Trip/Tiyyul Advisor

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Place of Travel - Jordan (Petra)

  Airline/Transportation - The best/easiest way to do this trip is 
  from Eilat.  You should plan to stay over in Eilat the night before 
  and the night after.  Take a cab from your Eilat hotel/hostel early 
  in the morning to the Rabin Border crossing (a 5-10 minute ride).  
  Cross the border by foot (you will need to pay around a 90 NIS exit 
  fee to Israel, but no entrance fee to Jordan), and take a Jordanian 
  cab from the border to Petra (its about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive).  You 
  can try to negotiate your cost for the cab, but it will be around 
  100 Jordanian Dinars.  The cab you get at the border will take you 
  to Petra (sometimes with a switch to another cab along the way), 
 wait there all day, and then take you back to the border.  You will 
  pay the driver only once you get back at the end of the day.  Then, 
  cross the border back into Israel (you will need to pay a very small 
  exit fee to Jordan (a few dinars a person), and take an Israeli cab 
back to your hotel/hostel.

  Time Spent - We spent a good full day at Petra.  I would recommend 
  planning on a full day (get to the border early in the morning 
  (between 6-8AM), so that you can get to Petra early in the day), but 
  I wouldn't suggest spending more then one day.  You should plan to 
  leave Petra before the sun sets, but it is fine to be in the cab 
  ride back while it is dark.  The border crossing closes at a certain 
  time (I believe by 8pm) so make sure you know this and get back in 
  time!

  Kosher Restaurants - There are a bunch of kiosks and stands inside 
 petra for drinks and snacks.  There are 2 restaurants inside 
  (neither obviously with a teuda).

  Notes/Comments - In addition to the cab fee and border fee, you  
should expect to pay 21 dinars/person for an entrance fee into  
petra.  You can, and it was WELL worth the cost, hire an individual   
local guide to take you through petra and tell you all about  
everything (Petra is not like a western museum...there are no signs  
telling you what you are looking at) for about 50 dinars.  This can 
be arranged at the same place you buy your Petra tickets.

You should also plan to make sure to have lots of cash (american or 
NIS) ready at the border.  You can change your money on the Israeli 
side, but there are not ATMs on either side of the border and ATMs are 
very rare in Jordan.  The exchange rate is not great, so you should 
plan to have at least $300 to exchange.

Amiel Hersh
AmielHersh@jtsa.edu