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Published: September 16th 2005
Floating in Dead Sea
Here I am, floating in about 5 inches of water at the Dead Sea. P claims floating is my favorite sport.Jordan:
September 3: Arrived in Madaba about eleven at night. We stayed in a very friendly hotel with very questionable wiring. The power went out in the whole building for about five minutes P tried to turn on a lamp. The owner advised us not to drink the water, but didn't have any water for sale. We went out to try to find an open shop, and passed a few cafes with some guys hanging around drinking tea. We passed a group of teenage boys who were in the street doing teenage boy things like shouting at each other, throwing rocks at each other while riding bicycles, and staring at us. On our way back from the shop where we bought some water, they all got very quiet as we were about to pass them again, and I got a little nervous. Then one said, a bit shyly, "Well Come to Jordan". Oh well.
September 4: Visited Madaba in the morning. We saw the mosaic map of the Middle East from the Roman empire in the St George orthodox church across the street from our hotel, plus some other very nice mosaics in the archelogical park. As with many
things we saw later, the museum and visitor infrastructure is very nice, but without many visitors at the moment. We then went to Mt Nebo for some nice views and to the Dead Sea, where the bouyancy is really incredible. You can float in a standing up position with your head and shoulders out of the water. After the Dead Sea, we visited a crusader castle at Karak and the village of Dana, in the Dana nature reserve. Hassan told us that maybe 40 families lived in the village, where they ran a few small hotels and raised goats and sheep. We stopped for a tea in a tent on the roof of one of the guesthouses overlooking the water trough where we had a great view of the goats and sheep as the local kids, on donkey-back, drove their animals over for water. It was very peaceful. We then stopped for the day in Wadi Musa near Petra.
September 5: Today we went to Petra for the first time with Mahmoud, our guide. He was very friendly and knowledgable. It turns out one brother is an archelogist, his sister is a principal at the local school and this
other brother is a vet, earning the nickname "Dr Donkey", as we are told by Hassan, our driver. At one point, we take a break from the tour because Mahmoud has to make a call to his sister at the behest of one of the camel ride guys, whose daughter has gotten in some kind of trouble at Mahmoud's sister's school. That night, we went on "Petra by Night" where they light the entire As-Siq (the gorge on the way to Petra, which is about a mile long) with candles, as well as the entire field in front of the Treasury. There were a few different bedouin musicians and groups of muscians performing. Bedouin tea was served. There are millions of stars, clearer than we had seen in years. (The Treasury, incidentally, is the carved rock building that stands in for the lost city of Alexandretta at the end of Indiana Jones III.)
September 6: We returned to Petra for a third time, this time to climb up to the Monastery. The hike is pretty long, but the ambiance at the Monastery is arguably better than at the Treasury (both are tricliniums carved into Rock) because there are fewer
people there. It is pretty hard to get lost on the trail up because you can follow the trail of donkey doo-doo. At the top, you can continue past the Monastery another kilometer or so to some outcrops over the valley below. The two lookout points are labelled in spraypaint with the words "VIEW" all over the trails leading to the two competing lookout points. At the top, some Belgians massively overpay for jewelry at the jewelry stand located at the "VIEW". This night, we go to the Cave Bar (which is built into a Nabatean cave building) where we hear some really interesting Arabic dance music. After a few false starts, one of the waiters give us the name of the artist, Hussein Al-Salman.
September 7: Today Hassan brought us over to Wadi Rum, where we rode on some camels through the desert for about 3 hours. After about 45 seconds of travelling across the silent desert, our guide's mobile goes off. Cell reception in the desert is surprisingly good. Just before sunset, the camel guide stops and gathers some sticks to burn to make tea. We walk a short way to the top of the hill to
watch the sunset, which is a beautiful red. After, it takes a couple of tries to get back on the camels, who have clearly had enough for the day and don't really want us back on their backs and are grunting in disapproval. That night we stayed at the Captain's Camp, which is a nice complex of Bedouin tents complete with mosquito nets and proper beds. The food is good. Other than us, the only other people in the camp are a Spanish tour group. We saw a few huge beetles speeding aimlessly across the sand. It's particularly fun to watch them run around if you make rally car sounds. They're big enough to leave clear beetle-tracks in the sand. Again, the stars are incredible and we watch a while for shooting stars, but don't see much.
September 8: Today we got up before dawn to see the sunrise and went on a second tour around Wadi Rum, except this time in a jeep. Again, we stop for a while and our guide makes tea over a small fire. Back at the camp, we try to fend off the flies (who disappear at dusk) and talk to a Dutch
Me on the back of a camel, sort of
Taken in Wadi Rum while on the back of a camel, obviously. guy named Tony who has wandered in from the desert after spending three nights camping with various Bedouin groups in Wadi Rum. He has desert goggles in place of sunglasses and lives in Rwanda. We talk a bit about the ICTY and ICTR.
September 9: Got driven to Aqaba by a very cool guy named Amer. He used to be a driver for tourists but now runs three car stereo and accessories shops in Aqaba, so he's taking this job for a bit of variety. On the way to the hotel Amer gives us a quick orientation around Aqaba and we stop off to visit one of his shops, where he demonstrates how loud the stereo is in his van. (It is extremely loud.) Spent the rest of the day trying to get onto a hotel-run beach, which are all outrageously expensive, except for the Radison which is a little less so. Beach is so-so. For dinner, we search fruitlessly for the Silk Road restaurant, then give up and get a cab driver to take us to the "Mina Restaurant", which is on a boat permanently anchored in the Gulf. Pretty soon we're flying out of town on the
P with new friend, the camellino
My camel was better looking. Than her camel. motorway and wondering why. I confirm a few times we're going to the Mina Restaurant, but the next thing we know, we're driving through the container port on the way to the ferry terminal. Best I can tell, Mina must mean "boat" or "port". Oh well. Eventually, we clear up the understanding and get to the restaurant, which has exactly one other couple occupying its three floors and hundreds of tables. We get the last two fish, a snapper and a grouper. A helpful guy at the internet cafe gives us a business card of a CD shop where we can search for the elusive Hussein Al-Salman.
September 10: Went to the Royal Diving Club to go snorkeling. First time for me, but P's done it before. The prescription dive masks make all the difference, since we can see all the fish and corals, looking like a salt water aquarium. For me, what's really interesting is not just the coral-filled area, where the water is about 2-3 meters deep, but looking down further offshore, where you can make out the gulf bottom receeding down deeper and deeper, and the water just turns into a blue blur as the bottom
The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Wadi Rum
We counted five pillars of wisdom, maybe six. falls away. With snorkels instead of scuba gear, there's no point in going further out. We recognized the fish that we had eaten the night before at the Mina House.
While riding the bus, we see the Silk Road restaurant, right where it's supposed to be. It's obviously been closed down, and sign has been taken down so you can only see the outline in the paint from the road. Today we made a second visit to the same small cafe, where were are the only two people in the place for the second consecutive night. We finally found the record shop we had the card from. The proprietor, a young guy named Hassad, doesn't have Hussein Al-Salman, but he has something similar on his computer and burns us a copy. It's basically Palestinian wedding dance music. He also shows us the corresponding video, stopping it at various points to explain the action: "This is a picture of the husband's father. This is the famous singer. Now he sings 'She doesn't have any money, but she has big eyes."' Ok, suitable wedding music. "Now he sings about Saddam Hussein." We didn't really inquire further about that. Then he shows
Dunes, Wadi Rum
It was really, really hot. us a few snippets of a wedding scence from an Egyptian movie by a famous Egyptian comedian whose name apparently translates as something like Big Stupid. He appears to be a bit like Cheech and Chong, rolled into one. Then we watch another of his movies, and then some other movies that Hassad likes. We spend a couple of hours there, and then buy a few things we missed in the theaters and some French and Chinese action movies that he recommends, for a very reasonable price.
September 11: More snorkeling. We didn't have much money with us so we shared a nasty hot dog and only got one beach towel instead of two. We were so hungry that by the late afternoon the fish that we saw snorkeling started to look really delicious. We had dinner at the Captain's Restaurant, which we think is owned by the same guy who owns the Captain's camp.
September 12: Wake up at crack of dawn to go to Amman. We find our way to the Select Hotel, with the help of several helpful Ammanites. We walk through the service taxi area and are asked whether we want to go to
Small campsite friend, Wadi Rum
One for the entomologist in the family. Dubbed the cucharacha, it was actually a beetle. Shown about half actual size. Big enough to leave tracks in the sand. Damascus, or Beirut, or maybe on a tour of Jerash or Umm Qais, or anywhere in the world, says one driver as we walk past. The folks in Amman are just as helpful and friendly as their smaller-town compatriots. At one point, an older man in a three piece suit waiting for HIS taxi to Damascus turns to us and says, apropos of nothing, "Welcome to my country." You really can't say enough nice things about these folks. Amman is interesting to walk around but there isn't much to see. We get a cab out to the trendy area called Abdoun Circle, have a drink at a fake Irish bar and then dinner in a pretentious but happy bar/restaurant called the Blue Fig Cafe. Two expatriate Americans appear to be having a first date at the next table. And so to bed.
September 13: No problem waking up for the cab, because we have a deafening mosque only 100 meters or so away which starts going at 4.45 AM. Painless flight back to London to repack and see friends before our flight to India the next morning.
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Jennifer
non-member comment
nice photos
It looks like y'all are enjoying your trip. The pictures are very nice. Must be nice to have so much time off to travel. Keep us posted and take care. Jenn