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Published: April 8th 2012
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Today we ventured across the red sand sea to visit Wadi Rum.
Thamodians (pre Nabatians) are Bedouin and Nomadic tribes who crossed over from Saudi Arabia, roaming the desert in search of water and pasture. Eventually the Thamodians settled on Petra and built the Pink City. A 4 hour jeep tour took us through some spectacular scenery and we visited many sites said to have been significant to Lawrence of Arabia's campaigns against the Turks. The most interesting was the Khazzalah Siq (canyon) which was where sharp shooters were placed on the mountains, while the rest of the army climbed the mountain and circled back around behind the Turks to slaughter them. Last stop for the day before reaching our desert camp, was a massive sand dune embedded to the side of a mountain. It's funny that sometimes the simplest things can be so much fun. We had an absolute ball running up & down the dune and taking silly photos of each other jumping around. David & Jack, the two Sydney guys, raced down the dune as quick as they could, ending with many tumble turns and a mouth full of sand for Dave. ..all caught on film as well!
Our accommodation for the night was a small camp set between two mountain ranges. A dinner of chicken, potatoes, onion, rice & vegetable stew was prepared in a traditional underground oven , similar to a hangi. Two simple camel hair tents were set up for meals and sleeping but we a opted for a night out amongst the stars. Falling asleep out under the stars in the middle of the desert was a spectacular way to spend the evening and sadly our last in Jordan. The following day we stated early with a camel ride by the surrounding dunes and through the small village of Wadi Rum. Our camel leaders were four young boys who could not have been more than 11 or 12 who shortly after we got started, pulled out a pack of cigarettes and began puffing away as though they had been smoking for a decade! Life is very different here and children don't appear to be children for long. We reached the port town of Aqaba mid morning, from where we were to wave goodbye to Jordan and get the ferry across to Egypt. The ferry is notoriously late and today was no exception. To pass
the time we feasted on a fresh seafood lunch and spent the afternoon exploring the local town which is a holiday favourite for Jordanians and other Gulf nationals. Though it was good to by the beach we didn't feel we could go swimming out if respect for the locals who were all heavily covered up, mostly swimming in their full clothing. Fast forward a few hours and it was time to board our vessel across the Gulf of Arabia. We were pleasantly surprised to board a luxurious cruiser, not an old, rusted ferry we had all anticipated. Minus a few pushy French tourists, it was a comfortable 2 hour crossing, with drinks and snacks even being served.As the sun faded behind the mountains of Sinai, out in international waters we could clearly sight Jordan, Egypt,Israel & the twinkling lights of Saudi Arabia. Farewell Jordan, I've had a great time and hope to return one day X
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