Blogs from South, Jordan, Middle East - page 43

We woke up early to beat the crowed and visited the ruins a second time. This sunrise visit was well worth it. The light on the rocks and ruins was amazing and it was a completely different experience without the crowds. We got on the road for the Wadi Rum desert. This is a beautiful desert made famous by the Arab Revolt and TE Lawrence in the early 20th century. The movie Lawrence of Arabia was also filmed here. Our plan was to do a little off road driving here. However, our car is packed full of water, gas, tools, camping equipment, clothes, souvenirs and us. We realize very quickly we are too heavy to drive in sand. We took some pictures and moved on. We reach Aqaba, Jordan in the early afternoon. Mo found a ... read more

Made the 3 hour drive to Petra. There is not much between Amman and Petra but a lot of hot dry desert. We did stop along the way to meet a Bedouin family. They were very welcoming and even asked us to join them for tea. Lisa wanted to meet their wives who were peaking around the back of the tent but unfortunately the men would not allow her to do so. Once we reached Petra we checked in to our hotel, had some lunch and then decided stay inside until the heat of the day passed. Around 5pm we drove over to the ruins, an accident city carved into the Sandstone Mountains. Amazing. ... read more

Uneseni krásou nabatejské Petry, uz notně spálení a zaprášení, ale plni optimismu hledíme vstříc dalším dnům naší cesty. Čeká nás další místo, na které se moc těšíme - Wadi Rum, ale ještě předtím jednodenní výlet na hrad Shobak a do rezervace Dana. Pak uz pojedeme sebe vykoupat, prádlo vyprat a na pár dní jen tak lelkovat k Rudému moři. Jordánsko chceme ukončit prohlídkou Ammánu a odtamtud přejet do Sýrie - do Damašku. Kousek po Kings Highway V batůzkářském hotýlku Vallentine Inn jsme u docela zdomácněli. Zkoušíme si tedy přes pana domácího objednat na zítra taxi na výlet do rezervace Dana, který by nám cestou zastavil u hradu Shobak. Nějak se to nedaří, sám majitel hotýlku nám říká, e cena 15JOD na osobu je moc. Spoléháme proto na zítřejší veřejnou dopravu. Na nádrazí pak různě šachujeme, a ... read more

Man oh man, Petra is one impressive place! I know I am repeating myself a lot in these blogs, but there are just so many amazing places in this part of the world. I had always thought Petra was a reasonable size, but all kind of together in one area. It's actually so spread out, and while there is a lot in one rift, there are many more places to look at over a huge area. A few of us spent 9 hours wandering round, climbing up and up and scrambling over rocks, hills, through valleys and generally spending the whole day amazed at what we saw. There are colours right through the rocks, not just pink, or red, or rust, but layers and layers of different rainbows of rock. The hundreds and hundreds of steps ... read more

Though ready to do my Lawrence of Arabia imitation, I missed the morning minibus to Wadi Rum. So I had to hire a taxi. Fortunately the driver spoke English, so he answered lots of question and stopped for photos. But he remained skeptical as to why I would want to spend a night in the desert when I could go to Aqaba and go snorkeling to my heart's content. Wadi Rum is an amazing desert. Huge 700 foot mesas rise directly up from the desert floor...kinda like Monumnet Valley, except the "monuments" are miles long. There are occasional springs, lots of petroglyphs (some in old arabic script, some dating back 3000 years), huge sand dunes, natural sandstone bridges, lots of paths up the mesas, and plenty of quiet. My four-wheel driver spoke no English, so I ... read more