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We made it
So we are here in Amman. Our tour started September 3..our tour group is only 11 members. Fantastic..everything has been splendid. The hotel is wonderful. Things are running smoothly…Covid precautions are in place and have not been an impediment..so far…so good
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Great news!! I hope you are able to post a few updates along the way. What airline did you fly to Amman?
I'm confused, did you mean your tour started on September 5 and you visited Jerash yesterday (Sep 6, Day 2) and are headed to Mt Nebo, Madaba this morning and will arrive in Petra late afternoon (Sep 7, Day 3)?
Are Gary and Carol on your tour?
CheekrynAwesome News. Thanks for checking in. I hope you have a FANTASTIC tour!!!
-Robin
Cannot wait to hear from you.... Enjoy the trip and keep us posted, please.
How is the heat?
Hi Alan. Yes Gary and Carol are with us. Lovely people. Today September 8 was Petra day. Amazing…Ray is our tour director and he spoiled us. We are so well taken care of..in Amman it was very humid so it was a bit rough. Today in Petra which was virtually empty we started early so the heat not too bad. Of course progressively hotter as the day wore on..we are at the movenpick hotel. Very nice
Alan sorry for the confusion yes tour stared sept 5. Our flight was sept 3. We flew El Paso to houston on United. Houston to Istanbul to Amman on Turkish airlines. Great flight
Cheekyrn- thanks for the correction (
) and update!!!! We are booked on Turkish airlines as well. What did you think of the airport at IST? Were you able to experience the reportedly fabulous Turkish business lounge?
A few more questions:
The website itinerary says, "Lunch at an onsite restaurant before returning to your hotel for an afternoon at leisure." After the guided walk thru the site in the morning and lunch at the Basin Restaurant (if you still eat there), did you have a choice of going back to the hotel for "an afternoon at leisure" or could you stay and roam the site on your own if you desired, like in prior years?
I'm not looking for "leisure"
and have been planning more investigations, e.g. climb to Ad Deir (the Monastery), etc. after lunch. I will be really disappointed if we are required to return to the hotel after lunch. I can do "leisure" when we get home! 
I realize it was hot, but did any of your group do the climb to Ad Deir?
Do you have a feel for how much free time you had after lunch and before the transport left the hotel (what time?) for the tented dinner in Little Petra (if your departure did that)?
I don't want to scare you, but as far as the temps go, be prepared! Amman and Petra will have been the coolest of the trip! Hopefully it will be a 'dry' heat in Egypt
This is what I just captured from the travel corner of my computer desktop:
Doubting the veracity of my report?
Fixed!
AlanS - Much better. Cheekryn agreed about the Turkish Air flights. If they got to use the lounge I'm sure they will have good comments about it as well.
Agree that the Turkish lounge is indeed fabulous.
The Turkish airport was wonderful. So much better than the older one …for those of you who enjoy shopping every luxury designer is available…the lounge was terrific. Thank goodness because we had a 9 hour layover in Istanbul and the lounge made it bearable…yes Alan we had a buffet lunch at the basin which was delightful. Then we had the option of hiking anywhere on our own, taking a car back to the hotel, or taking a camel ride back to the treasury followed by a golf cart ride back to the visitor center…4 of our group opted to hike to the monastery. They said it was challenging but definitely worth it..we did the camel ride back to treasury then we had 3 hours of downtime which I used to pack since we have a early departure and shower and then yes I admit indulgence in Happy Hour in the bar..we had the local made vodka which was very good..we did have the tented dinner in little Petra which was a lovely experience..we visit wadi rum in the morning followed by charter flight to Egypt
I should add that this experience was even more amazing because hardly any other tourists were there..the locals , the hotel staff, etc etc are so happy to welcome “Tauck” and company back…some mentioned that they opened the day before we arrived for the benefit of tauck…one shopkeeper stated that we were their first customer in a year and a half
You bring back memories, Cheekyrn, I made it to the Movenpick in Mar. 2020, but then Jordan closed the ruins. Can't wait to go back and see the ruins -- scheduled for Mar. 2022. Please keep posting.
Cheekyn
Love to hear all about it! glad you got to see Petra... keep having fun and keep posting when you can.
Question.. did you felt you had covered pretty much the main sites and you could go back to the hotel or could stayed longer to cover more beside the Monastery?
How was Wadi Rum? did you spend 1/2 morning there or is it just a detour on your way to the airport.
Love to hear from you as possible.
Thanks
Cheekyrn that’s so much for taking time to share your experiences. Since the Kempinski hotel has a private access leading to the Dead Sea, did you or anyone on tour float in the Dead Sea or slather yourselves in mud? Did you have free time to book any of the Spa services?
Cheekyrn- you are my hero!!!!
Thanks so much. The only down side to your great reports is that we don't go until March!!!
Was "dinner with a local" an option the first night in Wadi Musa or was that derailed due to COVID? What time did you get to the Movenpick? Was there time to walk across the street to the little Petra museum which is not far from the Cave Bar? Did anyone do that? I haven't been able to find an answer online but it used to be free!
So we are now driving to airport from wadi rum.. I feel that wadi rum while beautiful was perhaps a time filler on the way to the airport..Alan we did go into the museum across from movenpick hotel. They re-opened the day before we arrived..it was very nice..we had plenty of time to visit..pure luxury we did have time to venture into the Dead Sea. It was pretty cool to float..my friend utilized the spa services. She said she had a great massage..my husband and I enjoyed cocktails poolside every afternoon. The pools at Kempinski were fabulous ..MIL I felt we had plenty of time at Petra and there was plenty of time after tour to hike independently
Alan I forgot dinner with a local was cancelled due to Covid
Cheekyrn Awesome. Sounds like you're have a GRAND time...continue to enjoy! I hope you're not too dusty from Wadi Rum - especially since you are headed directly from there to the airport
Cheekyrn- I sent you a PM.
Alan, their are three new Lost Treasured of Egypt starting Sept 13th at 8pm on NatGeo channel with three more the following week.
Cheekyrn, it’s great you are posting, thank you. With a name like that, you have to be a nurse!
Dear Cheekyrn , I agree with AlanS
) different hotels. 
) 
)
U R' OUR HERO!!!!!!!!! I'm so glad you are so kind to share some info. with us, specially while on tour....
Your reports are super! I have now a better idea about the return from Petra options and I know what my mother will opt.in for...
Spa treatments all booked- 3 total.
Cheekryn, are you headed now to the Oberoi ? could you kindly let us know if it is only Tauck people on the boat?
Also, are the hotels keeping breakfast buffet or is it all "a la Carte"?
cannot wait for your next post. Enjoy.
Thanks!!!!
It is 3:04 am in Aswan, where is Cheekyrn?
Good morning all…we arrived yesterday afternoon into Aswan. Hot…intense heat .the Old Cataract hotel is incredible…if you close your eyes you can imagine Dame Christie right around the corner…we had time for a cocktail and a swim then showered for dinner. We were given 2 options for in-house restaurants and both were nice..this morning we have 5:30am breakfast followed by 6:30 departure for 8:30 flight to Abu simbel…then we come back for a few hours leisure time then dinner ..there is a recommended cotton shop right across the street from hotel so I’m hoping to find some lovely material …will update tonight and MIL all hotels so far have provided breakfast buffet and since we number only 10 plus 1 if including tour director there will be non-Tauck guests on the ship
Thanks for the update.
Wow, a real early wake-up!
Except for Lake Nasser, it is mostly empty desert between Aswan and Abu Simbel so maybe you can take a cat nap on the flight. 
Do you board the boat tonight (small group tour) or tomorrow night (regular size tour)? Do you know where the boat is docked/how far is it from the Old Cataract?
As I eagerly await Cheekyrn's next update I thought I would post this.
What a coincidence! When my (Windows) laptop first boots and before I see a login box, a random photo that changes every few days, fills the screen. I can, of course, set it up to bypass the photo and login, but the photos are usually interesting shots from around the world so why would I do that?? Yesterday, I was surprised by this latest one. The computer doesn't say what it is until I do a few more boots, so at first I didn't know what I was looking. But, there were clues- river, special type of river boat, and some Arabic architecture. It wasn't hard to find out the tall tower in the center was the Cairo Tower!!
(The reason for the watermarks is the photo on my computer appears before I've logged in, so I can't do a screen capture and had to resort to Google for the photo.) It has been a looooong time (40+ years!?!?!?) since I last visited Cairo, so suffice it to say the skyline looks nothing like it did when I was there!
Hi all. Abu simbel was stunning but I must confess the heat really was awful. There were very few tourists so we were able to take photos without difficulty. Afterwards we returned to little airport for return flight to Aswan ..lots of repetiere screening measures at airports…and the airport was empty except for us…we stopped at the Dam before returning to hotel…a few hours of leisure now. Tomorrow morning we leave hotel for elephantine island then go to boat for lunch..i do not know where the boat is
Cheekyrn Thanks for the updates! Hydrate Hydrate Hydrate. Thankfully you can enjoy a dip in the nice pools to cool off. I hope you find some lovely fabrics. Enjoy!
Thanks for the update and PM response.
Has your TD suggested or offered or is anyone on tour using a microfiber evaporation cooling towel like you see at Disney World, etc.? Maybe a lagniappe Tauck should consider for J&E and other tours in the warmer months.
We've used them and they actually work as long as you have a source of water- you dampen, wring lightly, then snap to remove excess water. There are many different brands, they come in various sizes, colors, and styles, and can be worn in a variety of ways, though usually around your neck. I'm not sure if you could use a buff the same way- inconvenient to slip over your head when wet? They are very inexpensive and available everywhere- Amazon, Walmart, sports stores, etc.
This is my first post. I'm scheduled for the Egypt Jewel of the Nile trip on November 28th. I'm a solo traveler and want to know if anyone on the Forum will be traveling on that departure. If so I'd love to hear from you!
I must say all the comments are wonderful. I' wondering about all the time one has to spend wearing a mask. Is it affecting the quality of your experience? I've traveled with Tauck before the pandemic. In fact I was on the Israel Jordan trip in 2018. Love reading all your comments.
I'm also curios about what's left at the Old Egyptian Museum to see and how that experience was for you. Like all of you I've had to reschedule this trip 3 times and want to go, but not crazy about wearing a mask. AND would love to see the new museum since I've waited so long anyway. Thanks Fran Berry