Deserts of Jordan

Every now and again a country comes along and sweeps you off your feet; a rare occurence which indeed touches your soul. I’ve had it a few places – Italy, London, New York, Athens to name a few, and now Jordan.

Jordan was best described to me by a local as a “quiet neighbour in a noisy street” and the description rang true. We had come from the chaos of Egypt, a rather noisy neighbour, into the tranquility of Jordan on the ferry to Aqaba. Arriving in Aqaba we were greeted by our driver, Ahmed, and swiftly escorted from the slightly shabby ferry terminal to the modern halcyon of the Radisson Blu just south of Aqaba. Over time I am becoming more enamoured with flash hotels (moving away from being utterly content with a clean bathroom and bed-bug free mattress may be a sign of maturity) and the location of this resort on the beach with multiple swimming pools met my new exacting standards. We settled in to watch the sunset over Egypt and Isarel on the other side of the Gulf of Aqaba with a complementary soft drink from the mini-bar.

I fear I relinquished my travellers mindset of curiously and adventure that night by opting for the in-house restaurant (much to Darryl’s chagrin) and thankfully the buffet dinner was actually rather tasty and varied.

Our next morning started a very leisurely 11am and we made our way to the Wadi Rum. This was one of the draw cards of Jordan for me as I had read of the beauty of the desert as a teenager and then at university when I learned about the ancient Nabateans. However reading about a place does not prepare you for being there. I am not really a fan of “nature” and my travel style favours large cities over being in the outdoors. Yet there was a brief moment when the wind stopped for a minute and there was utter silence; in a split second I felt untroubled, calm and settled.

We were on a 4WD tour with a local Bedouin man. He took us to the seven pillars and Lawrence’s camp. He seemed totally happy for Darryl and I to run through the sandy expanse and enjoy his backyard. I am already dreaming of when we can return to Jordan and camp in the desert.

Our next stop was Petra. Ahmed, our driver, is an avid beekeeper and nature lover so pointed out aspects of vegetation, flora and fauna along the way up into the mountains. It was could up there compared to the desert and getting out the car at an observation point to a chilling 15 degrees Celsius was startling! We arrived late afternoon and settled into our hotel. While the location was convenient, the TV didn’t work in our room and ther was not a lot to do. Some parts of travelling are very glamorous, some not so. DArryl and I spent several hours hand washing our clothes which meant that every ledge, rail, or opened drawer was turned into a makeshift clothes rack, I think I will always connect Petra with the smell of Persil. We did manage to catch the stunning sunset though.

Petra is like a Faberge egg. The beauty of the exterior (in this case the Siq) is only overshadowed by the interior which is revealed to the viewer after a built up of suspense. Petra brought together ancient civilisations, beauty, geography, history and wonder . We spent the whole day here walking down to the rose-coloured city, marvelling at the ancient tombs, climbing all the way to the monastery building at the top, riding camels and horses, taking photos , and building memeories. words do not do this city justice. Photos will have to surfice.