Petra

In Petra. The entry fee of 55 JD = 55€ jenseits von Gut und Böse (a beautiful German expression, totally absurd fits it more or less) but worth it. I had known about the place since watching Indiana Jones 3 and was mesmerised by its out-of-this-world beauty ever since. The town seems to be in the middle of nowhere, in fact the whole town of Wadi Musa with all its restaurants, hostels and fallafel places seems to have evolved only very recently, since tourists have discovered the place. Having been in Jordan for just about 24 hours I can't say much about it, the roads are good, the prices steep and the shishas better than any I had in Egypt.

The ruins of Petra spread over a massive area, we covered only about a third of it in one day. What I like about it is that while there is a main path to follow to all the key attractions, you can easily leave it and explore yourself.

Right at the entrance. Lazier people rent horses, donkeys or horse carriages to go around. Tough people like me walk everywhere and feel dead tired when coming home.Most things in Petra are carved in the walls of the valley. Great light and amazing shadows to play with if you've got a camera.
Down the Siq, a narrow gorge to the most well-known building of Petra ...
... the Treasury. In fact it is (like most ruins here) a tomb. The Nabataeans who lived here and built the buildings more than 2000 years ago were nomads and lived in tents and structures that did not survive the centuries since their downfall through the Romans. The structures left are burrial and sacrificial places.
Waiting for the tourists to come.
It's hard to describe how vast the area is. What you see here is just a small portion of what you can explore. Here I just followed up a dustry trek to take this picture of this valley. The little black holes you see in the distance are entrances to caves, made millenia ago.
The entrances in the left hand corner from the former picture, closer up.
And here inside a cave. Somehow the sandstone has formed these incredible patterns of red, white, beige and black. Probably the most fascinating thing about Petra is that it is sometimes hard to tell who made what you are looking at ...
... like here, looking out of a "window" in one of the caves. Was this originally a solid wall, broken down by labourers 2000 years ago, did the floods that must have flown through Jordan and create the gorge grind down the stone or is this simply the result of the ravages of time?
Some tombs are in extraordinarily good condition. Hanna - my travel buddy for this journey - bringing some life to these dead stones.
And me just chilling with the desert behind me.

Dahab, Egypt

It's my last day in Dahab before heading to Nuweiba and then by ferry to Jordan. Christmas here was great, Dahab is some kind of aspiring backpacker hangout, while there are many (young) people on a budget it is also one of the best windsurfing and diving places in the world I was told. But there is also a number of older tourists, often with children, some planning to stay for a week but ending up living there. Egyptian visa regulations don't seem to be too strict ... The town is arranged around a bay, with numerous cafes, bars and restaurants right on the sea, when it's windy it's full with windsurfers, otherwise you see scores of snorkles and the faint images of divers deep down in the sea. The Egyptians I've met here were incredibly friendly and welcoming, of course there is money to be made but it doesn't seem the main interest for many, who just want to have a good time. Understandable, it's one of the closest places to paradise I've seen. (Only to be beaten by the Andamans)

One bit of the shore, lined with restaurants. That's a stormy day, often it's much quieter.
Could be out of a catalogue I feel. One of the more upmarket restaurants right next to where I'm staying.
The view from my bamboo hut. The faint lights on the other side are in Saudi Arabia, which is just across the Red Sea. I like the tranquility of this picture, ocean and sky seem to blend into one!
While the town is not too busy at the moment people seem to speculate on more and more tourists coming. In the foreground you see some kind of play-castle for children, with soldiers overlooking the construction site for huge hotels in the background.
No comment needed ;-)
A bit further down the beach, just out of town. Apparently the coast was full with palm trees until a few years ago, now many have been uprooted and removed to make room for new hotels and beach cafes...