{"id":5449,"date":"2023-03-27T07:15:00","date_gmt":"2023-03-27T14:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449"},"modified":"2023-03-28T04:11:19","modified_gmt":"2023-03-28T11:11:19","slug":"fabled-city-aqaba-episode-is-now-live","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449","title":{"rendered":"Fabled City Aqaba Episode is Now Live"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Episode 11: The Aqaba Axis (testing GoPro Hero 11 underwater, medieval fort, exploring Ayla vlog)\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/sOtOPSVtCIk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Amman-<\/strong>I took a break from the hilly hustle of Amman and took a service taxi (shared taxi where you split costs with strangers that only departs when its full) down to Jordan&#8217;s sole outlet to the sea, sleepy Aqaba. I was last in Aqaba 20 years ago when I returned to Jordan from covering the very first days of the American-led occupation of Iraq. But I only really went there to catch the ferry to Nuweiba in the Sinai to then go down to Dahab to decompress from Iraq. This time around I wanted to more fully explore Jordan&#8217;s Red Sea sanctuary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"540\" src=\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5451\" srcset=\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538.jpg 720w, http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538-300x225.jpg 300w, http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538-150x113.jpg 150w, http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538-560x420.jpg 560w, http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538-260x195.jpg 260w, http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538-160x120.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 720px) 100vw, 720px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The isolated luxury playground of Ayla outside Aqaba proper. The Israeli port city of Eilat can be seen far off in the distance. Not all that long ago this area was littered with landmines and off limits to al who approached. Now it&#8217;s fun in the sun&#8230;for those who can afford it. \u00a92023 Derek Henry Flood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I submerged myself and my GoPro Hero 11 for the first time on a wicked snorkeling day trip, explored an upscale UAE-like marina development built by a<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.albawaba.com\/insights\/dreamscapes-and-drug-towns-jordans-aqaba-future-segregation-1296455\" target=\"_blank\"> billionaire and his creative visionary daughter <\/a>outside the town in a former mined military border zone, and tour the fort built by the Mamluk sultanate which is now a quiet tourist attraction. Oh and the adjacent world&#8217;s 6th largest flagpole. Come along for the ride, swim, and walk!  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amman-I took a break from the hilly hustle of Amman and took a service taxi (shared taxi where you split costs with strangers that only departs when its full) down to Jordan&#8217;s sole outlet to the sea, sleepy Aqaba. I&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-p\"><a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449\">Read more &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5451,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[1420,1421,1406,1419,1422,1379,1380,692],"class_list":["post-5449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east","tag-aqaba","tag-ayla","tag-gopro-hero-11","tag-jordan","tag-red-sea","tag-vlog","tag-vlogger","tag-youtube"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Fabled City Aqaba Episode is Now Live - The War Diaries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fabled City Aqaba Episode is Now Live - The War Diaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Amman-I took a break from the hilly hustle of Amman and took a service taxi (shared taxi where you split costs with strangers that only departs when its full) down to Jordan&#8217;s sole outlet to the sea, sleepy Aqaba. I&hellip;Read more &rarr;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The War Diaries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-27T14:15:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-28T11:11:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"derekhenryflood\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"derekhenryflood\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"derekhenryflood\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/#\/schema\/person\/df810a7fcaa4910f9fc2513a3de68ff8\"},\"headline\":\"Fabled City Aqaba Episode is Now Live\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-27T14:15:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-28T11:11:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449\"},\"wordCount\":246,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/#\/schema\/person\/df810a7fcaa4910f9fc2513a3de68ff8\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/IMG_9538.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Aqaba\",\"Ayla\",\"GoPro Hero 11\",\"Jordan\",\"Red Sea\",\"vlog\",\"vlogger\",\"Youtube\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Middle East\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/the-war-diaries.com\/?p=5449\",\"name\":\"Fabled City Aqaba Episode is Now Live - 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