Day #103 if our world cruise
We docked in Aqaba, Jordan at 6:00 AM and are here until 9:00 PM.
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| Our port in Aqaba |
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| Our view from our balcony |
The kingdom of Jordan has approximately 10 million people of which 30%, or 3 million, people are refugees...mostly from Syria, Iraq and other countries.
Can you imagine what it would be like to have 30% of the population of Canada as refugees?
30% of 34 million is about 10 million people!
How would our schools, hospitals and police force handle that many people.
In Jordan, the schools have to have 3 classes or shifts in one day to accommodate all these people. The shifts are 8:00 -- 11:00 AM; 11:00 AM -- 4:00 PM and 4:00 -- 7:00 PM.
Also, another interesting fact -- the difference between Shiites and Sunnis is:
(Our tour guide told us this and I just verified it on Google.)
Both sides agreed that Allah is the one true God and that Muhammad was his messenger, but one group (which eventually became the Shiites) felt Muhammad's successor should be someone in his bloodline, while the other (which became the Sunnis) felt a pious individual who would follow the Prophet's customs was acceptable.
So, the difference between them is political and not much to do with religion.
Our tour is called "Panoramic Aqaba", it is 2 1/2 hours long and we stop at a couple of ruins for photos. First was the Early Islamic Ayla...
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| Early Islamic Ayla |
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| Islamic Ayla dates back to 650 AD |
The ruins, shown below, are the site of the Battle of Aqaba. In July, 1917, on this sight, Lawrence of Arabia battled and won. It is said to be the turning point of the war.
After this we are taken to the centre of town and have one-hour free time to shop for souvenirs, etc.
We are back on the ship by 12:00 noon.
The ship is quiet this afternoon as a large percentage of the guests have gone to Petra and/or Wadi Rum. These excursions are 9-hours and 13-hours. That was too long for us as we have a "big adventure" on April 18 & 19.
We have our overland excursion starting tomorrow.
We are going to Luxor on day-one and visiting the Valley of the Kings and a bunch of temples.
We are staying at the Hilton Luxor Resort.
On day-two we are up early and fly to Cairo. We visit the Egyptian Museum and then drive to the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.
We should get back to the ship at about 8:30 PM on April 19th.
So, I will be away from the computer for a couple of days.
I will catch up on April 20 & 21... that is when we go through the Suez Canal.
So, talk to you soon.
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