Small desert country in the Middle East, land of peace and refuge for neighboring regions, Holy Land for believers, Jordan also attracts tourists and a few hitchhikers.

 

After  Israel and Palestine, a three weeks trip across Jordan takes us to Mohamed and his two wives, then to Ayham and his lovely cousin Selma who makes us discover Amman, the capital.

 

I am impressed by the ruins of the Roman city of Jerash and the Nabataean city of Petra. I enjoy floating in the Dead Sea before it dies and swimming in the turquoise water of the Gulf of Aqaba. The beach is empty.

 

The Ramadan starts and in order to save energy and saliva with 40 celsius degrees, most Jordanians have less work hours or stay at home. Nawwaf, a Bedouin from Petra offers us hospitality and does not leave his home until 7:30 p.m., when the fast ends up, the restaurants open and streets become noisy.

 

I usually travel with my boyfriend Sebastian but we also like to travel on our own a few days a month. So I hitchhike alone to the desert of Wadi Rum and find out a big tourism business. My couchsurfing host apparently doesn't understand the idea of free hospitality. He wants to make me work and treats me like a servant. Then his brother  apologizes and offers me a jeep tour and free meals. But this atmosphere makes me uncomfortable that I shorter my stay in the beautiful red desert and meet agin with Sebastian in Aqaba. I wonder how we are going to leave Jordan.

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Two days later, we show up at AB MARITIME's office and ask to meet the marketing director who is very enthusiatic about my hitchhiking  world tour. She immediately agrees to offer us tickets. In 45 minutes by speedboat, we cross the Gulf of Aqaba and dock in Egypt, our first country of  Africa.