Ferry to Jordan

Thıs post should go before the Jordan reports.

Leaving Egypt we took a ferry across the Red Sea from Nuewaba, in the Sinai to Aquaba, Jordan. There are two ferries each day, the fast and the slow ferry. They both leave about the same time, while the slow boat is only an hour longer, the fast boat is sold as the more comfortable "tourist" boat, and costs fifty dollars more. We opted for the cheaper, local boat.
From the peaceful beach hotel it was a 15-minute ride in the back of a pick-up truck with the warm desert wind whipping our faces, to the bustling port trucks everywhere and hundreds of people lined up for the security. The ferry was supposed to leave at noon and passengers were to be at the terminal two hours before departure. From the terminal, we piled on to a bus for the 1-minute ride to the boat. As our bus arrived in front of the boat, we could see many passengers were already on board as we filed through more checkpoints until we were able to move freely on board. It seemed as everyone was heading to the top deck so we followed (or were pulled by the crowd). Once there we could see why. Everyone was jockeying for a spot to sit for the trip.
It was baking hot in the sun but we found a spot under an awning with freshly painted white benches full of men stretched out, catching their afternoon siestas, most likely because they have been up since 5 am with morning prayers. We claimed a bench and sat back to watch the scene unfolding before us. As it was the middle of the day, the starboard side of the ship was turned into a prayer centre with men lined up in rows, laying out their mats, taking off their shoes and facing off toward Mecca, Saudia Arabia in the distance to say their prayers. More men kept arriving so those lying down were forced to sit up and once all the benches were full, the latecomers spread blankets on the floors to sit on. Everyone was smoking constantly so even though we were outside the air was blue. Soon it was time to eat. I counted at least five whole cooked chickens that appeared out of bags, which men sat around to pull apart and eat with pita and pickles.
Although everyone seemed to be on board by noon, we sat until three o’clock before our ferry left! Apparently, this is a normal occurrence. By this time we had eaten our lunch and the kids had done their schoolwork, so Steve started to read the kids a story. As I listened to the story and watched, I saw that everyone within earshot was quietly listening and watching Steve read. I think we were as interesting to them as they were to us. By then we had realized that we were the only foreigners and there was only one other woman in this section of the boat.
At the time for evening prayers we were sailing beside the Saudi coast, so the men were no longer facing the front of the boat towards Mecca but off the side. An hour before arrival Steve went to find out about our visas for Jordan which, according to the guide book, could be obtained on board. A few minutes later he came back saying that he had found the visa man as well as the indoor lounge for families (a sea of babies, children, women, men, smells, noise and smoke) and a first class, air-conditioned dining room that was empty. We headed down to it and were pleased to see that we could plug in our laptop and order something to eat in a quiet, non-smokey place. We made friends with the Chief Purser who invited us to visit him in his hometown in Northern Jordan (as he was heading home on a week vacation) while the man in charge of visas told us that he would come for us when we docked. As we arrived in port 1,500 passengers, all eager to get off, had filled the hallways and corridors before the gangway. We decided to relax and get off last because we have so much luggage, it would have been impossible to manage it with the crowd. Magically, moments before we docked, the visa man arrived and asked us to follow him. He led us through back corridors until we arrived at the front of the crowd. The doors opened and we were first off the boat and onto a waiting bus. In two minutes we were in the terminal building and our visas were being processed. At this point we realized that we had been the only non-Middle Easterners on the ferry. All the other Western tourists we had seen in the terminal in Neuwaba had taken the faster ferry. A few minutes later we had our passports in hand and the visa agent then led us through the terminal and organized our taxi ride into the city. Wow, we were impressed by our first minutes in Jordan. As we walked through the terminal, everyone kept saying, "Welcome to Jordan". We felt very welcomed indeed!