Tuesday we wake up semi-early and packed up to head to Aqaba, where Aladdin is from! View Journey on Map

It’s supposed to take about 3.5 hours, but it took us maybe 4-5 since our cab driver kept pulling over and taking pictures and showing us his tattoos and leering at us from the many windows installed all over the interior of the cab. Also, there was this other dude along for the ride who was riding shotgun so we were crammed in the back:

So we drove through two hours of looking at this:

With the occasional this:

It was just like this:

The driver was always talking and pointing out things like gas stations as if we were fucking idiots. See how he ruined my video by turning the music off and talking?

We kept passing this other car with these people who would look at us, then the driver’s phone would ring. Then they’d pass us and he’d tell us to wave or do some action that makes no sense.  Finally we pulled over and some man gave us his card after asking us where I was from, etc. Then it was Lyndsey’s turn to drive:

We finally arrived late at night in the dark after going through some weird scary checkpoint and after getting really tired of the driver turning on the light in the car and turning around to try and talk to us. We feigned sleep in the back seat and started yelling at him every time he tried again. The man in the passenger seat was some border patrol soldier who looked like he was in his mid 30s but turned out to be younger than me. That was another thing – everyone looks older than they really are. I guess it’s the sun.

So finally we are on our own in the middle of Aqaba and it is warm and we’re starving so we got some sort of imitation pizza:

After “pizza” we checked into a hotel and met “Rock” the hotel desk manager who would refer to us as the “crazy American girls…” or “Majhnuna.”  We checked in and got alcohol  and went to smoke shisha at the beach.

That’s the Red Sea and the lights of Israel in the background. The Israelites.

We hung out here and it felt so peaceful hearing the waves come in and getting stared at by families and strange boys on the beach. Finally we had to pee to the point of no return and wandered back into town and into the McDonald’s.  Outside of the McDonald’s was a bedouin with a camel who offered us a ride. Here’s Lyndsey on the camel, who was named Concord:

Camels are so interesting to be around. They are so lanky and tall and they seem really polite. Anyway, Alexis refrained from riding on the camel as she had seen one being abused by it’s owner and felt weird about it.
I just had to though:

We went back to our hotel and got really drunk on the patio and asked Rock where we could find food later around 1 or 2 am. He escorted us to some place a short cab ride away and then we came back and fell asleep. The next day was beautiful out so we went to get food and then went to the South Coast, which I’m told is a foreigner’s beach so women can wear bathing suits, etc. We hung out a bit and took pictures. Lyndsey and I went into the sea.


We went to the little hotels on the other side of the highway to see about getting a room. We found a place but had to check out of the hotel in Aqaba so we went back with some of their friends Fares and Sohael and Mohammad Sea drove us.

At our hotel in Aqaba, Rock gave us some shit about not checking out in time so we had to stay another night. We took nice showers and got dressed and went to dinner and then some internet cafe with their friends who were very friendly and sweet. Then just hung around the hotel room at night to wake up early to get to the Bedouin Moon Village hotel…