Blogs from South, Jordan, Middle East - page 3

13 mars (Toujours à Amman) La tempête fût terrible la nuit passée. Les bourrasques et la pluie secouaient la porte du balcon dans le dortoir alors que les soudaines frappes de tonnerre cognaient aux murs comme des coups de canon. Heureusement, au matin, le calme était de retour sur Amman malgré les blessures infligées, les arbres fracturés et les panneaux de circulation recourbés dans les rues. Il est 6h00AM alors que je délaisse une fois de plus la capitale pour miser sur le sud cette fois, en direction de Wadi Musa, ville accrochée à la fameuse Petra, l'une des sept merveilles du monde moderne. Les passagers se tiennent loin les uns des autres dans le bus (Jett). Ce n'est pas encore tant la folie du virus ici, mais ça viendra. Les routes bituminées d'Amman reflètent encore ... read more

Today we had a beautiful sunrise at the peaceful Bedouin camp. We left at 7 a.m. and went by 4 X4 to Sammy's camp for breakfast. After breakfast we traveled to Aqaba - a port city on the Red Sea. This city was a strategic city in WW1 with Lawrence of Arabia. Aqaba (English: /ˈækəbə/, also US: /ˈɑːk-/; Arabic: العقبة‎, ... read more

At last - Petra! Egypt Pyramids and Jordan Petra are the reasons why I picked this trip. I am looking forward to Israel as well, but right now I'm immersed in Jordan sights. Yesterday when we drove here it seems like we went quickly from the green north part of Jordan to the desert. The area around Petra is near the major trade and caravan routes between Egypt and Syria/Turkey/Armenia/Iran. The area is so rocky and it's difficult for me to see how there were trade routes through here. We got up early, had a 5 a.m. breakfast, left at 6 a.m. and were one of the first to arrive. This gave us the benefit of an uncrowded place and not in the heat of the day, Talal, our leader took us from #1 to #13 ... read more

‘Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade’ did for Petra what ‘The Sound of Music’ did for Salzburg, but with less nuns. The image of Harrison Ford galloping through the narrow canyon to arrive at the Treasury Building is an iconic one. Petra is one of those occasions when a movie set exists in real life. The gorge, properly called ‘The Siq’, is over a kilometre in length and, at times, is only three metres wide. It feels like a secret passage to hidden kingdom; because that’s what it is. At its end, quite by surprise, you emerge into an open space and the Treasury Building towers majestically above you. A wonderful, natural phenomenon gives way to a stunning human masterpiece. The design was intended to impress a traveller entering the city; it still does. For years, ... read more

For breakfast at the Wadi Rum lodge I raced to be first at the egg station. Since nobody else had yet put odd ingredients into the pan, I got some freshly cooked eggs for a change. One of the chefs was baking flat bread at the next station. I watched him roll out the dough and spread it on a convex oven top where it baked almost immediately. Then he peeled it off the oven and placed it into a basket. Nice warm pita bread and eggs. Plus juice and fruit and cereal. Today I determined to start with a good breakfast and it proved to be a good decision. After breakfast we boarded a fleet of pickup trucks for what they called a jeep safari led by Bedouin guides. Although they were not genuine Jeep ... read more