Phase 1 complete

We're in Amman, fortified with tea (a must at the end of a journey) and falafel (a must at the start of a journey into a place where they make decent falafel). The pilot was a lady driver, Charlotte with the obligatory pilot perma-tan, which means that we didn't crash in the turbulence and the insurance is lower. Slightly concerned when she came out of the cockpit and into the cabin - who was behind the wheel?

Sana's Mama's flat is perfect for eleven people. Beds will be fought over tonight, but I'm happy - I brought a decent pillow and Nic already has pillow envy. Nadin is already sampling the bed fare as she rocked up at the airport with one hour of sleep and the aura of a heavy night of partying.

We're off to play tourist in Amman to the Citadel this afternoon and then out for dinner tonight. Early doors tomorrow as the next five members of our group arrive at 6am tomorrow morning and then we're off to tbe bridge with a 9am start. We join Sahar tomorrow who has been leading the charge, checking out the arrangements in Palestine and visiting friends and family. The last of the group join us via Tel Aviv. We're all quite hopeful that delays will be minimal since everyone else we know has managed to get through in 3 minutes. We're aiming for 2.

Left, right? No, right...right? Yes, right, right? No, right....That’s how the directions went to get to the Roman Amphitheatre. We were so tired that it had got to the point where we were mis-hearing each other. “Yes, Obama is an all rounder”. “Yes, I do like rounders”.

Dinner was fantastic and only mildly tainted by taxi drivers....one who took us to the airport were properly stung earlier in the day. Tip for when travelling to Amman, the taxi metres have 3 decimal places not two. We paid 25.50 for a trip that should have been 2.550. Stupid tourists!