“Are you crazy” is the typical reaction we get from friends and especially family when we announce our next trip. Yes, it’s the Middle East. And yes, Amman, Jordan, where we will visit, is 500 miles or so from Baghdad, Iraq and only 125 miles from Damascus, Syria. But, hey, they say them thar pyramids are really somethin’ and maybe we’ll get to ride a camel. What can I tell you? It’s a bucket list destination.

A big plus: brother Doug and his Judith Anne are going too. We’ll have a blast. I’m the big brother, but Doug better not count on me to save him if the camels turn ugly. The two Judys get along really well so they’ll keep us from squabbling too seriously.

Here’s a map to give you a frame of reference (click on the map to expand it.

We leave, tomorrow, January 24 (Judy’s birthday), fly to Cairo and spend a day visiting the pyramids. Next we fly to Aswan and board a ship to cruise for three days on Lake Nasser, the body of water formed when they built the Aswan High Dam back in the 1960s. Then, we board a different vessel and sail the Nile from Aswan to Luxor. Finally back to Cairo for some museum work. The focus will, of course, be the 5,000 year history of Egypt. And hopefully we’ll learn a little about Egyptian culture and the current status of Egypt and its citizens. This will be our first visit to a Muslim country so we’ll be on the lookout for that aspect of life in Egypt.

The trip extension starts with a flight from Cairo to Amman, Jordan and then on to Petra. Petra dates back to maybe the 4th century BCE The Romans took away independence from the nomad-turned-trader merchants   during the 1st century CE. An earthquake did great damage in 393 CE, pretty much ending occupation of the site. Petra was “discovered” in 1812, leading to its becoming the tourist attraction that it is today.

Finally, a road trip across the desert to Amman where we’ll see some more historical sites.

We return home to Tampa February 12.

As usual, I’ll be writing up daily descriptions of what we see and do and posting them up here on jonandjudy.com. Judy will probably add her thoughts too. We’ll post the occasional snap shot as well. 

If you’re reading this, it’s probably because I sent you an email from our master travel list. I’ll send an email to that list every time I post. You can click on the link that will take you to the latest blog entry. If you’d rather not be bugged by emails, let me know and I’ll take you off the list. You can check out jonandjudy.com whenever insomnia strikes or you can just ignore the whole thing and get a personal summary the next time you see us in person. But if you know someone who’d like to be added to the list, let me know.

Of course our ability to post will depend on Internet access which, as we’ve learned, can be spotty at times, especially aboard ships in less developed parts of the world. So if you don’t hear from us, don’t worry. We’ll post updates as soon as we can.