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Its difficult to go back and write about my previous travels when I am still on the road, especially when the countries are so different. However, I know if I procrastinate until I am home I will forget even more detail than I have already and might even decide I'm too caught up with life to sit down and write.
We were only in Jordan for five or six days. It went by way too fast. We arrived at the port in Aqaba late at night so were given most of the next morning free. My mom and I decided to go for a walk around and stretch our legs a bit after being confined in a seat for so long the previous day. After Egypt, Jordan seemed quiet and peaceful. I'm sure there was still just as much noise as any other normal city, but compared to the chaos we had just been through it was almost like silence. Aqaba had a big boulevard running down the street with pedestrian walkways, trees, water fountains and benches to rest at. How pleasant! The people were friendly too, and would say "welcome" to us as we walked past them. It was
nice to be made so at ease.
In the afternoon we drove to Wadi Rum, making a brief stop at the Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Near our campsite we jumped into the back of a couple of trucks and went for an evening drive through the desert. It was cool in the wind, especially closer to sunset, but it was so beautiful none of us even minded. The grandeur of the rock formations just cannot be captured with justice on a camera. It is something to be seen and experienced first hand. We had to decide if we wanted to pay $20 to go for an extra two hours and watch the sunset in the desert, but knowing how motion sick I get in vehicles my mom and I decided to opt out and just do the shorter drive. If I had known that 4x4ing in a jeep actually meant riding in the back of a pick up I probably would have stayed out longer. As it was I felt fine. Also, knowing how the next few hours were to be spent I would have stayed with the group! We had left our driver at a base camp near
town and the three of us that opted out of the longer drive went back to this camp while the others continued on and would finish at the desert camp. We were to go out to the desert camp with the cooks at suppertime and meet up with everyone else then. That seems like a very reasonable and simple plan. At first things were good. It was quiet and we saw our driver wandering around. He gave us some tea, then disappeared. We could hear the cooks rattling around in the staff area so we settled in on the benches and watched the sun set from there. It was already cold at this point, but we were only to get colder. It was almost dark and no word had come to us about what was happening, and since we were waiting outside and there were firepits around it seemed like starting a fire wouldn't be too much trouble. Our driver had disappeared, and another man had arrived who had as little of an idea of what was going on as we did. He told us he was waiting for the group to come back to the base camp because they
weren't staying at the desert camp anymore. He said he was the driver for the next day and that his "clients" were a gadventures group. From that information we gathered he was a new driver for us and that maybe something had happened in our absence. Thinking that the group was coming back and that it was now dark I was even more set on the idea of a fire. I looked around for firewood, and couldn't find any. Not that I had matches or a lighter, but the new guy might. After a bit of poking around I realized that it was very quiet. We had been there for a couple of hours by this point and it was way past the time that we were supposed to leave. The other girl who stayed behind with us started to worry and when no other information was available the two of us went to find the cooks...whom I could no longer hear. They were gone. They had forgotten us and left us behind! We also still didn't know what was happening with the group and the new driver man didn't have cell phone service to find out any new details. Eventually a Danish couple arrived. THEY were the clients of the new driver. They were on an independent tour with the same company and would be staying in the base camp. They had seen our group at "the arches" but didn't know what was happening with them or where they were headed. Our original driver showed up shortly after this and through the new driver we tried to find out what exactly was going on. He had no idea. However, he enclosed us into a tent, left and came back with a bundle of twigs! Where did he find those? He lit the little stove in the centre of the tent and gave us his big winter coat to wrap around ourselves. We still didn't know what was going on with the cooks or our group and we were STARVING, but at least we had heat and company!
Suddenly the cooks showed up again, making a big racket and started bringing a bunch of food that smelled very delicious into the tent, only to whisk us out of the tent and into a truck. The food was only for the Danish couple. But at least we were going somewhere! After a stop for cigarettes for our temporary driver we cruised through the sand in the dark and were at our desert camp in 20 minutes. It was after 9 pm by the time we got there and I have never been so happy to see that random group of new friends! They had been drinking for a couple of hours already and had waited for us to get there to eat so they were in a fairly happy silly state. It was good to laugh after being stressed out and cold for the majority of the evening. Our guide admitted that the cooks had forgotten about us, but didn't seem too concerned about it. That wasn't very comforting, but the food, the campfire and a place to sleep worked wonders to erase our concerns.
In the very early morning we drove to Petra, but actually seeing the site would have to wait until the next day. Instead we drove out to Little Petra, which I had never heard anything about. We were literally the only people there. The rock formations are just as pretty and there are lots of little caverns that they believe were where the people of Petra actually lived and traded. It was peaceful, and the natural beauty combined with the ancient carvings made a spectacular environment to wander in. The lack of other tourists allowed us to actually appreciate those surroundings too. Little Petra was the only site on the agenda for the day so we called it an early night to be ready early in the morning for the highlight of our stay in Jordan...Petra!
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