4 people taxi is full and is leaving. I was with Hiroki, Japanese guy that I met at the hostel; in the taxi there were already 2 guys: a Turkish and a Jordanian guy. Jordanian guy was a doctor and spoke English, He helped us through all the customs formalities. I paid 500 Syrian pounds for my exit visa from Syria and 10 Jordanian Dirham for Jordanian visa. Officers at both customs were very nice. Jordanian customs checked the car and everything inside the car.

It takes 3 hours by car from Damascus to Amman and it costs us$16.00 dollars.

Syria - Damascus

This morning my group has left for Jordan. I stayed behind for one more day in Damascus. Still lots to see!

First thing in thee morning I moved from the hotel I stayed with the group to a nearby hostel.

Hostel was very nice and it was easy to meet people.

I spend the day visiting around and getting ready for my trip to Jordan.

Syria - Damascus

Sept 17 was my last day with the group; from now on I will be on my own for about 9 days, before my flight to India.

I visited old Damascus.

So far I was happy, miserable, tired, hungry, stuffed, stressed, relaxed, belivered, frustrated, content, anxious, ecstatic.
More than 7 month into my trip I am content and grateful for my life.

I took lots of pictures, but a picture is just a pretty image....it doesn't mean nothing compared to actually being there when I took the picture. The most wonderful pictures are in my heart.

Syria - Damascus

We made it to Damascus after a 4 hours ride from Palmyra on the crowded bus on a hot day.

Damascus is the oldest inhabited city in the world. It was busy, crowded, tons of cars, taxis, noise. We stayed in the hotel a few minutes away from the old city.

Syria - Palmyra

Palmyra is a small town in the middle of the dessert. It is famous because the wonderful ruins; the ruins are part of the Unesco World heritage.

We browsed around marvelling of the beauty of the place.

We watched the sunset and the next day sunrise.

In the day time was hot, but at night and in the morning was very chilly.

Syria - Hama to Palmyra

Scenery was beautiful, rugged mountains, grey and dusty green.

In our way to Palmyra we stopped to visit Crac de Chevalier, one of the most beautiful castle in the world.

After castle visit we continue our bus ride to Palmyra. Again we are travelling through the dessert; I found the desert fascinating most people on the bus were sleeping, but I just couldn't close my eyes. Looking out on the immensity of this place I felt at peace with myself.

Syria - Aleppo to Hama

My blogs will get shorter; I don't have a laptop with me and I am on the road a lot, barely have time to rest. The blogs will show itinerary and places that I visited. I will try to download as many pictures as I can.

Four hours bus ride from Aleppo to Hama. We were traveling through the dessert, sand dunes, small bushes, some olive trees; scenery is not pretty, but yet had a surreal charm; I liked it.

We stopped to visit Basilica of St Simeon, one of the most famous archaeological sites.

So far I have seen wonders.

Syria - Aleppo

Aleppo is the 3rd largest cities in Syria; is also one of the oldest inhabitated city in the world.

I got up in the morning; it was a Ramadan Friday morning in a muslim country, there was not a soul around, it seemed that city is deserted. I wanted a coffee so badly....hmmm, nothing I could do, just I was sitting on the roof terrance looking at the city; what a city, everything is grey, only a few dusty green patches.

Around 9 am I decided to go out and browse around; close to the citadel there were a few restaurants and wow! one was open :)

I asked the young waiter if they have Cappuccino, and he said yes; I was so sure he didn't understand me I asked again, and he said yes again. I was soooooo Happy, I have been drinking nesscafe for such a long time....Cappuccino was just perfect, I had such a great morning.

Citadel in Aleppo is something; I took lots of pictures.

Afternoon we visited more of the old city and also the Christian part of the city. Muslim part and the Christian part of the city are very different.

Turkey to Syria

We got up at 6:30 am to catch the bus that will take us to Syrian border.
The tour leader told us that we will cross the border on foot.
So here we were 7 of us with heavy backpacks walking in the blasting sun on a concrete bare road fenced by chicken wire.
Not sure why we had to cross the border on foot, something to do with bus complication and visas that may arise between Turkish and Syrian border.
First there was to turkish check point - everything ok, we all got our exit stamps.

For a while we were walking in no man land, we are in between the two countries, it was really strange to walk on the road which has signs at both sides - "Mine field, keep off" ; hmmm I didn't quite enjoy walking on that road.

First Syrian check point; the officer looked carefully at each passport, gave them back to us, said nothing, just nodded his head to move forward.
Second check point; we filled out forms and handed passports. I was so happy I had my Syrian visa; I read on the Internet that tourists have to wait a long time and the border, but at the end we just waited half an hour, that is pretty good considering that we are a group of 7 people.

Right in front of Syrain border there was a bus waiting for us, nice! in short time we were in our way to Aleppo.

The road is not particulay scenic, everything around looks dusty and dry. Small villages looked poor and colorless. As we were approaching the city there are many unfinished constructions in different stages, the scenery is quite depressing.

Our hotel Al- is centrally located between the new and the old town. I like this location! I remember about Morocco, it is nice to visit the medina, but never chose a hotel in the medina. I like to visit the old, but I prefer the modest comfort of a newer hotel.

In Aleppo there are 8 more people joining our group: two couples and two girlfriends from New Zealand, a French woman that lives in London, a Canadian girl from Alberta that lives in Vancouver.


In Turkey Ramadan didn't have any impact on our trip; many restaurants, coffee shops and juice bars were open everywhere. Not in Syria, pretty much everything was shut down until dusk.

In the evening we went out for a group dinner (by then we were really hungry); food was awesome, traditional Syrain food, mezze, kebabs, some strange coffee at the end.

Turkey – Gaziantep

Sept 10 was our last day in Turkey. It took only 4 hours bus ride to get here for the last town, we were all happy, at this time we all had enough of long bus rides.

I wouldn’t call Gaziantep a tourist town; it is a real Turkish town with very few foreigners. We walked around town for a bit, like everywhere in Turkey people are very nice and friendly.

We had our last Turkish yummy kebab and beer.
It was time for us to unwind, rest and get ready for our new journey in Syria.

Turkey - Mt. Nemrut

During this trip we traveled long distances from one place to next; a second overnight bus from Cappadocia to Kahta a small town in Eastern Turkey. We stopped in Kahta just to be close and be able to take a tour to visit Mountain Nemrut.

Mount Nemrut is at about 50 km from town. The highway to get to the mountain is very narrow, sometimes rough and it is winding up and down the mountains. I was quite scared and worried riding in the minivan. There are many very sharp curves and no shoulders. We made it OK all the way up.

From the parking lot we had to hike about 25 minute to the top where there is a memorial sanctuary. The area is fantastic somehow similar to Utah, I would have loved to trek in this area; it would have been really nice to be there for a few weeks.
Well, I was happy just to visit, do the mini hike and watch a wonderful sunset.

Turkey – Cappadocia

We traveled from Olympos to Cappadocia by an overnighter bus. Cappadocia is a region in the middle of the country, one of the most beautiful places in Turkey because of the unusual natural landscape. As we were appproching Goreme village the sun was raising, the sky is perfecly blue, the scenery was breathing. We arrived in Goreme village around 7 in the morning, it was absolutely surreal!

We checked in our hotel and have a rest on the hotel terrace overlooking the village.

We spend the day walking around, wondering and taking tons of pictures.

In the evening we watched the sunset for the highest hill in the village. The views were absolutely stunning.

We end up the day with Turkish pizza and beer a yummy 10 dollars dinner!

Turkey - Olympos

Dalyan to Olympos bus ride along Mediterranean Sea was absolutely beautiful! 6 hours of wonder. Amazing scenery, a mix of Cote D’Azur, Sea to Sky highway, Canadian Rockies.

The bus stopped shortly in Finike; I would call Finike Monte Carlo of Turkey. Beautiful and impressive buildings, restaurants and coffees shops, wide and clean streets, palm trees, Bleu Sea.

We got to Olympos around 4 pm. Olympos is a small, laid back mountain resort. It is a in a valley surrounded by very impressive mountains, and one side has a rugged path that leads to Mediterranean Sea. It is beautiful! As soon as we got there I went for a walk to see the sea. I walked on the path looked at the trees and some ruins, and all of the sudden in front of me the path opens up and in front of me there if the perfectly blue Mediterranean sea- wow!

As accommodations there are only bungalows and tree houses. Bungalows are arranges around an interior garden with low tables and tons of cushions. Everyone gathered there, the night was so beautiful; it was hard to go to bed….

Turkey - Dalyan

We traveled from Pamukkale to Dalyan. In Turkey Bus travel is very efficient, fast and comfortable. There are big buses and small buses, connecting all destinations. Most buses they have one person that takes cares of the sitting and offers drinks and sometimes small snacks. A man can not sit by a woman; during the trip people get moved around to have always man sit by a man and a woman by a woman. This rule doesn't apply to foreigners.

Dalyan is very touristy, lots of nice expensive hotels and resorts; apparently it is the most favorite destinations for the British.
We took a river boat cruise to the Mediterranean Sea; from the boat we admire the scenery and wonder at the tombs carved into the rock face.
We had to pay 2 euros to access the beach. It would have been an other 5 euros just to sit on the chair and have an umbrella. We opted to sit on the sand by the sea; also the water was so tempting warm, clean, big waves, how wanted to sit on the chair anyway? It was a great end of the day.

Turkey - Pamukkale

Next day an other bus ride this time only 3 hours from Selçuk to Pakmukkale.

Pakmukkale is also small town quite touristy. The hotel has a swimming pool and as soon as we arrived we jumped in the pool. It is hot but so far I haven’t really suffered of heat as all buses and hotels have air conditioning.

In the evening we went up to this ca mountain. It looks like there is snow on the mountain but in fact is grayish-white limestone. There are beautiful calcified formations, terraces, falls and stalactites. Everyone has to take the shoes off for the first part to conserve the area.

Up at the top there are magnificent ruins of the ancient town Hierapolis. The view from up top is amazing. We walked around and stayed up there for hours.
Sunset was beautiful!

Turkey - Selcuk

Bus ride was comfortable, but yet I slept very little. I got to Selçuk at 7 am and I was tired; I slept most of the morning.

Selçuk is a small charming town with some famous ruins; I don’t know too much about the ruins, I just went up for a walk and took some pictures.

It is Ramadan in Turkey; restaurants are open but nearly empty during the day; only tourists are eating. Turkish people are very nice they just walk by and smile. I haven’t felt that they will be upset because others re eating. I wasn’t hungry and I did not eat during the day.

I had a very yummy Turkish dinner with the group around 8pm.

Turkey - Istanbul to Selcuk

At 9 am on Monday morning I was at Syrian embassy with the letter of recommendation from the Canadian consulate, 45 Euros and 2 pictures; my visa was ready by 3pm, I was now ready to leave Istanbul and join my group.

At the end of the day I was sitting in Istanbul on a bench in front of the Blue Mosque and I kept thinking: This is what so amazing about traveling: pictures, stories, movies, nothing compares to actually being here…

I took an overnight 11 hours bus ride from Istanbul to Selçuk to join my group.