Financing the Middle East

You don't to be an oil mogul to travel in the Middle East, but it wouldn't hurt. Here's the lowdown on what Andy and I spent during our time in a few countries in the region. These rates include any visa or exit fees, activities, food, lodgings, and transport for two people, but not flights. (And we included the numbers for Egypt in our last Africa finances post.)

Jordan: $103/day. You can find fairly cheap food (50-cent falafel sandwiches!) and budget hotels ($15-$30 a night) in most places in Jordan, and public transport isn't crazy expensive. What drives the average up is high admission prices for tourist attractions--the main example for this being Petra, which costs a whopping 50 dinar (about $70 US) per person to visit for the day. Our jeep tour around the Wadi Rum desert was a bit expensive too. But since those are the two coolest places to visit in Jordan, there's pretty much no getting around forking over the money. No visa fees here if you're a US citizen, but there is an exit tax (which we learned the hard way is nonrefundable , even when Syria won't let you in and you have to come back into Jordan).

Israel: $94/day. Israel is basically the opposite of Jordan in expensiveness--many historic sites of interest are free to visit, but food is incredibly pricey...and good luck finding a hotel room(or even two dorm beds) in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem for less than $55 US per night. Public transport is also quite expensive, though Israel does have an excellent network of buses, so at least it's fast and easy to get around, with no negotiating necessary.If you want to visit Israel on a small budget, we recommend trying to couchsurf. Again, no visa fee if you're American, but a hefty exit tax upon departure.

Turkey: $82/day. Turkey is pretty good value, since for the most part it feels like you're in Europe, but you're paying closer to developing-world prices. Istanbul is expensive, with two dorm beds (around $10 per bed) costing much less than the cheapest double room we could find (around $35), but even there, you can always find a cheap kebab if you don't want to eat fancy. In the rest of the country, we were able to afford better food and a private room most of the time. As for transport, a quirk we discovered in Turkey is that an overnight bus pretty much always costs the same price (around 50 lira, or $33) no matter how far you're going, so we paid the same for a 7-hour overnight bus ride as we did for a 20-hour one. Buses are kind of pricey, but quite luxurious, with personal seat-back TVs (Turkish-language movies and shows only, sadly) and refreshment carts bringing you coffee, juice, and packaged cakes at random times (usually right after you've dozed off for the night).

That's all for the Middle East. We wish we could bring you some financial data on Syria, but they turned us away at the border for not having a visa arranged in advance in the US. Feel free to write to their government and complain on our behalf.

Obsession for MEN (Middle Eastern Nations)

Not so many countries that we traveled to in the Middle East (not our fault--most of them didn't want us), so not many obsessions. Here's what we have, though. As a reminder, we included Egypt in the last Africa obsessions post, though it is arguably more like the Middle East than like Africa.



Jordan- Sweets. Most of the Middle East has a sweet tooth, but it is most pronounced in Jordan. In addition to tons of regular candy shops selling everything from candy coated almonds to gummy rings, most of the sweets come in two basic baklava-like types: fresh and dry. Fresh are generally not so good, but the slightly drier ones (shelf stable, nonetheless), are really, really good.



Israel- Security. Probably an obvious one, but after practically strip searching me on the way into the country (before they had even decided if I could come in), and having to have our bag x-rayed to go into a supermarket, this is definitely the only choice for Israel's obsession. Well, unless being really expensive is an obsession...



Turkey- Sensor Lights. Is Turkey part of the Middle East? I say yes until they are part of the EU. What's a sensor light, you ask? One of those lights that only comes on when there is movement, like some people use for security lights. Most of Turkey's lights seem to be sensor lights, especially in hallways. Most annoying, though, are the bathroom sensor lights that turn off if you stand at the urinal for more than about 10 seconds. Sure, you just have to move to turn them back on, but it's hard to wave at the lights if your hands are otherwise occupied.



Short and sweet. Hope that you enjoyed!

Expensive Eats in Jordan and Israel

Because Jordan and Israel are both small countries, and because neither one has a lot of foods that uniquely belong to that country, we are combining their foods. Israeli food also costs more than we can afford and we didn't think our readers would appreciate ten pictures of bread that we were eating for most of our meals, so those pictures are particularly limited. Enjoy the rest, though.

Egypt has hummus sometimes, but Jordan has a lot more hummus. I like hummus, but Tara loves hummus, so this was good news for her. For those who have no idea what hummus is, it is chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste), and olive oil blended with some other herbs and seasonings. Normally eaten on pita bread or as part of a sandwich. Here is the first hummus we bought in Jordan to eat in the Wadi Rum desert area because the restaurant selection was limited to one place that served one thing...And here is that one thing. In Jordan, they really like french fries on their sandwiches. This place made sandwiches with hummus, fried eggplant, french fries, and other salad. Pretty good and much, much cheaper than the food at the hotel where we were staying.

The owner of the restaurant also helped us book a day tour, so he provided us with lots of free tea. Jordanian tea is inspired by the nomads of the desert and has nice herbs, unlike the boring Lipton of Egypt. On the day that we drank these, we counted nine glasses of free tea consumed.

The yogurt of Jordan is apparently thicker than in many countries and the most popular flavor is plain. Tara seemed to enjoy it.

Jordan has lots of sweet shops. Fresh sweets come in two main varieties--soft and warm or harder and long lasting. The soft and warm look like baklava and related pastries that we really like. However, we were unpleasantly surprised to find that they are all filled with a weird cream-cheesy like substance. Tara loves cream cheese, but she still found these less than good.

The best part of the warm sweets is the vat of goo that they scoop over them. It seems to be a mix of honey (or maybe just sugar), rosewater, and some other spices. It makes everything taste a little better and every sweets shop has one of these steaming vats. Due to the high cost of food compared to Egypt (just wait until we get to Israel...), we resorted to our old friend, polony. At least that was what it was called in French speaking countries. Americans know it as baloney, but it is normally a little higher quality than American baloney. And it comes in fun flavors like garlic or pepper. For only a couple of dollars, dinner is served.Tara discovered these sesame-oregano breads in Jordan that she loves. We doubt they are Jordanian--probably originally from Syria or Lebanon, but she is still sad that Jordan was the only country that we were allowed into that had these.

In Jordan, they have "Strawberry" Fanta. Despite being the red color that normally equals horrible for Fanta, we were dumb enough to buy it. "Strawberry" is the same as Latin America's Rojo flavor, which is terrible. More like bubble gum than strawberry, but you can't even blow bubbles with it.

Despite the less than great warm sweets in Jordan, they make amazing baklava like pastries that are not quite as moist and sticky as normal baklava. They are more expensive, but are really amazing. And Jordanians are so friendly that they would always give us samples of different ones to try in the shop.

We were walking down the street one night when we saw this guy scooping what appeared to be a gelatinous white paste into a bowl and covering with a motor-oil looking sauce. In the 30 seconds that we were considering buying it, about 10 people ran up to the guy and bought some, so we thought it best to do the same. It was a coconut like jelly with some sweet sauce. Tara loved it, and I thought that it was decent.

While waiting for the bus to the Israel border, a guy was selling sweets. This one looked like a churro, one of Tara's favorites, but it turned out to be a semolina filled fried thing. A bit like a giant log of cous cous with sugar added. Not bad at all, and it was the last cheap sweets that we got before entering the land of the Chosen, who are also all apparently rich.

Our favorite falafel shop in Jordan was a place in Amman where we ate about five times over three days. They put a spicy sauce on them that made them excellent and they were very cheap. The upstairs, which is where we ate when the two downstairs tables were full, had a ceiling almost exactly the height of my head.

After arriving to Israel and getting over the shock of expensive transport and expensive hotels, it was time to deal with the expensive food. We walking around only to find that the food was even more overpriced than everything else. So, we went to a little grocery store, where we opted for a loaf of bread, a tub of hummus, and a yogurt for Tara. Total bill: $11. We did have enough hummus and bread left to eat it for breakfast the next morning, though! We had similar meals on several other evenings.

Day two in Israel: to have the same hummus dinner or something better? We opted for a liter of ice cream and a local fruit drink. The fruit drink was essentially an extra sugary nectar. After eating it, we decided that we made the right decision for dinner.

On Day 3, we were saved by the discovery of cheap knock-off candy bars at the market. At 30 cents each, these were the cheapest candy bars we had seen in a long time. We tried one and found it to be remarkably Bounty-like. Then we bought 10 more. Thanks, guy in the market who sells cheap candy!

Tara felt like we had saved so much on our candy that she could afford to shell out a couple of dollars for Reese's Cups, which are near the top of the list of things that she misses most from the US. Israel is the second place we have ever seen Reese's Cups, with the other being a random store on the Peru-Bolivia border where they cost about $10. It made her day, and the one that I got made me pretty happy, too.

Challah bread is often seen being sold in Israel, and we had to try some. We bought a whole wheat version, which I thought was okay, but Tara thought tasted bad compared to most Challah. We therefore counsel not to buy whole wheat challah.

We discovered that Israel had orange-mango Fanta, but it only ever seemed to come in giant size. Soda is only slightly more expensive than in the US, so when we were thirsty one day, we decided to buy one. The mango is largely obscured by the orange, but the fake mango is just strong enough to detract from the tasty artificial orange. So, Tara quickly declared that she hated it, but I wasn't in love with it, either. We finished it, but it required me holding Tara down and pouring it down her throat.

On our final night, we decided to go to a fancy restaurant. The most upscale place that we could afford was the corner deli, where we sprung for a pastrami sandwich to split between the two of us. Was probably about on par with a Subway sandwich. Maybe just a bit better.

So, to summarize, if you are going to Jordan, fill your suitcase with food in Egypt. If you are going to Israel, fill your suitcase with food in Jordan. If you are going directly to Israel, bring your savings!

Crossing Jordan

We departed Egypt on the very expensive "fast ferry" to Jordan. As it turns out, the ferry is much faster, but not really subject to any schedule. So, it left a few hours later than expected, but only took an hour and a half to cross the Red Sea. The "slow ferry" is only slightly cheaper and takes somewhere between four and eight hours.We were lucky enough to meet a Dutch couple on the ferry who had a car rental arranged in Jordan and who were going to the same place as us. They kindly agreed to take us along to Wadi Rum, a town in the desert of southern Jordan famous as much for Lawrence of Arabia as for beautiful landscapes. This is the Seven Pillars of Wisdom rock formation. Unclear why this one is so special since lots of them in the area look like this. Given the popularity of Lawrence of Arabia in these parts, it is probably because T.E. Lawrence once looked at it in a loving way.
On our hike around the Seven Pillars (which resulted in us getting rather lost), we found two good living things. The first was this lizard. The second was a Bedouin who was stranded until a mechanic came to fix his Jeep. He had been there for a week. We talked to him for a long time and he gave us amazing tea. Glass after glass. He showed us how he catches birds to eat under a pan and then showed us some birds he had caught. No pictures of him, though.
We took a Jeep tour of the Wadi Rum area to see the highlights. The first stop was "Lawrence Springs" some springs where Lawrence of Arabia once drank! So, I hiked up a sizable rock avalanche to see this. Pathetic. Maybe it is because I have never seen Lawrence of Arabia (yeah, yeah, I know--it was a book, too, but I haven't read the book, either), but they kept taking us to these sites associated with Lawrence of Arabia and all these old people would look on excitedly while I laughed at how ridiculous they were.
Wadi Rum has a long canyon that is very nice. Unfortunately, we only had time to walk to the part that gets difficult and then we had to turn back to see more things. Seemed like a great place for a combination hike and climb. The colors in much of the sandstone were really spectacular.
Wadi Rum feels a bit like the American Southwest, and even has some arches. Unlike Arches National Park, you are allowed to climb on the arches in Jordan. Here is Tara on the little one.
And me on a much bigger one. Based on the skills of some of the other people going to the top of this one, I completely understand why the US national parks don't let people climb arches.
Tara took this one of me coming down. I am not sure if the look on my face is concentration or concern that the old woman I just passed being helped up by a guide looked like she would have a hard time walking on the ground, let alone climbing rocks.
Our driver didn't speak much English, so it was unclear whether he thought these nice camel inscriptions were important because a.) they are really old; b.) Lawrence of Arabia is somehow depicted; or c.) his kid drew them. We took a picture like good tourists, though.
While visiting this nice red sand dune tucked snuggly against a small mountain, Tara and I decided to race up the sand dune. I let her slowly climb half way up and then we raced to the top with me starting at the bottom. She won by a couple of seconds, but was so exhausted that she laid down to rest while I climbed the rest of the small mountain/hill. She appears in this picture as a small bluish dot just inside the shadow.
Our guide and another guide making tea in the desert at sunset. No, I did not wear, nor do I ever plan to wear, a red and white checker board cloth on my head.
Sunset at Wadi Rum. I realize that sunsets are boring, so I selected only one. You can thank me later.
Tara is drinking her ninth glass of tea of the day in this picture. That explains her smile.
From Wadi Rum, we proceeded to Petra, the most famous place in Jordan. Petra was a huge city about 2000 years ago. They built especially ornate tombs carved into the rocks of the valley where they lived. Due to massive earthquakes, all that really remains is these tombs (and some more recently excavated temples). This is one of the earlier ones, but I like it because it has tombs on the top level and a big dining room on the bottom level so that you can come eat with the dead.
The Siq is a canyon leading the the main part of Petra. A great natural protection and also a nice natural setting. Through the crack in the canyon, you can see "The Treasury", probably the most photographed building in Petra. The building never had anything to do with money, but stories proliferated that the rock urn on top of the facade was filled with treasure. Not true.
Here is the full treasury with a bonus camel. The urn at the top is filled with bullet holes from people trying to shoot it down for the treasure. Unfortunately, I left my gun back at the hotel, so I didn't get a shot.
The next most famous building is the monastery. Not a monastery at all, but, surprise, surprise, a tomb. It is about 160 feet tall. Inside is one, small, disappointing, rectangular room.
Some of the sandstone of Petra is filled with a rainbow of colors. Not sure how this will look on your screen (the screen I am using is probably from the 1940s), but in real life it is filled with color.
Behind Petra are large, colorful mountains. If we had it to do over again, I would have made Tara hike over these mountains like a Hobbit rather than pay the $70 entry fee to Petra.
This facade is rather eroded, but you can see the vibrant colors even better.
The most ornate inside also has one of the best ceilings. This one was originally a king's tomb, but was later used as a church. I think the Christians made the inside a bit more ornate.
Tara found these giant grasshoppers that were hatching. This one wants to know why I was disturbing him.
This one just wants to eat something. Or kill someone.
The "Life Could Be Better" Pharmacy. What a great name.
Amman has a massive Roman amphitheater, but before we found it, we found this tiny theater next door that we thought was it. We sat there eating some pastries for a long time, wondering why there were no other tourists. Then we walked out and saw the massive theater next door.
This is the huge Roman theater. Looks like they still use it for performances. Also like they are building some huge building right in front of it.
The Dead Sea is the lowest land on Earth, and so salty you supposedly can't drown (a stupid bit of folklore since you could easily float with your face down). Here I am walking in.
A view of the surprisingly blue dead sea with the West Bank on the opposite side.
Me floating. Yes, it looks like I'm sitting on the bottom, but I really am floating here. You almost feel like you can sit up. I wanted to go under and our guide first advised that I lick my finger. I did and my tongue immediately burned like I had poured acid on it. That didn't stop me from later going under. For anyone curious, the incredibly high salt concentration burns your mouth, your nose, and your eyes. A lot.
Here we are with some Dead Sea mud ready to go to war. Our skin was surprisingly soft afterward, though our guide was insistent that we wash it all off really well or face a bad rash later from it drying out our skin so much.
Jordan is a much more developed country than I anticipated. The people here have been very friendly and the infrastructure is good. Petra is very expensive, and the rest of the country is not cheap, but it has been worth a few days in the country.