Middle East - Anthony Ham [334]
Service Taxi
The enormous yellow servees (shared taxis) leave regularly throughout the day from the lower (eastern) end of the Abdali bus station for Damascus (JD10). They generally cross at Jabir. From Irbid’s south bus station, service taxis go to Damascus (JD5).
Train
A biweekly train service still leaves Amman for Damascus (JD3) along the Hejaz Railway on Monday and Thursday at 8am, but the dawdling service takes all day, with a change of trains at the border. The quaint old station is on King Abdullah I St, about 2.5km east of Raghadan bus station in Amman. The ticket office( 06-4895413) is officially open from 7am on the morning of departure, although you may find someone around at other times. To get to the station, take a service taxi from Raghadan bus station, or a private taxi (around JD1).
Sea
There are two boat services from Aqaba to Nuweiba in Egypt. Departure times are subject to change, so call the passenger terminal( 03-2013240; www.abmaritime.com.jo/english) before travelling and arrive at least 90 minutes before departure. Buy your tickets at the ferry port on the morning of departure (you’ll need your passport).
The fast boat (one hour) leaves daily except Saturday and costs US$70. Children under 12 pay US$55.
The slow boat (a car ferry that takes three hours or more) officially leaves at noon but often doesn’t get going until 5pm or later. Some days it doesn’t leave at all. Tickets cost US$60 (children under 12 pay US$50).
Fares from Nuweiba must be paid for in US dollars.
There are money-exchange facilities at the terminals at Nuweiba and Aqaba. The Jordanian side offers a decent exchange rate but avoid travellers cheques, which attract a huge commission. You can get a free Sinai permit on arrival at Nuweiba. If you want a full Egyptian visa, enquire at the Egyptian consulate in Aqaba in advance (Click here). Passports are collected on the boat in both directions and handed back on arrival at immigration.
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JUST ACROSS THE BORDER: DAMASCUS & ALEPPO, SYRIA
Jordan has it all – biblical sites, Roman ruins, great castles and striking countryside – but even the most ardent Jordan traveller will agree that it lacks a good souq. This is easily remedied, however, by hopping on a JETT bus direct from Amman to Damascus, which will take seven hours (see opposite). Make sure you get your visa for Syria before you leave home (Click here), as these are not generally available at the border nor from the Syrian Embassy in Amman. Note, too, you won’t be allowed in with an Israeli stamp in your passport (Click here). Stay at the Sultan Hotel (Click here) and the exceptional staff will point you in the right direction for the legendary Old City (Click here). Or why not go the extra mile and take the JETT bus direct to Aleppo (opposite)? It takes eight hours for one of the best carpet-haggling, brass-polishing, labyrinthine markets in the world (Click here).
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JUST ACROSS THE BORDER: ST KATHERINE’S MONASTERY, EGYPT
If a couple of days of diving in Aqaba has whetted your appetite for the Dead Sea, then why not nip across the water and explore the spectacular coral gardens off Egypt’s Mt Sinai coast? Simply hop on the fast boat from Aqaba at 3.30pm (left), obtain a free Sinai Peninsula permit on arrival (see Visas Click here), and an hour later you can be sipping a beer by the waterfront in a camp in Nuweiba (Click here). If you’ve had enough of the depths, then it’s time to hit the heights by striking out early on the 2½-hour journey to St Katherine’s Monastery (Click here). A place of pilgrimage for Muslims, Jews and Christians, Mt Sinai is just a camel’s ride away, and at sunrise or sunset it’s a special place to be, whatever one’s beliefs. Make the magic last by overnighting in the atmospheric Monastery Guesthouse (Click