The Widow and the Spinster: The Search for Adventure, Enlightenment, and the Quest for Forbidden food - Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, and New TR Link! 5/23

[franandaj]

Which one plays the sax?

They take turns.....

Please stand by. Your post will be answered in the order it was received.

And they're almost resolved, not quite.....

 

[jedijill]

Dinner was really tasty! The kitty was really cute and knew who to make friends with....she didn't only get Alison's chicken! Our guide/driver was feeding her too.

Wadi Rum was the ultimate in dark sky! I wish I had my telescope because it would have been amazing! It was so quiet in the desert.

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

Dinner was really tasty!

It was! And was not the last of the tasty Meals we would have!

The kitty was really cute and knew who to make friends with....she didn't only get Alison's chicken! Our guide/driver was feeding her too.

Had I known how many cats (and dogs) we would see on our trip, I still would have been as enamored with this cat!

Wadi Rum was the ultimate in dark sky! I wish I had my telescope because it would have been amazing! It was so quiet in the desert.

It was an ideal location for looking at the sky. Pictures didn't capture what we saw that night! We can't see stars like that from our homes in the US due to light pollution. It was stunning to see the stars like that!

 

[pkondz]

So I’ve had a breakthrough in my trip reporting! This morning I realized that I could do updates and work on the TR from my bedroom while I’m sitting around watching my news programs. By bringing the computer I mention below into the bedroom, I can do almost everything but choose and edit the pictures. Once they’ve been uploaded to Photobucket, I can do all the fine tuning of my notes and add in the pictures, all before I’ve had coffee or even gotten out of bed!

Wait... you weren't already doing that?

the jeep tour got us super dusty and dirty and neither of us wanted to go to sleep like that.

No. I would think not. You'd be sleeping on sand paper!

After fighting with the computer to recognize my phone, I finally downloaded all my pictures to my extra computer. (I didn't bring my actual computer for fear of theft, damage, or otherwise).

This would be an older one, I presume. Did you bring it just for uploading photos to? Or had you thought you might start writing, too?

our guide on the jeep tour told us that while this should be their highest season, bookings were down. After the war broke out in Israel lots of Americans canceled their trips

Yeah... not overly surprising, that.

We figured out that the reason they were able to get us into this Bedouin camp was from those cancelations.

Makes sense.

Dinner is buried in a basket in the ground surrounded by coals and cooks for three hours under the surface.

That's so cool and it reminds me of....

Kind of reminds me of a luau in Hawaii where they do a whole pig under the banana leaves

.... Yes! This!

(verify the type of leaves before posting).

Now you don't have to. It can be either Ti leaves or banana leaves, apparently.

Yuuummmm Kahlua pi-eeeerp move along! Nothing to see here!

I totally get that! It's sooooooo good!

Wow does that look good! <drool>

That’s one of the drawbacks of this region, smoking is still allowed in many places. It’s a huge part of their culture.

Yuck. I always hate when that happens. Smoking in restaurants or any indoor locale where I'm at... nope!

Here’s Jill going to save us a table.

Run, Jill! Ruuuunnnn!!!

This kitty was stalking the diners for scraps and morsels.

Kitty knows where it's at!

Inside the dining room there was an entire buffet spread.

Holy smoke! That looks amazing!

Neither of us could finish and felt bad for leaving so much food, but there was just so much and they piled it on. So good but so much.

Glad it was as good as it looked.

The kitty definitely got some of my chicken.

See? Knows where it's at.

One of the activities that our driver had offered us to sign up for was looking at the stars through a telescope. The night was so cloudy we were glad we declined this offer.

Was this a drive out somewhere? Or just outside the camp?

We went outside and I tried to take some pictures with the DSLR.

Not easy.

For you folks who know photo babble, I couldn’t get the camera to take a picture with the auto focus on, so I just turned it off, put the camera on a 4 to 5 second shutter speed and set it on the railing outside our tent facing up to the sky.

You need to open the aperture wide open, and (as you discovered) put it on manual focus. You can get okay shots with 10 seconds, but any longer than 20 and you'll start getting blur from star trails.

You can see Orion’s belt in there.

Recognized it right away. You can see most of Orion and Betelgeuse clearly.

Up Next: Up, up, and Away…..how many of you can sing the rest of that song lyirc? Or name the group?

I'd have to ride a balloon into another dimension to answer that one.

They take turns.....

The kitty was really cute and knew who to make friends with....she didn't only get Alison's chicken! Our guide/driver was feeding her too.

Like I said! Kitty knows where it's at!

Wadi Rum was the ultimate in dark sky! I wish I had my telescope because it would have been amazing! It was so quiet in the desert.

That would've been great. Must've been so nice!

 

[mvf-m11c]

After seeing your pics on that ride, it does feel like I-5 & I-15. Both can be quite long drives and boring as well.

Those Martian tens look quite interesting to be in especially in the desert. Disappointing on the bathroom.

Enjoy reading and seeing your pics on your adventure.

 

[franandaj]

Wait... you weren't already doing that?

No, I was only working from my main computer.

No. I would think not. You'd be sleeping on sand paper!

Yeah, it would have been gross.

This would be an older one, I presume. Did you bring it just for uploading photos to? Or had you thought you might start writing, too?

Actually it's not an older one, but it's not as powerful. Fran bought it as an alternative computer that she could use for scanning. She used to scan at the dining room table, and her main place to sit (when not scanning) was in front of the TV. She kept having to ask me to move her computer back and forth when she wanted to scan stuff. When she bought this computer she could scan at all hours of the night without needing me to move her regular computer.

I actually brought it so that I could do online banking and pay some credit cards while I was away.

Yeah... not overly surprising, that.

Most Americans have no knowledge of geography, and think that Gaza is a hop, skip, and a jump from everywhere in the Middle East.

That's so cool and it reminds me of....
.... Yes! This!

Now you don't have to. It can be either Ti leaves or banana leaves, apparently.

Dang it, that was a note to me that was supposed to be removed. I was fighting with Photobucket that day and tried posting that update so many times, I forgot to remove it once the post actually worked.

I totally get that! It's sooooooo good!

When I was checking to see what kind of leaves are used I ran across several recipes where you could make a smaller version of it and not the whole pig.

Wow does that look good! <drool>

We ate really well the entire trip. Well there is one meal that Jill didn't enjoy so much, but that's quite a bit in the future!

Yuck. I always hate when that happens. Smoking in restaurants or any indoor locale where I'm at... nope!

Yeah, I didn't realize how awful it is until a later incident in the trip. But again, we aren't there yet.

Run, Jill! Ruuuunnnn!!!

Neither of us did any running on this trip!

Kitty knows where it's at!

Holy smoke! That looks amazing!

Glad it was as good as it looked.

It sure was!

See? Knows where it's at.

Was this a drive out somewhere? Or just outside the camp?

I assume it was at the camp, but since we didn't choose to do it, we didn't get any details.

Not easy.

You need to open the aperture wide open, and (as you discovered) put it on manual focus. You can get okay shots with 10 seconds, but any longer than 20 and you'll start getting blur from star trails.

Not sure when I'll get the chance to do that again. I'm not planning on going anywhere without light pollution any time soon.

Recognized it right away. You can see most of Orion and Betelgeuse clearly.

I'd have to ride a balloon into another dimension to answer that one.

Good one!

 

[franandaj]

After seeing your pics on that ride, it does feel like I-5 & I-15. Both can be quite long drives and boring as well.

Yup. Pretty boring drive for most of the way. And not the last one of the trip.

Those Martian tens look quite interesting to be in especially in the desert. Disappointing on the bathroom.

I wouldn't mind doing something like that again. The tents, not the bathroom.

Enjoy reading and seeing your pics on your adventure.

Plenty more to come!

 

[franandaj]

I was awake at 4:30 and got dressed, Jill got up shortly thereafter. We packed as many of our things for checkout as we could since we would probably have little time when we returned.

This morning we were doing the other activity that our driver had presented us with, riding in a hot air balloon. Our (different) driver picked us up at 5:30 AM. There were three of us ladies crammed in the backseat of a double cab of a 4WD pick-up, and another one in the front seat. Our driver was a young Bedouin who obviously did the jeep tours in the daylight hours. The truck was a mini death trap. The back door on the outside of the driver's side didn't even have a door handle, and the door itself didn't open at all, even if you tried it from the inside.

I realized how much we had lucked out the day before with our jeep tour driver. He was steady and careful even as he drove across unmapped desert terrain. This guy was fairly crazy. It appeared that he was weaving in and amongst all the other trucks who were racing to the same destination. All the while he was flirting with the other two gals in the car who were Belgian, sharing playlists on their phones. Later on the drive back they would take selfies (the driver) of himself with them.

We did make it to the destination unscathed, and found a table with instant coffee, tea, and biscuits. I drank a cup of black nescafe. Not the best, but it gave me a small jolt of caffeine.

We watched as they filled the balloons with air. I had brought my big camera along to take some great pictures but as I tried to take the shots every picture had a big black smudge right in the middle of it. I figured that it was dirt on the lens, but in the dark I couldn’t really test it to find out what it was, so I just put it away and took pictures with my cell phone.

This is the only picture that I used from my DSLR camera. If you look right at the center of the picture, you can see a smudge on the balloon. I could get away with it on this picture, but every other one, the smudge was so distracting, I couldn’t use them.

Eventually they separated us into groups of 16. Mostly we were divided by nationality/language so that the safety briefing could be presented in a common language. Once we were briefed on what to do they righted the basket and we all climbed in.

In our basket, we had mostly Americans, two Germans, the Belgian gals, and a couple Canadians who vehemently denied their American nationality when the balloon pilot joked with them about being American. There were two Brits in the party of 6 "Americans" who also announced their nationality, but not with the same spite as the woman from Calgary.

And here we go!

The sun was rising, just as we were taking off. I have to attribute Jill with these pictures.

This is one of the last of the balloons in our group taking off.

Here’s a video of us going over an impressive rock structure. It’s about 4 minutes long.

Flying over a rock cluster

This is a photo of us coming over the rock structure in the video above.

This is one of the original camps in the desert. Those little pods all have hot tubs inside them. We actually met a couple who stayed there later on in the trip while waiting to board a flight in the airport in Aswan.

We went down really low and our captain joked about not taking pictures of people in the hot tubs while we flew over. We did take pictures!

Artsy fartsy shadow picture.

Looking back towards the rock formation that we just flew over, there is this French Fort that was built for a movie set.

This picture is looking back to where we came from. The other two balloons from the same company are behind us by a few minutes. You can also see our support caravan on the ground following us to “clean up” once we land.

Here’s another one of those camps that has popped up in the last few years, on the other side of the ridge.

Here is our ground crew anticipating our landing.

Landing was actually pretty smooth. He described three different ways it could go, one of which included the basket tipping on it's side. Luckily we just skipped along the ground a few times before coming to a full stop.

Here's a video of the balloon deflating.

Balloon deflating

We all got out and took a group picture.

Here's the death trap of a truck in which we traveled to and from the take off/landing sites.

We got back to Sun City Camp around 8AM and immediately headed to breakfast. I didn’t get any pictures of the spread, but there was a ton of food to choose from. They had beef sausage (this stuff mixed with the peppers), but no bacon. We were starting to think that we would not be seeing any pork products while in Jordan.

Then it was back to the room to grab our luggage and head out to the next adventure.

One last look at the room before we take off.

Kitties were everywhere at Sun City Camp. Here's a cat on a hot canvas roof.

On the way out of Wadi Rum we stopped at the train station. This was supposedly Lawrence of Arabia's private rail car, and this steam engine makes trips along the tracks although it is no longer powered by steam. Our balloon pilot said that they actually burn tires to mimic the smoke. The environment really thanks them for that.

And then we were on the road again.

Once on the highway we were passing through one of the small towns when a tiny puppy came running out onto the roadway. Our driver immediately stopped right in the middle of the road, put on his flashers, got out of the car and picked up the puppy from the road and spied one of its siblings on the side of the road. He picked up the other one too. I couldn't tell where he set them down because there was a truck in the way, but he was gone a little while so he must have set them far back from the road. He was good people.

Next Up: How do we choose?

 

[bcwife76]

Wow wow wow....stunning. Absolutely stunning.
That pick up driver sounds like a nutter so I'm glad you made it there and back in one piece! Esp compared to your next driver who sounds like a total sweetheart Was this your first time in a hot air balloon? It's something I've wanted to do forever but still too scared to try

 

[franandaj]

Wow wow wow....stunning. Absolutely stunning.

It definitely was one of the highlights of the trip.

That pick up driver sounds like a nutter so I'm glad you made it there and back in one piece! Esp compared to your next driver who sounds like a total sweetheart

The morning driver was just a reckless young kid out to impress a couple ladies.

The driver who rescued the puppy was our main driver for the weekend. He was a very nice guy. He had like six or eight cats of his own.

Was this your first time in a hot air balloon? It's something I've wanted to do forever but still too scared to try

I had been in a hot air balloon before, but it was Jill's first time.

 

[jedijill]

You really played the driver's flirting down....he was trying SOOOO hard! The girls spoke Arabic and he was using every move he had while driving across the desert and paying more attention to them and his phone. And he sprayed a bunch of cologne which stunk. I was so happy to get back to camp!!!!!

I forgot about the puppy....it was tiny! The driver's tip went up after that incident.

The balloon was a lot of fun but we were squished in there! I've never seen baskets that could hold 25 people. The pilot was awesome and I really enjoyed the flight.

Jill in CO

 

[franandaj]

You really played the driver's flirting down....he was trying SOOOO hard! The girls spoke Arabic and he was using every move he had while driving across the desert and paying more attention to them and his phone. And he sprayed a bunch of cologne which stunk. I was so happy to get back to camp!!!!!

Yes, we'll I couldn't remember all the stuff. I do remember that he put on some tune and was dancing with his finger in the air on out way back. Yes he was trying super hard to flirt with those girls.

I forgot about the puppy....it was tiny! The driver's tip went up after that incident.

We ready liked him, but the fact that he rescued a puppy on the highway elevated him in the tip situation!

The balloon was a lot of fun but we were squished in there! I've never seen baskets that could hold 25 people. The pilot was awesome and I really enjoyed the flight.

I think this one was only 16 which was better than the later one.

 

[pkondz]

Actually it's not an older one, but it's not as powerful. Fran bought it as an alternative computer that she could use for scanning. She used to scan at the dining room table, and her main place to sit (when not scanning) was in front of the TV. She kept having to ask me to move her computer back and forth when she wanted to scan stuff. When she bought this computer she could scan at all hours of the night without needing me to move her regular computer.

Huh. Then you also had a portable scanner, I guess? Or did you just move it on a cart, or something?

I actually brought it so that I could do online banking and pay some credit cards while I was away.

Ah! But it worked out well for other uses too.

Most Americans have no knowledge of geography, and think that Gaza is a hop, skip, and a jump from everywhere in the Middle East.

It kinda is, I guess. I mean... Jordan is a lot closer to Gaza than say... France.

Dang it, that was a note to me that was supposed to be removed. I was fighting with Photobucket that day and tried posting that update so many times, I forgot to remove it once the post actually worked.

I know. I'm just bugging you. I'm not going back to look, but betting you've already removed it.

When I was checking to see what kind of leaves are used I ran across several recipes where you could make a smaller version of it and not the whole pig.

That makes sense. Do those recipes still have you burying it in leaves, though? Or just cooking in oven or BBQ?

We ate really well the entire trip. Well there is one meal that Jill didn't enjoy so much, but that's quite a bit in the future!

Yeah, I didn't realize how awful it is until a later incident in the trip. But again, we aren't there yet.

Neither of us did any running on this trip!

Not sure when I'll get the chance to do that again. I'm not planning on going anywhere without light pollution any time soon.

I've had a few very memorable nights with little to no light pollution.

 

[pkondz]

I was awake at 4:30 and got dressed, Jill got up shortly thereafter.

At first I thought you ladies were up that early because of jet lag.
How difficult (or easy) was it to get up at that time?

The truck was a mini death trap.

It appeared that he was weaving in and amongst all the other trucks who were racing to the same destination.

Just what you want, first thing in the morning.

The impending feeling of a massive car crash coming up.

All the while he was flirting with the other two gals in the car who were Belgian, sharing playlists on their phones.

At least he has his priorities straight.

I had brought my big camera along to take some great pictures but as I tried to take the shots every picture had a big black smudge right in the middle of it.

Oh, no. That's really too bad. That's happened to me and it's very frustrating.

This is the only picture that I used from my DSLR camera. If you look right at the center of the picture, you can see a smudge on the balloon. I could get away with it on this picture, but every other one, the smudge was so distracting, I couldn’t use them.

Yeah, I can see it. You're lucky you noticed it right away and not after the balloon ride!

That basket is huge! Easily 3 times the size of the one I went up in.

A couple of happy, high fliers.

a couple Canadians who vehemently denied their American nationality when the balloon pilot joked with them about being American.

There were two Brits in the party of 6 "Americans" who also announced their nationality, but not with the same spite as the woman from Calgary.

In our basket, we had mostly Americans, two Germans, the Belgian gals, and a couple Canadians who vehemently denied their American nationality when the balloon pilot joked with them about being American. There were two Brits in the party of 6 "Americans"

Before I saw the photo near the end of this update, I was trying to figure out how many were in the basket.
"Okay... "mostly Americans"... that means more US folks than others... Two Germans plus the two Belgian gals makes four... plus two Canadians and two Brits makes 8 so there must be at least 16 people.

I was close.

The sun was rising, just as we were taking off. I have to attribute Jill with these pictures.

Nice shots, Jill!

This is one of the last of the balloons in our group taking off.

Slacker.

Here’s a video of us going over an impressive rock structure. It’s about 4 minutes long.

That was a cool video. Watched it all.

Those little pods all have hot tubs inside them.

Yes! I heard the... aerialist? balloonist? mention them. I'm not going to listen again, but I thought he stumbled over the words a bit and said something like "You can look at the stars at night or from your jacuzzi, fully dressed, balloons in the day."

We went down really low and our captain joked about not taking pictures of people in the hot tubs while we flew over. We did take pictures!

Artsy fartsy shadow picture.

Looking back towards the rock formation that we just flew over

Stunning formation

Here is our ground crew anticipating our landing.

Looks like you were the second balloon down?

Landing was actually pretty smooth. He described three different ways it could go, one of which included the basket tipping on it's side.

That's what happened to my dad and I when we went. I was worried about him (he was about 65 at the time) but he managed okay. They did not warn us that could happen.

Here's a video of the balloon deflating.

Thanks for that! I had no idea the top came off like that! That's really neat! I guess I never looked up during the time we descended.

We all got out and took a group picture.

14

Kitties were everywhere at Sun City Camp. Here's a cat on a hot canvas roof.

I see what you did there.

This was supposedly Lawrence of Arabia's private rail car,

Really! That's cool!

Our balloon pilot said that they actually burn tires to mimic the smoke. The environment really thanks them for that.

Once on the highway we were passing through one of the small towns when a tiny puppy came running out onto the roadway. Our driver immediately stopped right in the middle of the road, put on his flashers, got out of the car and picked up the puppy from the road and spied one of its siblings on the side of the road. He picked up the other one too. I couldn't tell where he set them down because there was a truck in the way, but he was gone a little while so he must have set them far back from the road. He was good people.

Very nice and humane of him. That makes up for the wild driving earlier.

 

[franandaj]

Huh. Then you also had a portable scanner, I guess? Or did you just move it on a cart, or something?

This is the scanner. It's a University style scanner that they have in a lot of libraries and research places. It's super fast and easy. Funny thing is that now I just do the scanning on two TV trays with my regular computer in front of the TV.

Ah! But it worked out well for other uses too.

It pretty much gets the internets and scans. I haven't installed any other programs on it. Except that Photoshop Lite that I found for free. It resizes, crops, some other features I don't use. It won't let me draw on the pictures or remove people, but I think it has the Spot Healing tool.

It kinda is, I guess. I mean... Jordan is a lot closer to Gaza than say... France.

Well yeah, but it's not like I could see it from Jordan.

I know. I'm just bugging you. I'm not going back to look, but betting you've already removed it.

Now I don't remember if I did......

That makes sense. Do those recipes still have you burying it in leaves, though? Or just cooking in oven or BBQ?

I didn't look that far. I wanted to see what they buried it in the ground with.

I've had a few very memorable nights with little to no light pollution.

Not a lot of places you can go now.

 

[franandaj]

At first I thought you ladies were up that early because of jet lag.
How difficult (or easy) was it to get up at that time?

This whole trip our sleep schedules were so out of whack. We just set the alarms and got up when the alarm went off. I think because everything we were doing was so exciting there wasn't a problem of not wanting to get out of bed.

Just what you want, first thing in the morning.

The impending feeling of a massive car crash coming up.

I was envisioning us rolling over in the desert.

At least he has his priorities straight.

Men

Oh, no. That's really too bad. That's happened to me and it's very frustrating.

Just wait until I get to the story of how it gets fixed!

Yeah, I can see it. You're lucky you noticed it right away and not after the balloon ride!

It was pretty hard to miss. Although I supposed I could have photoshopped that one out.....

That basket is huge! Easily 3 times the size of the one I went up in.

Yeah, Fran and I did a balloon ride in Napa Valley almost 20 years ago, and it was just the two of us and our pilot.

A couple of happy, high fliers.

Before I saw the photo near the end of this update, I was trying to figure out how many were in the basket.
"Okay... "mostly Americans"... that means more US folks than others... Two Germans plus the two Belgian gals makes four... plus two Canadians and two Brits makes 8 so there must be at least 16 people.

There were 16, four in each "quadrant".

Nice shots, Jill!

She done good!

Slacker.

That was a cool video. Watched it all.

I'm glad someone did!

Yes! I heard the... aerialist? balloonist? mention them. I'm not going to listen again, but I thought he stumbled over the words a bit and said something like "You can look at the stars at night or from your jacuzzi, fully dressed, balloons in the day."

He was our pilot.

Looks like you were the second balloon down?

No, we were the first. I'm not sure where that extra basket came from.

ETA: Now that I look at that picture, youre right. There is a balloon and a basket too. I think those might have been from another company who launched about 15 minites before us from another canyon.

That's what happened to my dad and I when we went. I was worried about him (he was about 65 at the time) but he managed okay. They did not warn us that could happen.

They gave us three different scenarios on how the basket would land. We do it again later in the trip and there ends up being a fourth option.

Thanks for that! I had no idea the top came off like that! That's really neat! I guess I never looked up during the time we descended.

The pilot gave us a heads up to film it, I guess he thought it was cool. That was once we were on the ground.

14

The two Belgian gals abstained from the picture.

I see what you did there.

At least someone did!

Very nice and humane of him. That makes up for the wild driving earlier.

No he wasn't the driver to the balloon ride. He was the driver who picked us up from the airport Friday, and was our driver for the entire weekend. He drove us to Wadi Rum, on to Petra, and eventually back to the hotel in Amman. He also took us back to the airport to fly to Cairo on the last day.

 

[pkondz]

This is the scanner. It's a University style scanner that they have in a lot of libraries and research places. It's super fast and easy.

That's interesting. I've never seen anything like that.

Funny thing is that now I just do the scanning on two TV trays with my regular computer in front of the TV.

oooohhh! High tech!

Well yeah, but it's not like I could see it from Jordan.

Yeah, you'd need to get a bit higher first... maybe in a balloon or something.
Nah. Never happen.

Now I don't remember if I did......

Remember what?

Not a lot of places you can go now.

Lady, I've lived in those places!

This whole trip our sleep schedules were so out of whack. We just set the alarms and got up when the alarm went off. I think because everything we were doing was so exciting there wasn't a problem of not wanting to get out of bed.

I completely understand that. Judging from what I've seen so far, every day was exciting!

Men

Just wait until I get to the story of how it gets fixed!

It was pretty hard to miss. Although I supposed I could have photoshopped that one out.....

Or worked around it.
"I've superimposed how large Italy would look from here, on the image."

There were 16, four in each "quadrant".

Ah ha!! I was right!

He was our pilot.

I thought so, but wasn't positive that you might've had a pilot and an English speaking guide.

No, we were the first. I'm not sure where that extra basket came from.

ETA: Now that I look at that picture, youre right. There is a balloon and a basket too. I think those might have been from another company who launched about 15 minites before us from another canyon.

Ah.

They gave us three different scenarios on how the basket would land. We do it again later in the trip and there ends up being a fourth option.

Oh?
Colour me intrigued.

The pilot gave us a heads up to film it, I guess he thought it was cool. That was once we were on the ground.

I'd hope you were on the ground!
"I'm just gonna let the hot air out while we're several hundred feet up..."

Would make for a very rapid and ultimately uncomfortable descent!

The two Belgian gals abstained from the picture.

Ah! Explanations coming hot and heavy.

At least someone did!

No he wasn't the driver to the balloon ride. He was the driver who picked us up from the airport Friday, and was our driver for the entire weekend. He drove us to Wadi Rum, on to Petra, and eventually back to the hotel in Amman. He also took us back to the airport to fly to Cairo on the last day.

Ohhhh... Was wondering that you didn't mention the poor driving again.

 

[pkondz]

 

[franandaj]

That's interesting. I've never seen anything like that.

It's rather convenient, and easy to store.

Yeah, you'd need to get a bit higher first... maybe in a balloon or something.
Nah. Never happen.

Except you'd have to get rather high up. There is a very large mountain range separating Jordan and Israel. Like 3500 ft tall, I'm guessing that around 1500m give or take.

I completely understand that. Judging from what I've seen so far, every day was exciting!

It was! Kind of like every day was topping the previous one!

I thought so, but wasn't positive that you might've had a pilot and an English speaking guide.

I think the pilots probably speak a few languages, and as I said they put the people who spoke English all the same basket. There was a basket with people from Malta in it too.

Oh?
Colour me intrigued.

The three that they told us about (at both balloon rides) were:
1. You just land flat
2. You hit the ground a few times before landing flat
3. You hit the ground and fall over sideways

I think we ended up with the second one this time.

I'd hope you were on the ground!
"I'm just gonna let the hot air out while we're several hundred feet up..."

Would make for a very rapid and ultimately uncomfortable descent!

Yeah, that probably would not work out too well.

Ohhhh... Was wondering that you didn't mention the poor driving again.

Yeah, all the drivers that we had through our tour agency were good drivers. It was when we did other tours not specifically with folks contracted by "Look at Egypt" (the name of the tour company) that we had some interesting drives.

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You are just full of the memes lately!

 

[pkondz]

Except you'd have to get rather high up. There is a very large mountain range separating Jordan and Israel. Like 3500 ft tall, I'm guessing that around 1500m give or take.

5,000 ft? Doable. Go back and try it.

It was! Kind of like every day was topping the previous one!

I think the pilots probably speak a few languages, and as I said they put the people who spoke English all the same basket.

Right.

The three that they told us about (at both balloon rides) were:
1. You just land flat
2. You hit the ground a few times before landing flat
3. You hit the ground and fall over sideways

I think we ended up with the second one this time.

Yes but I’m curious in your fourth one.

Yeah, all the drivers that we had through our tour agency were good drivers. It was when we did other tours not specifically with folks contracted by "Look at Egypt" (the name of the tour company) that we had some interesting drives.

I wonder if the tour company insists on safer driving?

You are just full of the memes lately!