Blogs from South, Jordan, Middle East - page 37

If you ever wondered (I know you do) why the hell we went to the Middle East then there is just one answer. Petra. No not the long lost love of mine but the ancient city of Petra. What else then a couple of old stones could drag me half way around the world? Egypt and Israel were originally never on the itinerary but are a late addition as they were so close to Jordan and Petra and I am a sucker for more, more, more. Petra is amazing. It lies in a hidden valley on the ancient spice route to Gaza and Syria. It was founded by the Nabataeans over 2000 years ago and they got rich very quickly as they levied taxes on everything that was transported through their territories, This was mostly spices, ... read more

Today was the "big day" for most people. We began the walking tour early in the morning before all the crowds arrived. We all decided to walk, ignoring the offers for horses. Our guide was a big square-jawed man with a deep voice, a rather rough accent and a leather jacket. However, he seemed to know his stuff and guided us along the Siq (basically a long narrow gorge) to the famous "treasury" (actually a tomb) where he stopped to give us an explanation of the various features of the facade. At some point someone asked him a question about the eroded features and he realised he needed to find a 19th century picture of the tomb to answer it properly. Amid much giggling he swaggered off to a nearby souvenir shack uttering the immortal words ... read more

Day 225 After a very long night with Carly suffering a case of gastro (of unknown origin) we packed up our gear set for Wadi Rum desert on a 4WW Safari with Sergi (A Spanish mate we had met on the epic journey from Neweiba. We were picked up by the same taxi driver and staggered aboard hoping he'd had a little more sleep then we had. In what seemed like no time (napping perhaps) we arrived at the Wadi Rum Visitors centre to purchase entrance tickets and met our guide's "Musalla' (the boss) and Aldi. From here we jumped in the back of the jeep and set off with another 8-9 4WD and jeeps for the not so deserted desert. Our first stop was The Spring where we were told to climb to the spring ... read more

Hello everyone, so have you been wondering where we are? We are having an amazing time! The problem with the middle east is there doesn't seem to be much internet so I have borrowed a fellow tour groupies computer. We have been camping a lot and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, such as over looking Israel and in amongst Roman ruins. A quick list of what we have done: Stood in awe at the Blue Mosque in Istandbul. Felt sad in Gallipoli at the loss of life during ww1. Climbed a wooden horse in Troy. Sat in a massive amplitheatre in Ephesis. Hiked up a white mountain in Pamukkale to see the Roman ruins of Hierapolis. Relaxed on a boat in Oludeniz. Slept in a cave in Goreme. Wondered the Souq of Aleppo the oldest ... read more

On Monday, after eating breakfast, we left the Dead Sea and headed to southern Jordan for Petra - the number one tourist site in Jordan and one of the seven modern wonders of the world. It took a little over three hours to reach our destination. Petra was built by the Nabataeans in the 3rd to 1st century BC who made it the centre of a vast trading empire. In 106 AD, Petra was annexed by Rome. Christianity arrived in the 4th century, the Muslims in the 7th and the Crusaders briefly in the 12th. Thereafter, Petra was forgotten until 1812 when rediscovered by JL Burckhardt. It’s located next to the small Jordanian town of Wadi Musa. After checking in to our hotel - the Moevenpick Petra, we headed off to see the sites. After walking ... read more