Before I came to Israel, I had booked a week long tour in Jordan. The reason why I booked a tour was because Jordanians aren't as fluent in English as the Israelis, who speak nearly flawless English for the most part. Also, the things to see in Jordan are very spread out so transportation would be a huge problem for me.
The tour starts on Sunday and it was Friday when I started my journey from Jerusalem to Amman, Jordan. The reason why I started on Friday was because the Sabbath runs from the sunset of Friday to the sunset of Saturday. On the Sabbath, as people all say, all Jewish establishments close, including public transportation, shops and restaurants.
There are three land border crossing points from Israel to Jordan. The shortest way to get from Jerusalem to Amman is through Allenby Bridge crossing, which would would be about 100 km (62 miles). However, this crossing is intended for Palestinians only and not recommended for tourists. The second shortest way is through the Sheik Hussein crossing, which is in the North tip of Israel. This route would take about 150 km (93 miles). However, this crossing is really near Syria, a place that you should avoid at all cost for the next decade or so. The third option is the option I took. It was about 800 km (500 miles)!! This is the south border crossing at Eilat.
The bus from Jerusalem to Eilat was at 7 am and lasted 4 hrs. After getting off, I took a taxi to the border crossing, walked across the border, and then took a taxi from the Jordanian side to a bus stop. I bought a 2 pm ticket and really thought the ride to Amman would be quick because the tour adviser told me it would only take an hour. However, the ride was also 4 hrs long, with an extra 30 mins going through customs. I arrived at my hotel room in Amman at 7 pm, and ate a not-so-good hotel dinner there and then slept.
The next day was a pure waiting day. After breakfast, I went over to the reception and asked about tour joining instructions. All they said was that the tour members (who are mostly from UK since it was a British tour company) could arrive at noon, 3 pm or 6 pm so just wait in the room. Waiting in the room was exactly what I did that day. The tour guide did check on me at 4 pm, but quickly left. The only thing I did was watch TV and a movie (Ran by Akira Kurosawa, great movie btw). TV was quite interesting actually since it was during the Egyptian military takeover period where the general gave Morsi an ultimatum. Other than that I went out and bought a bottle of water (when you travel, a bottle a day keeps the doctors away) from a nearby store and realized that the hotel is located far away from downtown Amman so I had nothing to do.
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