I am thinking about visiting Jordan after making my tour in Egypt and would like to know what is the best and cheapest way to travel from Egypt to Petra?
Also what are the most interesting places there?How is Wadi rum? does it worth visit really or just Petra is the most interesting places?
would appreciate your replies so much.
egypt to petra is pretty straight forward however... if you plan on visiting any other arab countries besides egypt and jordan, you need to consider the israeli visa stigma. ask the israeli border agents to give you a separate transit stamp that doesn't go in your passport.
you'll most likely end up in aqaba where there are a ton of transportation options. i actually went from wadi musa (petra) to aqaba but you can do it in reverse. it cost about $5 for me. getting to wadi rum will be a challenge because there are no public routes to that location so you'll need to spend money. i don't promote or condone hitch hiking anywhere but it's a common form of travel in jordan... something to consider. if you have the cash to spend, just hire a taxi to take you there or if you want, book a tour (not just any kind though).
i can say that petra is one of the most breathtaking places you can visit. it was just awarded status of "world wonder" under the new guidelines. spend at least 2 days there and soak it all in. try to ignore the touts that come from every direction selling rocks and postcards. the people really are very friendly though.
Last july we've travelled from Petra to Wadi Rum (private taxi 20JD, but public transport were availlable). And than from Rum to the crosspoint on the Amman-Aqaba road 1JD in public minibus, from there another 1JD/pers in another minibus to Aqaba.
We just did this a few months ago. We took the ferry from Newuiba to Aqaba around 4 PM (supposed to leave at 1PM, but they say it's always late.) In Aqaba, it was easy to find a taxi to Petra. The ride was a few hours and I think was around $40. We stayed at the Crown Plaza hotel which is literally at the entrance of Petra. Reasonably priced, but not backpacker prices. We walked Petra all day and into the evening. We felt like we saw enough, although everyone claims you need 3 days there. From Petra, ask around about the mini bus to Wadi Rum. We were told that if we paid the driver a few bucks extra, he would come pick us up at the hotel at 6AM. We made arrangements to stay the night in the desert in a Bedouin camp through the guy who collects the money on the mini bus and seems to cherry pick travelers on their way to Wadi Rum. It was around $120 a person I think. It's pretty cool, but again, one day/night in Wadi Rum was enough for us.
Here's some of what we saw: http://www.yobosayo.net/index.php?tag=jordan
