It seems as if we do our “big” trips from fair Aotearoa every even year and 2016 is no exception. On Friday Darryl and I are flying out from Auckland International Airport on Emirates to Casablanca for three packed weeks getting a taste for this part of the world by exploring six countries in three weeks.
Itinerary:
- 15th April – Depart AKL
Flying Emirates to Dubai (via Brisbane) and then onto Casablanca
- 16th April – Morocco
We are picking up a car at Casablanca airport and driving to Marrakech. Given that our stay here is short we need to maximise time and it is far quicker (and cheaper) to hire a car and drive down rather than mucking around with transfers. The trade off? Finding accommodation with parking but this was easy enough. We are staying at a riad (Riad Lorsya) right next to the main square. Main attractions for Marrakech are the souks, snake charmers, Majorelle Gardens.
- 18th April – Tunisia
Flying from Casablanca to Tunis on Air Maroc. Staying at the Hotel Carlton right in the heart of the city (hopefully the photos do it justice as it looks stunning. Main attractions for Tunisia are Carthage and the Bardo Museum.
- 20th April – Egypt
Fly from Tunis to Cairo on Egypt Air. Here we stop independently traveling as start our tour “The glories of Egypt” through Tempo tours. We have 13 nights on two connected tours through Egypt and Jordan traveling independently. Although this sounds like an oxymoron it means that we get all of our hotels, internal travel and sightseeing sorted and have a guide and driver but won’t be sitting on a bus with others. Egypt’s attractions are obviously all of the sites and museums to do with the ancient world. It is about time I give Greece and Italy a rest. On the our we are exploring Cairo, cruising the Nile to get from Luxor to Aswan, St Catherine’s in Sinai, and relaxing at Sharm el Sheihk.
- 27th April- Jordan
Tour two takes us from Egypt into Jordan for the “Glories of Jordan” tour with Tempo. We make our way from Aqaba to Amman exploring the Wadi Rum, Petra, Jerash, and the Dead Sea. I’m most excited about Petra and the Dead Sea!
- 2nd May – Israel
We’re making my first bridge-based connection from one country to another by crossing from Jordan to Israel via the Allenby Bridge – looking forward to this part! Then we’re traveling from Jericho to Jerusalem where we are setting ourselves up in an AirBnB apartment for a few nights. Main attractions here are the Wailing Wall, Dome of the Rock, Masada, and the stations of the cross. I fear my latent Catholic self is going to go crazy!
- 5th May – Turkey
We are flying out of Tel Aviv (so will probably spend a half day there) on Turkish Air to Istanbul. When deciding how to get home we chose to squish in a few days back in a city we loved but rushed through in the past. Darryl painstakingly (may be a slight exaggeration) searched online to find the hotel that we stayed in previously so we could rebook it. Main attractions of Istanbul are the cistern, hippodrome, Topkaki Palace, Hagia Sophia (all things we missed last time).
- 7th May – return to NZ
Flying from Istanbul to Auckland on Singapore Air via Changi airport. We love Singapore Air but picked this flight as it was the fastest way to get home. Leaving on the Saturday at midday means that we get another night (and morning) in Istanbul as almost all other flights would have us leaving on Friday evening with much longer transits. I’ve done this flight home from Europe several times and I think it is the best way to return. We arrive back on the 8th May at 10.30 at night (and go to work next day…)
The Peterson Odyssey 