I have 15 days in the Middle East (Cairo/Petra/Israel) - priorities

[drcam]

Good morning fellow FFs!

I am looking forward to my next trip! I am going to the Middle East!
I am flying Sichuan Airlines from Melbourne to Chengdu on the 15th April, and will be visiting family in China for 3 days (it's my mum's 75th). Then I will be flying through to Cairo on the same ticket arriving at 5.50am on the morning of 19th April. I will then have 15 days in the Middle East to be spread between Egypt, Israel and Petra/Wadi Rum.
I'm wondering whether you have any suggestions on which places should be a priority.

- Is it absolutely necessary to visit Upper Egypt (Luxor and Aswan)? Should I take a multi-day Nile cruise?
- How viable is it at the moment to visit Israel? It's been on my bucket list for many, many years
- How do I deal with the touts and people asking for tips? Should I pretend to not speak English?
- How long should I allocate to Jerusalem City? Petra? Cairo?
- Is a day trip to Alexandria worth it?
- Should I visit the Dead Sea on the Jordanian or Israeli side?

Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

 

[jase05]

Everyone is different and for me Israel was one place I have no real interest in return to. I didn’t mind Tel Aviv and some of the architecture in Jerusalem was nice abut as someone who doesn’t have a spiritual bone in my body and think it’s all made up the main religious stuff had zero meaning to me. I absolutely loved Jordan on the other hand and hired a car for 2 weeks to drive around and it absolutely blew me away. I found the Dead Sea more accessible on the Jordanian side and some nice resorts to stay at. Petra is stunning but got very, very busy when we visited so if I went back I’d maybe look at different timings. We stayed at Wadi Musa at the Movenpick to visit Petra and had 2 days there but every hotel in Amman and on every corner someone will be selling day tours from Amman to Petra but I don’t think that would be long enough. The Kings Highway is a great drive and you will see some brilliant castles and ruins. If I return to Jordan I’d definely hire a car again, cheap and roads are great.
As to Egypt we have travelled there previously and I honestly think you could spend 6 weeks there and still not scratch the surface, there is so much to see and do and that is certainly on our list. We do have a few days in Cairo this June but that’s just basically a stopover and see a few things we have seen before. Absolutely yes to a visit to Alexandrina and a lengthy Nile cruise is still on my bucket list