One Dinar Mister, One Dinar

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Jordan

Hi all. So, I've been in Jordan for a week and a bit, and I have to say that it's amazing. I've seen some of the major tourist sights (e.g. Petra (think Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) and Wadi Rum). They are everything the tourist brochures promise and more besides - photos below.

But, you know what the highlight has been so far? Spending 3 days living with some Bedouin. Basically, I was walking through the desert looking for somewhere to pitch the tent, when these Bedouin invited me into theirs. Whilst they are clearly very poor, they nonethless have kept me fed and watered, in return for which I am paying them what, to me at least, is a token sum to be my guide.

Communication has been tricky - my only Arabic comes from the back of the guide book, and their only English comes from their 7 year old son, Tamr. Nonetheless we muddle through with a mixture of sign language, smiling and laughing. Spent a day at their school (to get to which some of the students get up at 5Am and walk for 2 hours), taking part in their English and maths lessons. Last night we spent a couple of hours drinking tea, playing music and singing. To all of you in London, that probably sounds incredibly contrived, but it was in fact a really cool moment.


The typical conversation in the more touristy parts of Jordan starts with "Where you from?" to which I reply "England." Jordanians then always say "Welcome." Whilst I may be doing them an injustice, it seems to me they should then add "and I look forward to fleecing you for every penny that you have." Whilst not unexpected given that this is the Middle East, it's pretty annoying always having to be on your guard against people trying to rip you off. Anyway, should be decent training for India.


Am going to spend a couple more days climbing in the mountains surrounding Petra, and then I'm getting a bus to Aqaba (down south) - it's a toss-up between taking a PADI course in diving (a week of relaxing whilst snorkeling and diving is very attractive at the moment), or getting the ferry across to Egypt and seeing the sights. Will decide when I get there.

I promised to keep these things brief, so that's it for words. A few pictures follow. I hope things are well with all of you. Keep the e-mails coming.

Cheers
Paul

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