The Syrian/Jordanian border was a bit of a surprise- relatively relaxed and easy going and only cost us $1 (and a boiled sweet in bribes!) One guy on the Syrian side did, however, put his best interrogation techniques into practice. For example:

Customs Bloke: 'So are you going to Israel' Gav: 'no' Customs Bloke: 'good because it is a very dangerous country. How about you?' Dan: 'Of course not, no' Customs Bloke: 'good…So have you ever been to Israel?' Us: 'No, never' Customs Bloke: 'Good because it is our enemy you know. It is very dangerous and the people are very bad' Us: 'OK' Customs Bloke: 'So are you going to Israel then?'

This was the general pattern of conversation for a while until he finally gave in and took the boiled sweet- cheap bastard.

Due to Syria's friendly $100 tax for diesel cars we decided to fill absolutely every object we could find with cheap diesel before crossing the border. We then proceeded to waste this diesel by doing our usual system of getting lost within 5 minutes of crossing the border. This was quite an achievement in a country where there are only 3 major roads which all head in the same direction. However, the drive was amazing. Stunning canyon scenery was plentiful and the sunset near the dead Sea was incredible.

That night we were invited to have drinks with four local lads we bumped into. It proved to be an entertaining night, especially when one of them asked if he could sleep in the Landy with us to 'have some fun'. The next morning was a nightmare as we awoke but Landy didn't. We tried 2 hours of comical jump starts with one taxi driver hanging off the bonnet while we were towed around and around. Luckily we met Walter- a guy from Belgium who is attempting the same trip and he towed us to a garage. After a quick dip in The Dead Sea we were away again and , after another spectacular but difficult drive, we arrived in Petra.

The ancient ruins of Petra were stunning to say the least and, due to the current political situation, entry tickets were cut by 50% in an attempt to attract tourists. Unfortunately, for the local people, this hasn't worked and we strolled around a deserted Petra. Whilst Gav continued his Indiana Jones impressions the reality of the situation was brought immediately to us by the sound of explosions, apparently from the Israeli's. That night we chatted with locals, who were more than forthcoming, about the current situation.

The next day we made it to Aqaba in south Jordan. We found a campsite on the coast and caught our first glimpse of Egypt. Snorkelling started well the next day for Gav as he was able to witness Dan suffer a ferocious attack by a sea urchin. The little gem managed to stick about 25 needles in his leg before retreating. It is fair enough though as Dan has eaten a fair few of them in the past and promises to increase this in the future.