We were met in the lobby of the Cairo hotel by our 12 travelling companions, dispatched onto a bus to the airport, survived all the usual security travails and winged our way onwards to Amman, Jordan. Our group was an eclectic bunch, colours to be revealed (some more quickly than others!) over the next fortnight as we were ensconced in their midst for the entirety of our Jordan and Israel stays. We were all duly bussed to our quite reasonable hotel, the Marriot, through the outskirts and inner suburbs of bustling, cosmopolitan Amman. It seemed eminently civilised and affluent, especially in comparison to the seething, dusty hordes of impoverished humans we'd recently encountered in Egypt.
Cassy was succumbing very quickly to some virulent, energy-sapping bug so we laid low, sourced whatever drugs we could get from a local pharmacy and hoped for the best. The next day, Cass was too wasted to do anything, let alone traipse kilometres through ancient ruins in the sapping sun, so ensuring she was to call the hotel staff if she needed anything, I embarked on the journey to the Amman Citadel, then the city of Jerash. The citadel featured Roman ruins as well as statues dating back to 8,000BC, along with a museum.
Jerash was spectacular, one of the finest ancient Roman cities, and I was amazed to find an incredible lack of security surrounding the ruins. We were allowed to walk on crumbling mosaic tiles and scramble in and around various temples and colonnaded spaces. It was fascinating to walk on the original, flag stoned streets and see the deep ruts made by chariot wheels! It was on an immense acreage and my phone informed me I'd walked 17 kilometres by the time we returned, so lucky for Cass she'd stayed back to recover.
Cass was slightly recovered only the next day, but was determined not to miss anything else. We were beginning the journey to fabled Petra! Madaba, a market town, featured a 2 million piece mosaic floor depicting a map of the middle east from 560AD was thr first stop on the way. The bus then braved the dizzying heights of the King's Highway on the way to the impressive, ancient Crusader castle known as Shobak, perched on a mountain in near lunar landscapes. We trekked up the hill to investigate the handsome edifice, complete with catapult ammunition and slit windows for archer defence. Bussed onwards and ever upwards, we eventually arrived in the gloom of early evening to our hotel, defying gravity on the edge of a ridgeline and with a spectacular view of the town of Petra and the intimidating stone mountains hiding the ancient wonder itself! As we watched from the pool deck, great bales of mist rolled in, completely shrouding the mountains in a mater of minutes...yet more mystery!
With rain forecast, we made an early start the next morning. Our guide, Judeh, was an odd fellow, but I rated him as he had been very concerned and helpful when Cass was really sick. He guided us through the early tracks down into the valley, the sides of which increasingly rose and loomed, striated colours of rock, fashioned by wind and water over millennia into the most beautiful, sculptural shapes. The alley going down got ever more spectacular as we went, soaring high above us on either side, we had to strain our necks to spot a glimpse of the sky. On one of our regular stops to speak about some feature or other, he encouraged us to look back the way we'd come and move to the other side of the cavern. He then told us to turn around. To our amazement he'd manoeuvred us in to the perfect position to get our first look at the Treasury Building, that famous site much photographed in travel brochures. It was simply jaw dropping and a moment we'll never forget! Just then, however, the first plump, cold drops of rain fell and our day was to change quite dramatically!
It's an incredibly rare event to be allowed to enter the Treasury, but the crowd was given permission as the rain pelted down, water surged down the canyon and the little shelter from overhanging rock shelves seemed reserved for the Bedouin's camels and horses! It's rather unremarkable inside but affords a different view looking inside out. Eventually we braved the easing rain and ventured further down the gorge to the myriad of other carved abodes and temples. We spent hours trekking, photographing and drinking in the awesome colours of the rock washed in recent showers. Just as we reached the Treasury again to begin the long journey back up the cavern, it really hammered down! We were wading through shin deep, rushing water to get back and we weren't surprised to hear the site had been closed to new visitors and would remain so the following day. Lucky for us! We had the hairdryer working overtime that night drying shoes and had a magnificent local feast at a nearby restaurant. It was a day to remember!
We admit to our naiveite, but we had previously barely registered the name or place of Wadi Rum. How foolish did we feel when we drank in the full majesty of this surreal desert landscape?! After Petra, we were quite prepared to have a day of lesser wonder as few things in the world could compare. Well, this was, if anything, even more astounding. We bussed across vast plains of nothingness, stunning barren landscapes with odd little truck-stops evoking Jeffrey Smart paintings, and little else, until increasingly spectacular cliffs and rock formations began to rise from the desert on either side of the road. Pulling into a dusty, ramshackle town we transferred into 4 wheel drive utes driven by variously, fresh faced 14 year-olds or ancient, head-scarved, cigarette smoking, grizzled Bedouins. Our luggage was bundled inside the twin-cabs and we were hoisted onto bench seats in the open back trays, where we were to bump and bounce for hours across a landscape so surreal we thought we were dreaming!
Featuring in movies such as "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Martian" amongst others, this other worldly landscape has to be seen to be believed. The utes jammed through rutted sand tracks to reveal mountain after dune after natural wonder. Every time we rounded an outcrop, there was a completely different vista. We stopped, explored and climbed endlessly, until finally we arrived at our Bedouin camp and our luxury "tent" for the night. A billowing cloth hovered above the bed, an air conditioner kept the desert freeze at bay and we had a great night's sleep after gazing at a sky ablaze with starlight from our tiny veranda. After a hearty breakfast we boarded camels for a leisurely ride around the area and yet more sensational vistas before heading back to the utes, a rendezvous with the bus, then a trip to a vastly different landscape, the Dead Sea. On the way, we stopped briefly to view the puffing, still working steam locomotive used in the movie of Lawrence of Arabia!
Our final flirtation with the wonders of Jordan was a visit (and swim!) in the Dead Sea. Driving down, ever downwards this time, until we were below sea level we stopped at a luxury resort for a buffet lunch before donning swimmers and heading into the thick waters of the salt-laden sea! Doing the obligatory rubdown with mud from great vats of the stuff on the beach, we duly entered and floated around. Various tricks of flotation were attempted, but I found it difficult to keep my head above water when on my stomach, such was the force of the salt suspending the body on the very top layers. It was quite the unique sensation! Showered and with curiosity satisfied we headed back to Amman for the evening before heading to Israel in the morning, bright and early in what was to prove a tension-filled start to our Israeli adventure! (Jordan photo album here)