It is not a difficult thing to cross into Jordan from Israel at the Eilat/Aqaba border and take a taxi from there to Wadi Rum or Petra, if you know what to expect. My friends and I rented a car and drove from Jerusalem to Eilat. Rental cars are not allowed to cross into Jordan (don't even try it, for locals it's a crazy process: registration, fees, switching license plates... all involved. Foreigners would never ever get away with it.) The upside is that you can expect to safely leave your rental car at the border crossing parking lot (for free). Once you cross the border into Jordan, be prepared to for a bit of a culture shift.
We had been warned in advance, luckily, about what we'd find on the far side of the Jordanian border crossing at Aqaba.
The night prior to our departure from Jerusalem to Jordan, group member Heidi did a little internet travel forum diving and discovered a blessed tip about the state of hiring taxis once across the Jordanian border. It went something like this: "There is an evil little man who runs the taxi mafia at the border. He will try to take you for all you're worth. He reigns over the green taxis. The cab drivers are all terrified of him and he's an aggressive sunova***** The best way to avoid him is to hire a cab to take you just to the city center bus station and then hire a normal, white taxi for far less to get to your final destination."
Sold. So we were quite prepared to play it cool and mention nary a word about the fact that we were ultimately going to Petra.
"Youneedtaxi? Whereareyougoing?" The heavyset man with weasely eyes approached us immediately once we were through the border fence.
"The bus station, please." We replied firmly, with braced smiles.
I could go on all day about the ensuing conversation/negotiation/near argument, but suffice it to say that it took a solid ten minutes to convince the man that we were only going to: A) take one of his green cabs to the bus station, and B) pay the 10JOD rate listed on the sign by the taxi stand, instead of his demanded 20JOD.
The border was not very busy at all that day, so he finally acquiesced, probably figuring that ten bucks was better than nothing at all, and once we walked back to the border gate and asked the guard for walking directions to the city bus station, we'd proven we were willing to walk away. (Winning that negotiation was one of those empowering life moments, I must say.) As we got into a dusty, beaten-up cab, we handed the money to the Mafia king and he took his cut and handed the meager remainder to the driver. So sad.
Once we got to the bus station, our driver could tell we were only going directly to the other cabs, whose drivers were calling out to us in droves before we even got out of our car. So with his broken English, our border-acquired cabbie tried to negotiate a fare with us to get to Petra. We were only willing to pay an additional 35JOD (having done our research). We succeed, much to the driver's consternation.
We drove far, far out into the desert, the sand and dirt all around us changing in color from golden tan to dusty rose over time. We passed Wadi Rum desert preserve (Where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, and where I spent a night in a Bedouin camp two years prior) and kept on going, our driver muttering curses at us in Arabic the whole time. At least I think they were curses, he kept glaring at us and muttering. Not the most pleasant experience.
Now that the drive is well over, I think it would have been much better to switch drivers.
So now you know. There is an evil Jordanian taxi mafioso at the Israeli/Jordanian border crossing at Aqaba. Be firm. Stay calm. Act like you know what you're doing. Don't anger him. Because the city center is probably a good five mile walk.
Here's a Lonely Planet forum link about the subject, discussed at length!
We had been warned in advance, luckily, about what we'd find on the far side of the Jordanian border crossing at Aqaba.
The night prior to our departure from Jerusalem to Jordan, group member Heidi did a little internet travel forum diving and discovered a blessed tip about the state of hiring taxis once across the Jordanian border. It went something like this: "There is an evil little man who runs the taxi mafia at the border. He will try to take you for all you're worth. He reigns over the green taxis. The cab drivers are all terrified of him and he's an aggressive sunova***** The best way to avoid him is to hire a cab to take you just to the city center bus station and then hire a normal, white taxi for far less to get to your final destination."
Sold. So we were quite prepared to play it cool and mention nary a word about the fact that we were ultimately going to Petra.
Photo by: jacobzoethout, from here: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Middle_East/Jordan/Muhafazat_al_Aqabah/Aqaba-1800290/Transportation-Aqaba-TG-C-1.html
"Youneedtaxi? Whereareyougoing?" The heavyset man with weasely eyes approached us immediately once we were through the border fence.
"The bus station, please." We replied firmly, with braced smiles.
I could go on all day about the ensuing conversation/negotiation/near argument, but suffice it to say that it took a solid ten minutes to convince the man that we were only going to: A) take one of his green cabs to the bus station, and B) pay the 10JOD rate listed on the sign by the taxi stand, instead of his demanded 20JOD.
The border was not very busy at all that day, so he finally acquiesced, probably figuring that ten bucks was better than nothing at all, and once we walked back to the border gate and asked the guard for walking directions to the city bus station, we'd proven we were willing to walk away. (Winning that negotiation was one of those empowering life moments, I must say.) As we got into a dusty, beaten-up cab, we handed the money to the Mafia king and he took his cut and handed the meager remainder to the driver. So sad.
Once we got to the bus station, our driver could tell we were only going directly to the other cabs, whose drivers were calling out to us in droves before we even got out of our car. So with his broken English, our border-acquired cabbie tried to negotiate a fare with us to get to Petra. We were only willing to pay an additional 35JOD (having done our research). We succeed, much to the driver's consternation.
We drove far, far out into the desert, the sand and dirt all around us changing in color from golden tan to dusty rose over time. We passed Wadi Rum desert preserve (Where Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, and where I spent a night in a Bedouin camp two years prior) and kept on going, our driver muttering curses at us in Arabic the whole time. At least I think they were curses, he kept glaring at us and muttering. Not the most pleasant experience.
Now that the drive is well over, I think it would have been much better to switch drivers.
So now you know. There is an evil Jordanian taxi mafioso at the Israeli/Jordanian border crossing at Aqaba. Be firm. Stay calm. Act like you know what you're doing. Don't anger him. Because the city center is probably a good five mile walk.
Here's a Lonely Planet forum link about the subject, discussed at length!
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