Adventure Accounting

February 2017: It is taking me forever to update my Holy Land series. I have no excuse.  ========================================= Our second country in this Holy Land trip is Israel.  After we crossed from Jordan , we had a new bus, and a new guide in this leg. His name is Zohar. He used to be part of a paramilitary group, and he has been to the Philippines to a couple of times. He had a handful of Filipino phrases that he used just when needed. He says " walang bibili" whenever we have a limited time in a stop.  Mabenta tuloy sya samin. We had a quick stop at the Mount of Temptation before Zohar herded us to a touristy center. We met the feta cheese and falafels again. Can't really complain though.   In the bible, there's a story about Zacchaeus , the tax collector. He climbed up a sycamore tree to see Jesus (he was a short man). Now this was not the real sycamore tree (or I think this isn't even a sycamore tree) but just a "symbol" for that ...

One really really REALLY nice thing in taking this tour is that we got to stay in nice hotels. Staying in a 3-4 star hotel while travelling is nice. I have tita moments too you know. Comfort does make a difference. I can revisit all the places I’ve been to during my golden years, with the difference of staying in four-star hotels instead of four-bed dorms. Geneva Hotel Jordan rates, October 2015 View from hotel room We didn’t have a hand in choosing the hotels, the tour group selected them. That’s one thing left off our plate. We stayed in Geneva Hotel in Amman, Jordan. The hotel is located in a street where there are a lot of hotels too. I really didn’t know if there was a “city center” in Amman because we didn’t really have a lot of free time during the trip. Well, even if we did, I’ll probably just doze off in my bed if I were not doing my laundry in the hotel sink. Double bed room, for parents

If there was one site I was most excited about for this trip, it was Petra. Petra, also known as the Rose City, is the 2,000 year old Nabatean (Arabs in that region) capital accidentally rediscovered in 1812. The travel agency suggested that we bring a face mask for Petra because the walk could be dusty. I brought them, but didn’t use them. It was almost a three-hour drive from Amman to Petra. Our day began with a mass in a nearby church in Amman. We went back to the hotel for breakfast before getting into the bus for our drive to Petra. We also stopped for lunch before proceeding to Petra. It was early afternoon when we got there. Another benefit of going with a tour group is that they take care of queing up to buy the tickets. The list wasn’t long, but it still saved us the hassle. Museum. The ticket price includes the horse ride going to the entrance of the Siq. The Siq is a half-mile long gorge going to the Treasury. You’ll can walk to...

This trip is mainly my dad's idea. It is his dream to be in a Holy Land Tour. I am the daughter-turned-personal-assistant for this trip. We joined a Catholic pilgrimage type of tour. Pilgrimage tours trace the steps in sacred sites. We did the Jordan-Israel and Dubai route. Dubai is not part of the Holy Land Tour. Another Holy Land loop is Jordan-Israel and Egypt. I've had three years of Catholic schooling so I do have some knowledge about the Bible. Plus, I've read the c hildren's b ible when I was a kid. It pays to have some sort of idea of what happened in the bible before joining such trip. Emirates stopover at DXB We arrived i n Queen Alia International Airport in Amman, J ordan at around 10AM. I was tired but I powered through. Sleep in g in long flights in always a challenge for me. I guess that's also because I 've always travelled in economy. Nyuhuhuhu.  The group lined up near the immigration area where an officer collected all our passp...

I am the family researcher on travel related stuff. My parent’s dream vacation is to do a Holy Land Tour.   That means I am assigned to do the research on this. During the first quarter of this year, I started researching about group tours that offer this. Now I am not fond of group tours. I am used to doing the planning all by myself. I like having control over my time. BUT, this is not my trip. This is for my parents. So, a pilgrimage tour it is. Group Souvenir Photo I restrain myself to taking crossing-timezone trips to once a year. After all, I am not fond of jet lag. AND, crossing time-zones means the airfare will be expensive. I scouted for packages from travel agencies in Manila, and read Tripadvisor recommendations. My parents made the decision to go with Tourworld Corporation (tourworld@tourworldph.com). Here’s their package: Package Tour (26-30 pax) $    2,879.00 Ticket Taxes $      185...