The Red Sea - Aqaba

After the Wadi Rum desert, we arrived to our next city named Aqaba (by taxi it takes about an hour), it is located in the very south of Jordan. From there we could see Egypt and Israel in front of us. Aqaba is quite touristic, because of its famous Red Sea. We arrived there around noon and the temperature was 37 degrees, so you can imagine the heat we went through.

We booked a hotel in the South Beach area, (15km from the centre of Aqaba) because we read that it would be the best spot to be close to the beaches and to do snorkeling. The hotel was quite nice and cheap (17 € per night for both of us) and it was located just in front of the beach and it also had a swimming pool. Some basic things were missing in the room and you also only get 1 towel anywhere in Jordan and sometimes it`s even a small one. But we could live with that, it's no big deal.

But what we found to be a pity is the state in which the Red Sea is in. We didn`t mind to much the fact that the sand wasn` t really nice and that there were a lot of stones, also in the water. But what we think is unacceptable is the amount of litter (especially plastic), cigarettes and pieces of glass we could see on the beach and some even in the water. The Red Sea is famous for scuba diving, we guess and hope that when you go further into the sea its a lot cleaner and there is a lot more to see. For us, this is not a beach we enjoyed, but we knew there would be plenty of others we would enjoy during this trip.
Another reason why we weren't really comfortable at the beach was because of the looks of the local people. There weren't many tourists, so we were observed a lot by local families, we guess because we look different and because I was wearing a bikini. The local women cover up completely, even on the beach. We literally spent 5 minutes in the water, got out and left, it was too uncomfortable.

Finally, we had the chance to get to know Aqaba at the evening time, walking by its streets of long markets open almost night and day and have dinner at a couple of local restaurants. We had some very nice chicken with potatoes and rice for 7€ for both of us. We spent 2,5 days here and despite of the heat etc, we had a good time and had the chance to relax & rest.





Pictures: Julen Esnal