Blogs from South, Jordan, Middle East - page 48

Visiting Jordan with Philip (american and fellow backpacker), after surprisingly stunning Lebanon, is another treat: Playing backgammon, and mastering my ability to failure (bets cannot get better, and I rage when I loose), driving along the King Hussein Highway and its picturesque landscape while listening to Pussycat dolls tape all day long, dringking loads of chai (tea) and puffing the magic narguile all along, witnessing the beauty of the jordan scenery, whether its the camels in a deserted field (having the chance to meet a local bedouin that lets you ride one of its camel, make you some perfect and hot tea, and bargaining your price to the man travelling with you, suggesting you are worth 3 camels !!!)... I could keep on like that, the list is long for a seven day trip in the ... read more

Well kids that looks like it for Jordan. We're at the border town of Aqaba by the Red Sea. I've been looking forward to this for a lonnnnnng time. Tomorrow if all goes well I'll be going diving in Dahab. Yes!!! Can't wait man... Until now we haven't really gotten a chance to actually sit and write without being under a time crunch. This whole internet cafe hopping thing is so not cool. Miss spending hours on the computer doing nothing. Tonight we're getting on an overnight ferry that sails into Dahab in the Sinai peninsular. The ferry crossing is so random that we'll prob end up waiting for hours on each side. Where's a good book when you need one? I've been writing in my journal religiously so that will keep me occupied as well. ... read more

Wadi Rum is one of those magical places everybody should visit independently. Getting there is not that difficult-there are daily buses from Aqaba, in Rum village there are lot of busiessready local operators, and here is also a pretty affordable resthouse there. I arrived with the first minibus that day, and was met by a jeep owned by one of the local bedouins-a high, elegant man witch many western ladies probably would be big time attracted to. There are two ways to see Wadi Rum-by jeep or by camel. In my opinion the only way to see Rum properly, is to take an overnight trip with camel. Only then you will see ther dessert at its best during early morning, before sunset and also during the night. It is slow moving so you can really ... read more

Well I was planning on doing a single blog for all of Jordan seeing as we are only here for 4 nights, but the combined scenery of Wadi Rum and the city of Petra have put a spanner in the works for that. For anyone considering Petra, it is worth it. It was absolutely amazing, and if I seem t be repeating those exclamations, I will cover my bases and say the day at Petra is the highlight of the trip thus far. We rocked up there and started our tour with the guide and it was a 1.2km walk along the narrow passage you see in all the photos until you come to the 'Treasury'. It's only named that cs the British thought there was gold hidden in the top urn. They shot it ... read more

Today we visited the fabulous abandonded city of Petra. It's set in a large canyon accessible only through a long, tiny crack, about 1.2kms long and between 2 and 5 meters wide, with many twists and turns. Petra started off as a Necropolis for burying the dead - the Nabateans carved holes in the solid rock of the cliff for the corpse, and decorate the entrance with carvings. In some cases, these are fabulously ornate, the most spectacular of which is Al Khazneh, known more commonly as The Treasury. If you've seen Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, you'll recall the scene where Indy and co pass through the Canyon of the Crescent Moon to discover the Temple holding the Holy Grail - that's the treasury. It's pretty special from the outside, but there was ... read more