While planning our trip to Israel my travelling companion, Chris who was staying on an extra week announced his intention to try and visit Petra which had me begging to allow it to be included in our itinerary. Emails flew back and forth and eventually we were able to meet up in DC in August where we were able to thrash out the final details of the holiday and also book the trip to Petra. We were assisted by another friend who had done it as a day trip and found it entirely do-able.
We had sourced a company called Arkia which offered a day trip and also was one of the airlines which flew from Tel Aviv to Eilat, our starting point, the other airline being Israir. To be honest their website was rather unhelpful and seemed to suggest that trips to Petra happened only on certain days, none of which were the one we wanted to travel but we decided to plough ahead and see what happened. For starters we had to register on the website before we could book and the site kept on rejecting Chris’s chosen usernames so repeatedly that in frustration he deemed himself “themessiah” which was accepted! I’d hate to tell you what his password was but it was “miraculous”!
My “honeylamb” went straight through no problem. We booked the trip and instead of an e-ticket we each received a series of emails, first of all with an invoice and then with a printed itinerary of the whole trip and finally one asking for nationality and password number. It all seemed very archaic.Fast forward to the day of the trip. We were leaving from Sde Dov airport which is at the northern end of Tel Aviv beside the sea. It is a small airport and only services two airlines - Arkia and Israir who fly ATR 72 aircraft and whose schedules from there seem to be exclusively Tel Aviv to Eilat as well as a plethora of private planes. The terminal itself is the smallest I have ever been in. The public area was scarcely bigger than the footprint of a large house. Along one wall were four check-in desks - two each for each airline and in the centre area was seating for passengers; in the corner was a small but well-stocked coffee bar which was doing a roaring trade.
We arrived at the airport at 5:30am for a 6:40am departure and immediately at the entrance to the terminal was a security screen for bags. That posed no problems for us as Chris had a small backpack and I had my handbag and then we headed for the next stage and that's where the fun began.
On approaching the security desk we confirmed we were friends and handed over our passports, one Irish and one US. The security lady asked our relationship and how long we had known each other then said she wished to talk to Chris and I was sent to sit down. The questioning seemed to go on for ages and there was much arm waving from him as well as various cards etc being pulled out of his wallet. At 5:54 it was my turn and I was questioned about how long I had known Chris, how we had met, how well did I know him, when had I come to Israel and where had I been, how had I gone from the airport to Jerusalem on arrival, had I bought souvenirs and had I seen them wrapped as well as the usual questions about being asked to bring something for other people etc. Some of the questions could be construed as intrusive such as my marital status but they were always asked politely and sometimes with an apology for asking. I was finished at 6:03 and we were sent to sit down again as our passports hadn't been returned. I was trying not to get too edgy as check-in closed at 6:20. Chris was called forward again and asked for his camera which could potentially create a problem as each evening we had uploaded our photos on to our laptops and Chris had deleted his. I was then asked to show my camera which was scrolled through and a couple of photos queried - one of a Sabbath clock taken at the Dead Sea and the other the view from the balcony of our hotel in Jerusalem which looked on a rather nice courtyard. Eventually we were both called forward and just then a phone call came through and grunts of pleasure were heard and our passports brought out. At the same time an announcement was made in Hebrew. The security lady, knowing we did not understand it told us the airport was closed because of weather. Eeek! It had been misty when we left the hotel and while it was not a full-blown fog but obviously enough to delay our flight. We wondered what would happen to our trip and the security lady, who was filling in our security clearance (or whatever it was) suggested Chris go and ask. He did and came back with the feeling the check-in lady didn't understand the question whereupon the security lady called over and then told us we would be met. Well we knew that anyway. Finally at 6:13 we were released and went to check in but that was as far as we were going for the time being because of the fog. Our flight time came and went but we didn't. Finally about an hour later there was a flurry of activity; our flight was announced; we were bussed out to a remote stand where the ATR72 was waiting for us and an hour late we took off.As I said earlier. The flight was unremarkable. There was a complimentary drinks round of soft drinks, water, tea or coffee together with a packet of rather nondescript nibbles. There was some turbulence and at one stage the cabin crew had to sit down. I suppose the most noteworthy thing was the safety demonstration which consisted solely of pointing out the exits and referring us to the safety card.
On arrival in Eilat we were met outside the airport which was marginally larger than Sde Dov and whisked away to the border which was just about 5 minutes away. We were both surprised at how near it was. At the border we were handed over to another person who gave us a badge and cap and handed us over to yet another person who ushered us to a queue, took our passports and the price of the visa, tips and I can’t remember what. Our passports were stamped and a little slip placed in them and we were escorted to the gate where the slips were taken and we were released into No-man’s-land. We walked over to the Jordan side and waved our passports showing the exit stamp at the guards there and were admitted. Our guide was there to greet us. He took our passports and had them stamped and again a slip placed in them before whisking us through the gate into Jordan and our bus to Petra
