Hi all, some comments about trips to Jordan / Petra as Danny and me have been there prior to the conference. We rented a car in Haifa and drove down to Eilat, passing Be'er Sheva via the route 40 - all through the middle of Negev. This trip is about 400 km and takes approx. 6 hours (we stopped a few times to take pictures). == Border Crossing == The border brossing is open on workdays from 6:30 - 22:00, on Friday and Saturday 8:00 - 20:00. You can't take a rental car with you. There is a big parking space at the border crossing. The place is easy to find, from both routes (40 or 90) you will pass it on your way shortly before of Eilat. If you have an accommodation in Eilat or come by bus you might take a cab to the border crossing. The regulations say that it is not allowed to bring drinking water and food into Jordan. This is practically not checked and enforced. We brought our water and food with us, no problem. === Leaving Israel === 1. booth: The outgoing border tax is 101 NIS, they accept also EUR and USD. You get a bar code in return. 2. booth: Show your passport and barcode, you receive a stamp that you left Israel. 3. gate: show both again, they scan the barcode and open the gate for you to leave the border terminal. Walk over to the Jordan border terminal. === Entering Jordan === 1. booth: Leave your passport, you receive three stamps. The passport will forwarded to the second booth. 2. booth: They check the passport, you need to undergo a biometrical check (look into a fancy "webcam"). 3. security check: your luggage will be x-rayed 4. border check: they check your passport and let you finally go. The border crossing is - as in Eilat - outside of the city. == Getting to Wadi Musa / Petra == There are cabs waiting at the border. They will take you directly to Petra if you like. As it is off-season now the prices are lower but as you are out in the nowhere it is hard to negotiate. We paid 60 JOD (which is ~60 EUR) for the ride per cab which we could divide by three persons. The cab drivers accept also USD and EUR. We were lucky that we were transfered during out trip to another cab driver half way, so we met Odeh (+962 79 5576537). Odeh can pick you up wherever you like, also offers tours and knows practically everyone around Petra as he lives in Wadi Musa. He arranged a great accommodation for us, incl. pick-up and transfer service while he brought us to Wadi Musa. Ask him for whatever you need, a hotel room or sleeping with a bedouin under the billion stars... == Visiting Petra == The entrance fee is 90 JOD and they only accept JOD. If you have an accommodation check-in before and bring a receipt with you - then the entrance is only 50 JOD. There are special prices for day tourists because they are not happy about the tours organised from Israeli side which bring in people for a few hours only, they bring with them all the food and water and basically don't leave any money. As we were on our own we spent 7 hours in Petra, seeing almost everything and spending the hot lunch time in a cave discussing Wikimedia things and recovering. A 1.5l bottle of water is available inside Petra for 1 JOD - if you ask the right people. Some try to get 3 JOD. We had a camel ride back from the place near the monastery (the far end of the valley) to the treasury (that's the furthest they can go with the camel) for 5 JOD per person. But only after long negotiations and we walking away because we didn't want to pay 20 JOD each. == Accommodation == We slept at a bedouin's camp which was nearby. Rebhe, the bedouin (+962 79 5663410), picked us up in the evening at the entrance to Petra and prepared a great and delicious dinner for us - the table could hardly bear all of the plates and stuff he brought. The cost was 30 JOD per person, including the pick-up, dinner and breakfast. As it was off-season we were the only guests there except of some of his friends and we spent a very nice evening there. Just beware of the Mosquitos! They are normally not supposed to be there (in the middle of the desert) but we had a hard time sleeping there, outside under the stars. == Getting back to Aqaba == Odeh picked us up the next day at the camp and brought us to the border crossing. He was very kind and made a few stops for taking photos or buying stamps for postcards etc. The ride back was again 60 JOD in total, payable in JOD, USD and EUR (probably also NIS, we didn't ask). == Border Crossing back == === Leaving Jordan === 1. booth: pay 8 JOD (only JOD accepted!) and get a voucher 2. booth: show voucher and passport, get your stamp 3. gate: show your invalidated voucher and your stamped passport, leave Walk over to the Israeli border crossing. === Entering Israel === 1. security check (x-ray, metal detector...), receive a voucher 2. passport check / border control: the typical questioning. Receive a stamp on your voucher. 3. customs: you have to show up there but they will normally just wave you through if you have anything to declare 4. gate: leave the voucher, show the passport... leave towards Israel == Way back from Eilat to Haifa == This time we took road 90 along the Jordan border, towards the Dead Sea. There is a public beach at En Bokek which is for free and provides pavillons for shade, showers and a cloak room. The beach is guarded. The sand is very hot, bring sandals or similar. The water is also very warm, you can hardly stay in there for more than 10 minutes. As it is so salty it you mustn't put your head under water. Should you accidentally drink some of the water seek medical help from the beach guards. A recommended road is road 31 via Arad, Rahat till Lehavim, route 40, 41 and 4. In Tel Aviv change to 20 and 2. Route 4 continues in parallel, but has more traffic and crosses all villages. On route 20 you have all the Tel Aviv traffic, but it has many lanes so as long as you don't be there in the rush hour it is no problem and much faster than route 4. == Special Route 6 == Route 6 is a "Expressway" which is a toll route. Rental car companies will be invoiced directly as the toll is collected by filming number plates and calculation how long you stayed on the road. The rental car companies therefore might charge you a one-time "handling fee" which is 49 NIS at budget. == Summary == === Costs === * Border crossing IL-JD:                        101 NIS (USD, EUR accepted) * Cab to Petra (the whole group):                60 JOD (USD, EUR accepted) * Entrance to Petra (w/ accommodation):          50 JOD (only JOD accepted) * Accommodation (incl. dinner / breakfast):      30 JOD (depends) * Cab to Aqaba (the whole group):                60 JOD (USD, EUR accepted) * Border crossing JD-IL:                          8 JOD (only JOD accepted) === Phone Numbers === Cab driver Odeh Al Kaliefh:     +962 79 5576537 Bedouin Cam Rebhe Hasnat:       +962 79 5663410 === Tips === Odeh can pick you up on different places, just call him in advance. For instance, you might want to take a bus to Allenby Crossing up in the north. It is much nearer, hence cheaper. Look at the bus schedule, check the times, call Odeh and agree on a time. He will wait for you on Jordan side then. That's it. If you need to know something just ask Danny or me. /Manuel -- Regards Manuel Schneider Wikimedia CH - Verein zur Förderung Freien Wissens Wikimedia CH - Association for the advancement of free knowledge www.wikimedia.ch _______________________________________________ Wikimania-l mailing list Wikimania-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimania-l