Recently, my friend & I took a trip to Jordan. Both of us had been wanting to go for a while so when the opportunity arose, we jumped at it. We seemed to be hitting a sweet spot as we were going out of peak season, but the weather was really good so we were pretty chuffed.
When we arrived, we had planned to take an Uber from the airport to our Airbnb… only to find out that Uber is banned from entering airport grounds. Great. The two options left were taking the bus or a taxi. Me, being my usual stubborn self, refused to take a taxi as I feel taxi drivers always overcharge when traveling to or from the airport. That’s how we ended up buying bus tickets.
Neither of us can speak Arabic & we hadn’t done research on the bus system before arriving so this was gearing up to be a very interesting situation. We knew the name of the stop where we needed to get off, but there didn’t seem to be any signs or any way of us knowing which stop was which. My friend typed something to the effect of “Would you be able to tell us where this stop is?” into Google translate & she showed it to the woman seated behind us. The look on this woman’s face was priceless because she assumed we could speak neither Arabic nor English & those were the two languages she could speak. You could see how she knew the answer to the question, but was stumped as to how she was going to convey this information. She eventually asked “English?” & you could almost hear the emphasis on the question mark. We answered her & there was much relief & the conversation went off without a hitch after that, but I had a giggle seeing her reaction.
Fast forward a day & we were on our way to Wadi Rum. We’d booked a desert safari & all the ‘touristy’ things to do there including watching the sunset. We stopped along the way for snacks & to stretch our legs. This is a pretty standard thing you do on a road trip. Unfortunately, my friend accidentally left her phone in the restroom at that stop. We only realized it was gone when we arrived in Wadi Rum around half an hour later. We didn’t know what to do because if we went back for it we would lose an hour of our safari & possibly miss the sunset which we’d already paid for. On the other hand, a cellphone is not exactly a cheap item to lose as well as we had bought one local sim card & it was in that phone so we had no way of contacting anyone. We discussed it & decided to continue with our tour since we had already left the phone & if anything were to have happened to it, it would have happened by now.
We had such an amazing time in Wadi Rum & it was such a highlight of the whole trip. Seeing the sun set over the red sand is an experience I will keep with me for a very long time. However, the sun had set & it was now completely dark. I know we all know this, but places look very different at night – especially places which are completely foreign to you. Because of this fact, we spent the next hour & a half driving up & down the road trying to find this place where we had stopped earlier. It was ridiculous. Eventually, we did find it & my friend went running into the restroom to go retrieve the cellphone, only to come back empty handed. We spoke to the owner of the shop & he pulled the cellphone out from under his desk. He was keeping it safe & had even contacted my friend’s parents in South Africa telling them where we could find him & the cellphone. I’m still surprised we got it back. Have you ever lost something while in another country?
Keep traveling, keep safe.
DanVenture Travels
DanVenture Travels 
Great that you got the phone back. Sometimes people can surprise you. I left my camera bag i a coffee shop in Wexford, Ireland. I had my camera and batteries and did not notice the bag was missing until almost a day later. When I went back to the shop they had safely stored it in the back. Happy travelling Dan. Allan
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Sometimes one comes across such goodness and honesty when it’s least expected! I remember dropping my iPhone in a taxi in Chile. But the cab driver gave it to his owner and they called someone and I got my phone back!
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Great story about perseverance and confidence to make things work in a foreign place!! It feels so daunting sometimes and then so empowering after success!!! I left my phone in a cab in Zihuatanejo, Mexico and we hadn’t even paid attention to the company or number. The next day we went to a beach spot we like where we have gotten to know the proprietor over the years and he has become our friend. When he asked how we were doing, we explained our low mood about the phone and he held up his finger and said, “wait one minute” and came back showing us my phone pictured on an internet site – “the black market”. Our impression of him went down a bit knowing he had access to this, however, within a half hour we had someone on the beach negotiating with us and ended up BUYING my phone back for $20. I was prepared to pay more because it was my own dumb fault, but my hubby was not. Loved getting the phone back and having a great story to tell to the future, too!
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I can imagine the happiness on your friends face ..Have a great trip
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I once lost my favorite hat–one I had had for years, and I’m not much of a hat person–on one of the special buses at the Pyeongchang Olympics in Korea. It was a sad time but very worth it.
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I once left my purse and passport at a restaurant in London. Didn’t realize it until the next morning. Ran back but they didn’t open until 11am. When they finally opened my purse and everything in it – including my passport – were behind the bar waiting for me. The relief and gratitude were indescribable.
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Thank you for a story that reiterates that the humanity of people is deeper than language, culture and place.
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Glad you got the phone back!
My first time in Australia, I lost my wallet, when it fell out of my pocket. Sydney is huge so I had little hope. But we were on a special ‘beach bus’ and my wallet had been found so that was a huge relief!
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So lucky that the phone was found! This year we left a cell phone on a plane in Doha business class ..never returned! And Sony headphones on a Garuda plane ..also never found
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Wow what an adventure. I’ve left my phone in a restroom before on a trip. The panic you feel is intense. Luckily I was able to retrieve it shortly after discovering it was missing. Glad you were able to get your phone back.
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You always have such extraordinary adventures, Dan. My husband left his passport in the back of the airplane seat when we were in Phoenix, Arizona and it was two days before we even noticed. Went straight to the airport and inquired at Westjet who was the carrier and they had it for us in about 15 minutes. Never so relieved. He also left my camera on a double-decker bus in London one year, unfortunately we didn’t get that back and lost all the photos we had taken previously. Win some, lose some.
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There is no better relief than getting your stuff back.
During my visit to South Korea, i was throughout keeping a count on my bags as 1 2 3 4. As i had 4 bags including two suitcase, a laptop bag and a sling bag. The moment i took taxi to reach my hotel i was relieved that yeahh i did not lose anything. When, just after the checkin i realized my count is now till 3. I left my laptop bag in cab. That too my office laptop. I got so worried when in no time the taxi driver came back to return my bag.
I just cant thank enough to that gentleman 🙂
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I lost my wallet in Australia while touring. I had to go to the police and report it. I did not get it back.
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Jordan is indeed a wonderful country with an amazing nature. When I was in Cambodia, I lost a bag full of magnets and other souvenirs . Later, I remembered I’d forgotten it in the Tuk-Tuk cab
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