14th of June
After breakfast driving to the airport. We start to realize that this is actually the most dangerous part on our trip! Immigration and security is efficient; so efficient that they find our Swiss Army knives and take them away from us. Take-off on time and for the first time: we are happy to leave a place!
What a difference in Jordan! After a two hour flight we touch down in Aqaba. Service is superb, people extremely friendly and helpful and our driver is already waiting for us. In a 1 1/2 hour drive he brings us to Petra, one of the main attraction on our journey. We check in at the Mövenpick hotel (what a pleasure!) and here our guide Youssuf is already waiting. The tour takes over three hours but it is worth it. Funny enough our guide finds the weather very hot; for us it is quit pleasant. Guess Kuwait is helping us now!
Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the southern Jordanian governorate of Ma’an that is famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system. Another name for Petra is the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved.Established possibly as early as 312 BCE as the capital city of the Nabataeans, it is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan’s most-visited tourist attraction. It lies on the slope of Jebel al-Madhbah (identified by some as the biblical Mount Hor) in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of Arabah (Wadi Araba), the large valley running from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba. Petra has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985.The site remained unknown to the Western world until 1812, when it was introduced by Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt (Hää voo Basel isch är xi!). It was described as “a rose-red city half as old as time” in a Newdigate Prize-winning poem by John William Burgon. UNESCO has described it as “one of the most precious cultural properties of man’s cultural heritage”.
Back in the nice hotel room a quick shower, updating the webpage (some new videos are up) and a nice, cool beer at the bar before an excellent dinner! How we missed that the last few days!
In biblical times, the country that is now Jordan contained the lands of Edom, Moab, Ammon, and Bashan. Together with other Middle Eastern territories, Jordan passed in turn to the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, and, about 330 B.C. , the Seleucids. Conflict between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies enabled the Arabic-speaking Nabataeans to create a kingdom in southeast Jordan. In A.D. 106 it became part of the Roman province of Arabia and in 633–636 was conquered by the Arabs. In the 16th century, Jordan submitted to Ottoman Turkish rule and was administered from Damascus. Taken from the Turks by the British in World War I, Jordan (formerly known as Transjordan) was separated from the Palestine mandate in 1920, and in 1921, placed under the rule of Abdullah ibn Hussein.
For most of its history since independence from British administration in 1946, Jordan was ruled by King HUSSEIN (1953-99). A pragmatic ruler, he successfully navigated competing pressures from the major powers (US, USSR, and UK), various Arab states, Israel, and a large internal Palestinian population, through several wars and coup attempts. In 1989 he resumed parliamentary elections and gradually permitted political liberalization; in 1994 a formal peace treaty was signed with Israel. King ABDALLAH II – the eldest son of King HUSSEIN and Princess MUNA – assumed the throne following his father’s death in February 1999. Since then, he has consolidated his power and established his domestic priorities, including an aggressive economic reform program.
15th of June
Sorry – no up-date today. We are in the desert in a bedouin camp. Therefore no electricity or Internet. But here the update now:
Nice breakfast at the Mövenpick and at 07.30h our driver picks us up again and it takes us 1 1/2 hours to reach Wadi Rum, a Bedouin town in the desert. It looks like a poorer neighborhood and not so well taken care of. At the office of the trekking company we meet our guides and mean of transportation. The pilots do not know about it since it is a surprise: 3 camels! With our Bedouin guide we are off. Getting on top of the animals is already tricky but after a while we get into the rhythm of the animals and ride for 2 hours into the desert. The guide’s English is limited and we hear „Camel Taxi Wadi Rum very good“ over and over. But it is true and people are again very nice here. At a beautiful rock we meet our driver with his 30 year old Landcruiser. It is a bit worn out with its 200’000km+ but still works perfectly in this harsh environment.
We climb several rocks, dunes and small hills from where we have stunning views. It is quite hairy most of the times and never be permitted in the US. But here obviously nobody cares – and the desert is beautiful! The sand is getting very hot; actually so hot that the soles of the web masters shoes just come off! We see 4’000 year old writings in the walls, stop at Bedouin tents for tea and some rest. Lunch, cooked over an open fire, in the cool shade of a mountain is simple but very good. The following siesta quite relaxing before we go on through the desert. Alone we hike for 30 minutes through a canyon since the guide is waiting for us at the other end of it. From there a short drive to another bridge rock which is at least 20m high. Of course we should climb it; so we do. Another hairy experience but the view again is amazing. Another drive to the red desert and some meditation on big sand dunes. No other sound than the wind! Sunset we watch from another mountain we have to climb but again it is very rewarding!
A short drive to the camp where we have a traditional Bedouin dinner; chicken cooked in an underground oven. Very delicious but the cool beer is missing. As during the day we have some serious discussions with the locals; again very friendly people. We all three sleep in a tent; simple but comfortable and showers are also here!
Another long day but what a beautiful one!
