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Jerash Having got past Jordanian immigration our first stop was the ruins of Jerash. Again a place we had not heard of but that made it all the more enjoyable. Square Km's of pillar's, colonnaded streets on which you could see where the chariots had rutted the road's centuries before, ampitheatres and much much more.
We saw some bagpipe players and it was enough to bring tears to the eyes... it was painful.
There were beautiful mosaics on the floors of some of the buildings which unfortunately are exposed to direct sunlight - but like so much of what we have seen so far there is still so much to excavate and it will take decades to complete.
To conclude a wonderful surprise in what felt like the middle of nowhere.
Amman Back to western civilisation - advertising, helpful people and KFC. We were only here a matter of hours before we set off once more.
The Dead Sea This was definitely the best part of the day - good fun bobbing in the sea, scraping mud from between the salt and mineral deposits and smearing it all over yourself - Wonderful.
The sea is 390m below sea level. Trying to roll from your front to your back is a real effort, as is standing!!!
On the far coast is the West bank of Israel - floating in that direction is not advisable - but the scenery was very very beautiful.
Wadi Musa nr Petra We then drove for most of the evening through the mountains arriving in Wadi Musa long after dark.
The following day brought the highlight of Jordan - the city of Petra (which was a film set for Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade). We walked along a narrow pathway in the mountainside into the city itself, the scenery leading to Petra dominated by colourful rock formations. As seen in the film you turn a corner, and through the gap in the rock you view the Treasury of Petra, one of the iconic pictures on our travels. Once again, we got their early and it was us, a shop keeper and camels.
Far from being the only building, just behind the treasury the whole town is revealed, much of it spectacularly carved in rose coloured rock. Some of the buildings were still
being uncovered, only several months before our visit.
We decided to start by walking to the highest point of the city, where the monastery is situated, which is a tough climb in 40C heat, along dodgy looking pathways.
At the top you can have a much needed coke, and buy a momento of your visit before returning back the way you came. Although we did not, you can complete this entire walk by donkey, but to be honest I would suggest you do not do so as the animals do struggle with some of the weights they have to carry.
There are tombs on the hillside, one of which we sheltered in to have lunch. Some of these tombs the Romans had modified for their own purposes and Petra contains the only carved ampitheatre in the world.
To finish the day, the group got drunk watching Harrison Ford and Sean Connery running around Petra, pointing and shouting at the screen, just like we had done during the day.
In short, stunning.
Wadi Rum Our next destination was out into the desert to a traditional Bedouin camp. It was hot, damn hot... In the
afternoon we went on a jeep safari, driven through the dunes by a lad who looked no older than 14 to see rocks and sand dunes (trying to reach the top of one in particular was futile and burnt feet were common), and imagine where Lawrence of Arabia had been.
The evening was a wonderful truck dinner, which was late due to alcohol consumption, retiring to our beds, in bedouin tents, and rising early in the morning to dogs barking, echoing off the canyon walls.
Aqaba We left Wadi for the port of Aqaba and entry into Egypt. Chips for Breakfast before waiting for the boat to dock.
The day was to bring an insight into Egyptian efficiency. The boat docked on time - we all boarded and sat waiting for departure. More waiting. 2 hrs of waiting passed, the boat did not move - the reason being that ONE Egyptian official had boarded, made himself comfy in the lounge and waited for all the passengers to visit him and have their passports and shipping documents checked (concept of Q-ing does not exist here by the way). Please envisage that we are the only tourists on
this boat, which has 500+ people on it.
Boat travels across the sea while we watch an Arabian comedy that involves the events of 9-11. Very very strange, and a little unerving considering we were some of the only westerners onboard. While this is going on the female tourists are of particular interest to the other passengers and staring competitions begin, Carla won obviously!..
Upon docking in Egypt we then wait once more until the boat is allowed to empty it's passengers. From there we then visit immigration, where the truck is checked. More time passes. All around us every box, package and vehicle is being dissected in a way only the Egyptians can devise. Our truck is checked less thoroughly following a peanut bribe to one of the officials. They destroy their car suspensions and door frames by insisting on packing heavy objects to the roof of brand new vehicles.
Eventually we went to leave, but even then the Officials wanted us to wait for an escort - we were fed up of waiting and after a heated exchange between our driver and some officials we just drove off - this had taken nearly all day
to complete.
Egypt awaits
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