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A Periodic Status Report from Iraq

(See the slideshow at the bottom of the page for pictures; you can also follow the link to Picasa to see larger images)

This blog is intended for personal communication with my family and friends. Any opinion included is my personal opinion and does not represent the US Government or Department of Defense position on any matter. If you are looking to this blog for substance and in-depth analysis on Iraq, war, electricity, professionalism or good examples of accuracy in writing, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. you are at the wrong website.

Wayfinder6 at Al Faw Palace

Wayfinder6 at Al Faw Palace
Click on the picture to learn more about Al Faw

Sunday, May 16, 2010

A man in Amman

A short blog to share my trip to Petra yesterday. I had taken the fairly bold step of working out a deal with a taxi driver to take me to Petra (about a 2.5 hour drive) for 100 Jordanian Dinar ($150) - pretty common methodology and a better deal than the hotel's taxi (120 JD). Didn't know the guy from Adam but he helped me get into the ATM and showed me where the shopping area was from the hotel, so he had to be on the up and up for the Petra gig (naive Montana boy). As a very robust back up plan I gave Sandy his name and cell phone number in case I was never seen again. The bottom line was I was going to go see Petra.

In the end the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners came to the rescue. Their contingent had also planned a trip to Petra and they gave me a seat. Boy, was Mousa (my trustworthy taxi driver) torqued the next morning at 7am. I gave him 20JD for his time and ran back to the NARUC heroes. Long, hot day but I'll let the photos speak for themselves. The first few celebrate my non-Baghdad status, then we move to Petra. An amazing place and not to be missed if you come through Jordan.

Photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/Wayfinder6/AmmanPetra

Grace & peace!!

Posted by Wayfinder6 at Sunday, May 16, 2010  

2 comments:

Andrew Orlemann said...

Great pics. Keep 'em coming. Your wife, Ms. Sandy, is resourceful: I saw what she did to protect her Costco tomato. That being said, I'm not sure what she was going to do with Mousa's cell phone number if he decided to turn you over to Hizbollah for a ransom. Thank God for NARUC.

May 17, 2010 at 5:29 AM  
Rob said...

What I wouldn't give to see Petra. Excellent choice. Excellent pics.

(Although, your true, hairy nature seems to have been coming through in the 5th from the end. Hee, hee.)

May 17, 2010 at 3:20 PM  

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