Thursday 27th February 2014 Dubai – Amman – Dead Sea

March 11, 2014 in Uncategorized

View over the Dead Sea from our Marriott Hotel room

Swimming pools, Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea,

Corinne and Tony in one of the pools, Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea

Drinks in our room, Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea

View of Jericho at night from Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea

Our Emirates Boeing 777 morning flight from Dubai to Amman took about four hours much of which was over Saudi Arabia which from the air looked to be an endless red desert dotted with circular irrigated fields.

We landed at the Queen Alia International Airport which is 30 km south of Amman and were met by a representative of the tour company we’re using. The airport is named after the former King Husayn’s much admired wife who was killed in a plane crash on returning from neighbouring countries where she was very active in charitable work with the under privileged.

Our group of now nine all bundled into a mini-bus and headed westwards from the airport towards the Dead Sea a distance of some 50 km. The air was cool (14C) and the sky sunny and generally clear

Our guide Abdullah gave us a running commentary on the way that mentioned so many familiar Biblical names and places that prompted reminders of incredibly boring school day’s scripture lessons and yet suddenly these names held a much more immediate interest.

Our journey led us towards the Jordan River valley where looking northwards we could see the city of Jericho. Near the small town of Husban was the peak of Mount Nebo (Jabal Nibu) where God told Moses “this is the land I sware (sic) unto Abraham, unto Isaac and unto Jacob.”

The Jordan Valley is a very rich fertile rift region where agriculture flourishes but moving away from the availability of water and the scene changes dramatically to one of parched, chalky white desert.

We’re staying for the next two days at the five star Marriott Hotel and Spa which is right on the north eastern corner of the Dead Sea. The absolute luxury of this place is a dramatic contrast to the accommodation we’ve mostly experienced over the last three weeks and we’re all looking forward to a bit of self-indulgence, if we can afford the prices of food and drinks! The hotel has four swimming pools, a water slide plus spas.

Directly opposite us on the Dead Sea is the West Bank of Israel and close by are Jerusalem and Bethlehem.

Our first objective was to try ‘swimming’ in the Dead Sea. This lake is so salty that the buoyancy makes the process of flotation such that one can sit upright as if in a comfy chair. The salty water stings any sensitive regions of the body like eyes and cracked lips so swimming as such is not recommended and most people just float around in a sitting position.

[Some interesting facts: The Dead Sea is the lowest place on the Earth’s surface being at -423m (i.e. 423m below sea level). The concentration of salt is 31.5% by mass compared to the open ocean which is about 3.5%. The pH of the water is around 6 and the density is 1.24 g/mL. The lake is 18km wide and 67km long with a maximum depth of 377m.]

The Dead Sea is suffering from the depleted waters of the Jordan River which flows into it at the northern end. The irrigation of crops in the valley has meant the level of the Dead Sea is dropping about a metre a year!

In the early evening we had pre-dinner drinks in our room and then enjoyed a delicious buffet meal with a bottle of quite classy shiraz wine.

Before bed we strolled around the hotel gardens which are magnificent with numerous palms, orange trees, flower beds and manicured lawns. The city lights of Jericho were plain to see and we were informed that with a bit of imagination the faint glow in the sky beyond the West Bank mountain range was the lights of Jerusalem.

Tomorrow we have a day of R&R here at the Dead Sea.

Evening view from Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea

Friday 28th February 2014 Marriott Hotel and Spa, Dead Sea.

March 10, 2014 in Uncategorized

Orange blossom, Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea

Avenue of palms, Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea

Petunia flower bed, Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea

John, Chris, Janet and Tony floating in the Dead Sea

Early morning view from our Marriott Hotel window, Dead Sea

This was the first day for nearly a month where we woke up and could do whatever we wanted for the day as it was commitment free.

We started with a leisurely breakfast where the range of food on offer was so extensive and everything looked so delicious that it was difficult to decide what to have.

The remainder of the morning was spent in and around the hotel catching up on some washing, sending a few messages and up-loading the ‘blog’ from the past few days when communication was restricted.

We then returned to the Dead Sea beach in front of the hotel and relaxed in the saturated saline liquid for an hour before transferring to one of the hotel’s heated pools.

We stayed poolside for the next few hours and then showered and went for a walk northwards along the main road outside the hotel. We were immediately made aware of the ‘hoon’ mentality of many of the Jordanian male drivers who enjoy tyre screeching and burn-outs and drive too fast. No women drivers were seen.

Another observation of interest is the number of males who smoke and the fact that cigarette butts are discarded everywhere.

Pre-dinner drinks were followed by pizzas and sea bass washed down with some fine Jordan River cabernet sauvignon wine. (The sea bass is imported from Argentina!)

This has been a quiet and relaxing day but tomorrow is March and then we’ll be on the march again!

Saturday 1st March 2014 Dead Sea – Dana – Finan (Fynan/Feynan)

March 09, 2014 in Uncategorized

Clouds behind mountains above Dana Village

Mountains between Dana & Feynan Ecolodge

Our group of nine plus luggage was bundled into the mini-bus and we said farewell to the Marriott’s luxury and headed southwards along the eastern side of the Dead Sea. We had a couple of stops along the way to observe areas just above the shoreline where the crystals of salt were piled high and sparkled in the morning sunshine. We also viewed the remains of a 5th century port on the embankment above the Dead Sea. Little is known about the history of this port but archaeological diggings are occurring now in order to find out more.

We also stopped at a point where above the road on a prominent cliff-top was a tall needle like geological feature of ‘salt-rock’ which has Biblical significance as it’s the ‘original’ Lot’s Wife.

There are numerous deep gulches or ravines that have been carved through the surrounding hill sides bringing water down to the Dead Sea although at this time of the year the rivers and streams have mostly dried up or the water retained for irrigation by many small dams within the ravines.

A fairly narrow band of land on the Jordan side of the Dead Sea is heavily utilised by agriculture with the dominant crops being tomatoes, potatoes, bananas and corn.

The border between Israel and Jordan runs down the middle of the Dead Sea until the southern most point where it crosses to the eastern side so we were now travelling within a few hundred metres of the border. Check points and guards were apparent but we weren’t stopped.

In this southern region agriculture gives way to a number of industrial plants where potash extraction and cement production are the main industries.

We then ventured off the north south road and commenced to climb up a winding road that would eventually bring us to Dana 30km away. The scenery was barren and steep with barely a tree to be seen and yet the stark features of this lunar landscape had an appeal due to the multiple rock colours and the way the light changed from bleached mountain peaks to deep and dark valleys.

Dana sits at the head of a magnificent broad valley (wadi) and was once the site of ancient copper mines. It is a 15th century village and made up of a collection of stone cottages on the edge of a precipice surrounded by orchards. Many of the original stone buildings are being progressively restored with the intention of making Dana a tourist centre specialising in handicrafts and organic foodstuffs.

After lunch at Dana we retraced our steps and returned to lower regions once again close to the Dead Sea. We were headed for our overnight location of Finan, also spelt Feynan etc. To our distress, the roads were strewn left and right with rubbish, especially black plastic shopping bags and empty drink bottles. Sadly Jordan has a terrible problem with litter which seems to be discarded everywhere without concern.

On arrival at the so-called ‘reception’ for the Feynan Eco Lodge we waited and waited and eventually along came two very old dual-cab utilities and our luggage was loaded into the back and nine of us crammed into the two vehicles; what a squash!

We then drove in semi darkness along a rough track for about 8km and arrived at an ‘oasis’ which will be our home for the next two days.

The eco-lodge is clean and the rooms very comfortable with our own bathroom and warm water. The lodge has solar powered heating and cooking facilities and candles are used to light the rooms.

We enjoyed a very pleasant vegetarian evening meal followed by a talk from one of the lodge managers giving details of the plans for trekking tomorrow.

The weather looks to be very dry and the evening temperature is quite balmy.

Tomorrow we explore this Roman/Byzantine region!

Shop at Sunset Point near Feynan Ecolodge

Sunday 2nd March 2014 Finan (Fynan/Feynan)

March 08, 2014 in Uncategorized

Early morning view from our balcony, Feynan Ecolodge

Bedouin man riding donkey, near Feynan Ecolodge

Our guide Ahmed making bedouin tear near Feynan Ecolodge

The Feynan Eco-Lodge we’re staying in has accommodation for only about 20 and last night the place was full as the resort is the focal point for trekking in the Dana Biosphere Reserve.

After breakfast we were joined by Ahmed, a local guide and we commenced a walk upwards and south eastwards towards Dana although our intention was to go only about one third of the way. The track followed the dry river bed in the bottom of this broad valley (wadi) with sheer mountain ridges on either side.

The geology is fascinating with huge red granite outcrops protruding into the river course forcing the river to meander about.

On high banks above the river there were several Bedouin Camps with their traditional long black tents and associated animal enclosures. These are their winter ‘lowland’ camps and when the heat of summer comes they will move to higher regions in the mountains where there is more feed for their herds of goats.

Along the path one occasionally comes to a small spring where water slowly exudes from between the rocks and the locals have tapped this valuable resource with polythene pipes directing water to the Bedouin camps. These oases are the only green areas and it seems incredible to us that goats could find sufficient greenery to survive in this arid and rocky landscape. The only plants seen included bamboo, poison onions, thorny acacias, poison apples, cedars and oleanders most of which is inedible. It’s a point worth considering that the barren surroundings and paucity of plant life is in fact due to the extraordinary number of goats in the area. Herds of one hundred goats per family appears to be an average.

A number of important small plants grow in gravelly places between the rocky crags and their various medicinal and antiseptic uses were described by Ahmed. He also found succulent leaves of a plant that when crushed produced a lathering soap-like foam which is used by Bedouins for hand washing.

Although this is supposedly a nature reserve the Bedouins still have entitlements to graze their goats and until further restrictions are imposed the area is fraught with this perennial problem of goats denuding the environment.

After about two hours of walking up the wadi we stopped and Ahmed lit a small fire and produced a billy and water from his pack together with cups, tea, sugar and Artemisia (a plant like camomile) that was to give nice herb flavour to the tea.

The brew was thoroughly enjoyable and the ceremony marked our turn around point as we then commenced back down the wadi to the Lodge, arriving after about four hours of easy strolling in this desert landscape.

In the later afternoon we were to do a ‘sunset walk’ but the increased cloud cover meant that it was more appropriately called a ‘dusk stroll’. We walked from the Lodge back along the road towards Finan a couple of kilometres and past the local elementary school which looked to be surprisingly modern and well kept. We then diverted up a steeper track to the top of a small rocky hill where a local had set up a coffee shop and souvenir stall (surprise, surprise!!). Our guide Mohammed then set about preparing a small camp fire and making his own hot brew of tea and herbs for us. We sat down and enjoyed our tea while Mohammed gave us a detailed talk on life as a Bedouin including such intimate details as sexual expectations of multiple wives and how toileting is performed in the open in a rocky environment.

Darkness came quickly and we headed back to the Lodge for some pre-dinner drinks and then our evening meal which once again involved a very interesting and comprehensive range of local vegetarian foods.

Tomorrow we head for Petra which for many of us is the key reason we’ve come to Jordan; let’s hope we’re not disappointed! We’ll let you know soon.

Monday 3rd March 2014 Finan (Fynan/Feynan) – Petra

March 07, 2014 in Uncategorized

Bedouin playing musical instrument, Little Petra

Breakfast at the Feynan Eco Lodge is held outside on the terrace area adjacent to the dining room. Local cats are a pest and in an attempt to shoo away a cat from her table, one of the guests suddenly found a goat attempting to climb onto her chair and take her meal. Sinclair jumped to the rescue and drove a swift boot into the goat and then John grabbed the goat by the horns and quickly despatched it to the track. Bravo!

The drive from the Lodge back to the Reception area on the main road was undertaken once again in old dual cab utilities although this time there were three vehicles and hence the ride was much less crowded. The cars were so old, rattly and dilapidated it is surprising that they still managed to go and the door panels and windows were either rusted, missing or jammed.

Due to road closures and or bad roads we then drove by a convoluted pathway via the ancient village of Dana to Al-shawbak Castle.

Our first sight of this 12th century constructed castle high on the hill ahead was most impressive as elsewhere there was nothing but barren rocky hillsides and desert.

Shawbak or Montreal as it was known was constructed in 1115 by Baldwin as an outpost of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in Outrejordan. This is a Crusader Church with its high and prominent position giving it strategic value in times of warfare where boulders and hot oil could be poured from the towers onto intruders below.

Not much remains of the castle except for a few rooms, corridors and several archways. An internal and dark stairway leads down 300m to a spring below so water could be brought up even during times of external siege.

Shawbak was later taken over by Arab tribes of Ayyubids and Mamlukes who made extensive reconstructions some of which are recorded with Arabic inscriptions on the outer faces of the remaining towers.

In the afternoon we headed south towards Petra and made a stop at Little Petra or more correctly Siq al-barid. This is a magnificent collection of 2nd century tombs, temples, triclinia (dining areas), water channels, niches, staircases and other structures within a narrow sandstone gorge. In some places the siq (fissure) is only one metre wide and reminded us of Shipton’s Arch in the Slot Canyons near Kashgar in Western China. The temples and tombs are carved into the sandstone rock, a task that must have taken many thousands of hours as the facades are beautifully formed with Corinthian columns and fresco paintings on the ceilings. We were so lucky as our visit happened to occur when no other tourists were present and the whole area was peaceful and utterly serene. The whole vista at Little Petra is absolutely stunning and surely a hint of what we’ll see at Petra tomorrow.

Tonight we’re staying in Petra township at the Amra Palace Hotel (3star?) and our bedroom is 50m from the minaret of the local mosque so ‘calls to prayer’ are VERY noisy!! C’est la vie!

Tuesday 4th March 2014 Petra

March 06, 2014 in Uncategorized

From our hotel to the Petra Visitors’ Centre was a five minute bus trip and at 8.00am with absolutely perfect weather we were all ready to start our day of visiting Petra and none of us would be anything but awe struck by the end of the day!

It is virtually impossible to describe in words what we’ve seen here in Petra in terms of architectural magnificence on the grandest of scales. Archaeologists agree that Petra ranks with the Pyramids of Egypt and Machu Picchu as amongst the most important archaeological treasures in the world. That said, it has now been made a World Heritage site and given the status of being one of the new Seven Wonders of the World.

Petra is more than two thousand years old with the city originally being the capital of the Nabataean Empire. There is also evidence of human settlement here and land use as long as ten thousand years ago.

In the first century BC Arab tribes from Yemen and nearby settled here in Southern Jordan and these people, the Nabataeans established themselves as the undisputed masters of the region’s trade routes, specialising in frankincense, myrrh, silk, ivory, animal hides and spices. At this time Petra was strategically placed at the crossroads of trade routes between the Mediterranean, India, China, Arabia and Africa.

Their success as traders was complemented by their advanced hydrological skills in collecting and controlling water flow throughout the city. Petra has numerous water channels, aqueducts, stone reservoirs and tunnels for the capture of water in this desert landscape.

Petra was later annexed to the Roman Empire and continued to thrive until changes to trade routes and some devastating earthquakes led to the downfall of the city which was eventually abandoned. By the 7th century AD Petra appears to have been largely deserted and then it was lost to all except local Bedouin from the area.

Then in 1812 the Swiss explorer Johannes Burckhardt (later to be a colleague of Joseph Banks) set out to rediscover this beautiful and ancient city. His discovery of Petra with help from the local Bedouins was of international significance and even then it began attracting visitors as it continues to do so today.

The Nabataeans used many outside cultural influences in the building of this fabulous city. The building architecture exhibits classical (Graeco-Roman), Egyptian and Mesopotamian styles with all fused into one unified form. Apart from normal living areas, the city was set out with paved roads, marbled surfaces on the sandstone buildings, agricultural terraces, aqueducts, temples, theatres, palaces, tombs and monasteries.

Our visit started with a gentle stroll heading from the visitors’ Centre westwards and our first major encounter with antiquity was the Obelisk Tomb and the Bab as-Siq Triclinium. The extraordinary thing about all the monuments seen is that they are carved out of the sandstone cliff walls, the size of the task being incomprehensibly vast! The sandstone is multicoloured but the dominant colour is rusty red indicating the presence of iron.

The path followed the as-Siq which is a natural water course cut through the rock which in places is 300m deep and yet only 3 or 4 metres wide. We walked along this narrow meandering pathway with huge jagged cliffs above us and then we turned a slight corner and came face to face with Al-Khazneh (The Treasury). This is an awesome sight to behold and was stunning in the early morning sun. Carved into the cliff-face ahead is the façade of a first century tomb 30m wide and 43m high. The Nabataean architectural style is blended with Hellenistic features such as 12 giant columns intricately decorated with Corinthian capitals featuring carved animal and human figures. The centre piece of the upper section is crowned with a large funerary urn which according to local legend conceals a pharaoh’s treasure! The Treasury is believed to be the mausoleum of the Nabataean King Aretas IV (9BC – 40AD). This mesmerising structure features prominently in the Indiana Jones movie “The Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

It’s impossible to relate information on everything we saw but after leaving the Treasury we passed down a section called the ‘Street of Facades’ and then the road widened and we came to The Theatre.

The Theatre is carved into the side of a mountain at the foot of the High Place of Sacrifice. The format is of Roman design with semi-circular seating sufficient to accommodate 4000 spectators!

Further on, high above us, carved into the side of the mountain on the other side of the Siq were the Royal Tombs. The whole scene was becoming a little too hard to comprehend; these sights were so magnificent, so old and yet in remarkably good order it was as if we were caught up in some extraordinary dream.

After passing down The Colonnaded Street and passing through the archway we came to the Great Temple. Nearby we stopped for a drink and a bite to eat and to take stock of all the things we’d encountered during the last few hours.

After lunch we climbed the 800+ steps to Ad-Dayr or The Monastery. This is one of the largest monuments in Petra measuring 47m wide by 51m high and it dates to the early 2nd century AD. It’s somewhat like The Treasury in basic architectural style but the bas-reliefs are less detailed and the columns have plainer decorative designs.

We ventured further afield to three look-out points to absorb the visual feast that lay below us; we were struggling to reconcile our minds with this unbelievable spectre. It was a true mental overload.

Our return journey, some nine hours later involved the 5.8km walk back through all the monuments we’d discovered earlier in the day.

Even seeing things again for the second time made it hard to comprehend the marvel that is Petra.

Memories flooded back of a poem we’d learnt at school which at the time meant nothing to us at all. The poem by Dean Burgon (?) had the lines…”match me such a marvel save in Eastern clime/ A rose-red city half as old as time….” We had no idea that this of course was a reference to Petra, the rose-red city!

Certainly this was a day that will never be forgotten; truly a wondrous opportunity to see such a place!!

Wednesday 5th March 2014 Petra – Wadi Rum

March 05, 2014 in Uncategorized

The road south from Petra to Wadi Rum climbs initially out of Petra township to a high point where we stopped and viewed the scene over the archaeological site for the last time. The activity seen below appeared frenetic as there were thirty or more buses in the Petra car park and the crowds were milling at the entrance. The so-called ‘high-season’ for Petra is from mid-March to July and it’s about to occur. We were very lucky to have visited Petra on what was apparently a fairly ‘quiet’ day.

We then followed the King’s highway south where the terrain drops away some 600m from the heights of Ras al-naqab to the plains of Quweirah below. These plains are a vast expanse of pinkish sandy desert with pinnacles of sandstone rock of every imaginable shape thrusting up from the desert floor. This part of south-eastern Jordan is called Wadi Rum.

This is the land of (T.E.) Lawrence of Arabia where the desert, the mountain peaks, the blue skies, the pink red sand and the silence are all encapsulating and were described by T.E. Lawrence in ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ in the most evocative description as “vast, echoing and godlike”.

The name Wadi Rum is derived from wadi meaning valley and the ancient Semitic word irum meaning heights probably a reference to the enormous crags that erupted from the sands many millions of years ago.

Our first stop was at Wadi Rum Railway Station which is a small building on the side of narrow gauge line connecting a central phosphate mine with the southern port of Aqabah on the Red Sea. There is another reason for stoping here as on the rail siding there is an old steam train with two wooden carriages and a gun carriage flying a Turkish flag. This is the train used in the 1960s movie “Lawrence of Arabia”. The carriages are in remarkably good order and one is upholstered with plush material despite its apparent abandonment here in the desert in the middle of no-where!

A little further down the road we stopped at a point where across the desert stood a craggy sandstone mountain range with prominent towers or pillars. This unusual geological feature is the basis to the title of T.E. Lawrence’s autobiography ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’.

After a lunch break at Wadi Rum visitors’ centre we took a camel ride for an hour across to Lawrence’s Spring where a fissure in the mountain provides drinking water for stock and humans in this parched world. The camels were led by camel drivers and were mostly well-behaved except Janet G’s which reared up and attempted to buck her off. Fortunately she didn’t suffer much more than a big fright and a small injury to her finger.

We then loaded all our gear into two 4x4 one of which was set out with covered seating on the flat-tray.

We drove around amongst these phenomenal mountain peaks and did a few short walks, one of which was onto a 10m high ridge where there was a natural rock bridge. We also climbed a steep sand-dune and the great view from the top was worth the effort. On descending this 100m high dune we encountered a large group of Japanese tourists some of whom were climbing but most were laughing at the difficulty they experienced in trying to climb in very steep soft sand. Many were wearing dust masks and all were photographing each other.

Another small excursion took us to a narrow gorge where we saw the Al-emeleh inscriptions. These entail a large number of quite well preserved Thumudic rock drawings of animals and scenes. One side had words written but unfortunately there had been very much more recent graffiti which certainly detracted from the value of this historic site.

The sunset was a little disappointing as the sky was a little dusty and the colour of the sinking sum was a blurry yellow rather than the blood red we’d been expecting.

We then arrived at our Bedouin camp where we’ll stay for two nights. The campsite is only 34 km from the Saudi Arabia border! The camp is set in a 100m circular sandy flat area surrounded by a natural amphitheatre of high sandstone rock walls with only one narrow entrance laneway making the campsite a hidden oasis. The camp is a collection of eight black and white Bedouin tents the largest of which is the dining and meeting room tent. Each tent is covered with thick black felt like material made from camel hair and stripes of white heavy grade cotton. The rooms are on carpet-covered sand and are very comfortable considering the isolation from running water and electricity. There is a generator for lights that come on for evening meal time and bedtime. Water for washing is brought in by truck and stored in tanks just behind the campsite.

After a camp-oven BBQ meal of chicken, vegetables and traditional Bedouin tea we all sat round on the floor with the other guests and chatted while one of the Bedouins played a six stringed lute and sang.

After a game of “Pass the Pigs” and a hand clapping game we headed for our beds which we were expecting to be cold but the tents’ insulation plus the thick blankets resulted in us being too hot!

Tomorrow we explore on foot the sandy deserts surrounding our camp.

Thursday 6th March 2014 Wadi Rum Bedouin Camp

March 04, 2014 in Uncategorized

We all slept very well in our Bedouin tents (maximum of 4 per tent) and awoke to find yet another totally clear blue sky day and breakfast ready for an early start. A quick wash seemed preferable to a cold shower at this time of the morning!

The plan for the day was rather ‘open-ended’ with the principal objective to do a walk in the desert with a guide. Was this to be 4 or 6 hours? What were we to do about lunch? No one was quite sure what this ‘little’ expedition into the desert was to entail.

Our guide was friendly but not communicative and headed off down the sandy road out of our hidden enclave. We all followed and away we went on our magical mystery tour of Wadi Rum.

The scenery was one of never ending flat orange desert sands with sheer sandstone mountains providing a backdrop of dramatic form.

The sand has few plants and those that tolerate this desiccated world are stunted and low. Occasionally there would be a miniature iris giving a splash of purple colour in an otherwise monochrome orange landscape.

Apart from the very high jagged sandstone mountain walls that created a maze of pathways, there were occasional single large boulders sitting alone on the desert sands presumably dropped from the high cliffs above during some cataclysmic seismic event. These ubiquitous mountains showed the signs of possibly 30 million years of weathering which had produced strange shapes reminiscent of the Salvatore Dali desert sculptures of the Bolivian high plains.

During our walk we saw little in the way of animal life although there were tracks of animals in the sand said to be those of foxes, hedgehogs and native cats. Plenty of small lizards were sighted as were beetles, ants and a desert mouse. There were four or five species of birds seen including swifts and desert ravens.

The sandy valley floor is around an average of 1000m m above sea-level and the jagged mountain crags rise a further 600 – 800m above this plateau. These slabs of rock were forced upwards by the clashing of tectonic plates that resulted in the formation of The Great Rift Valley that extends from Turkey down through Jordan and into Africa as we saw in Ethiopia.

The highest mountain we passed was Jabal ram (1754m) and this is a popular climbing site for (mostly) European climbers. The sheer face they climb is about 750m and looks to be impossible but there are easier paths to the top for mere mortals.

After three hours of heavy trudging through soft sand we stopped for lunch at a spot where our camp cook had arranged to meet up with the guide. The lunch was pleasant as it was in the shade and the coolness very much welcomed.

Cook with argileh at picnic lunch, Wadi Rum

Some of our group then returned to the camp in the 4x4 vehicle but the rest of us battled on and completed the six hour walk, returning to our Bedouin campsite in the mid afternoon dripping in sweat and dreaming of cold beer, a commodity that sadly makes no appearance in this Islamic community.

Cold showers were a welcome end to this ‘hard’ walk but the satisfaction of having spent a day in this spectacular topography left us all with the verdict that the effort was well and truly worthwhile!

Our evening meal was followed by more Bedouin music on lute and a traditional drum and then lots of highly informative stories and information about the life of Bedouin camel drivers.

Our group was showing signs of exhaustion and as it was now dark most retreated to the tents for an early night (asleep by 8.30pm!!).

Our Bedouin camping experience has been another highlight in this unforgettable adventure!

Friday 7th March 2014 Wadi Rum – Amman

March 03, 2014 in Uncategorized

After breakfast we left the Bedouin campsite at 7.30am and drove back to Wadi Rum Visitors’ Centre half an hour away where our bus was waiting as pre-arranged.

We then commenced a four hour bus ride north on the King’s Highway headed for Amman but with the intention of a couple of stops along the way.

The first stop was at the mosaic city of Ma’daba which is set amid fertile rolling plains of red soil much of which is now showing evidence of a recently planted wheat crop. The expanse of green around us was a very pleasant change and the township of Ma’daba looked to be quite prosperous.

Ma’daba traces its origins to biblical times but it is as the centre of Byzantine mosaic production that it’s become prominent.

At the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George we encountered the 6th century Ma’daba Mosaic Map portraying the physical boundaries of the Eastern Byzantine world from the eastern Mediterranean to the Nile Delta and Red Sea. The map is made from tiny natural coloured stones (tesserae) and shows in vivid form, rivers, valleys, The Dead Sea and has Jerusalem with its Church of the Holy Sepulchre as the centre piece. It is the oldest surviving map of Palestine. What is on display in the St. George Church is a small remaining fraction of the original which is thought to be up to 25m long and to contain two million tesserae.

After a prolonged stop at a shop selling mosaic tiles and other souvenirs we eventually moved on a short distance to Jabal nibu (Mount Nebo) which according to the Old Testament is where Moses went up from the plains of Moab and was offered the ‘promised land’ by the Lord. Moses then died supposedly at the age of 120. His grave is said to be on this mountain and it has subsequently become a place of pilgrimage since the early days of Christianity.

The view out across the ‘Promised Land’ to the west covers the Jordan Valley and the ancient city of Jericho. The hazy conditions prevented us seeing Jerusalem and Bethlehem as we’d hoped. The Marriott Hotel where we’d stayed six days earlier was also below us on the shores of the Dead Sea but not visible through the dusty gloom.

On display there are a number of mosaics decorations that were discovered by a team from the Franciscan Biblical Institute of Jerusalem in 1933. The 6th century basilica nearby is presently being refurbished but was originally the first century little Church of Moses discovered by the Roman Pilgrim Egeria in 394 AD. A bronze snake on a cross outside the church symbolises the serpent lifted up by Moses in the desert and Jesus on the Cross.

NOTE: We’ve heard a great deal of biblical information today that may be better described as ‘mythology’ and certainly not fact. It was pointed out that even the existence of a single man called Moses is doubtful despite what is proposed in the Old Testament (Deut. 34:1, 4-5).

The remaining part of the day saw us find our way into Amman and being Friday the beginning of the Islamic weekend, there were lots of families having picnics and barbecues on the side of the main highway in amongst all the litter. Our guide said that they are the ones who create this unsightly mess. We eventually arrived at our hotel where hot showers and cold beer were welcome changes to our routine from the last few days. Our evening meal in the hotel was a bit of a disaster with the whole event being like an episode of Fawlty Towers.

Saturday 8th March 2014 Amman

March 02, 2014 in Uncategorized

Banadol used for measuring heights, Ajlun Castle

Group photo at Nymphaeum fountain, Jarash

This was to be our final full day in Jordan as tomorrow afternoon we commence our journey home.

With this in mind we reviewed the sights on offer around Amman and decided to spend the day at two places rather than rush around and try to see everything. The two tourist sites were Ajlun Castle and Jarash both about 60km north of Amman on the highway to Syria.

We left Amman with the weather forecast predicting a maximum temperature of 28C and the possibility of some rain. (We’ve not had any rain since a brief shower on our trip across Lake Tana in Ethiopia.)

Aljun Castle is one of the better preserved examples of medieval Islamic military architecture in the whole Middle East.

The Castle was built between 1184 and 1188 AD by Izz ed-Din Ousama who was regarded as one of Saladin’s most capable military generals. Saladin (Salah’ ad Din) was triumphant over the Crusaders and evicted them from Jordan in 1189. Aljun Castle became a base from which Islamic forces defended the region against Crusader expansion.

The Castle was partially destroyed by Mongol raiders in 1260 but because of its strategic defensive position it was then rebuilt by the Mamlukes. It has suffered further damage caused by earthquakes in both the 19th and 20th centuries.

Aljun Castle is built from large limestone blocks on the top of Mt. Auf at 1250m above sea-level. The maze of galleries, chambers, vaults, staircases and towers built from these massive blocks gives the impression that as a fortress it would have been impregnable and the effect is both atmospheric and evocative. Within Aljun Castle there is also a small museum with very interesting exhibits and explanations of mostly ancient bronze and pottery artefacts found in and around the castle dating back over the past five thousand years.

After a brief lunch break at a local bakery we drove the short distance back to Jarash.

Apart from the magnificence of Petra there is nothing else in Jordan to visually rival the spectacular ancient Roman city of Jarash which is regarded by many as the best preserved Roman city in the world.

Graeco-Roman Jarash was first built by the Greek armies of Alexander the Great in the 2nd century BC. It flourished as a provincial trading centre after the Roman general Pompeii conquered the region in 63 BC. The city then reached its peak in the 2nd century AD as one of the ten cities that comprised the Decapolis League. This league was a prosperous confederation of ten Roman cities linked by powerful commercial, cultural and political interests. This brought great economic benefits to Jerash and trade flourished with the Nabatean Empire based in Petra.

Jarash displays all the grandeur of Roman provincial urbanism, comprising paved and colonnaded streets, soaring hilltop temples, magnificent theatres, vast public squares and plazas, fountains, grand arches, gates and all enclosed within a sturdy city wall.

We entered Jerash through Hadrian’s Arch, built to celebrate the visit of Emperor Hadrian to Jerash in 129 AD. This huge triumphal arch was intended to become the main southern gate to the city. Our next site visited was the partly restored Hippodrome which is a massive arena 245m long and 52m wide. The Hippodrome with a seating capacity of 15,000 was used for chariot races, marching soldiers, gladiator fighting and other such Roman ‘sports’.

Passing along the impressive city wall we reached the Oval Plaza, a space measuring 90m x 80m surrounded by a colonnade of first century Ionic columns and some remodelled second century Corinthian capitals and columns. There are two altars and a fountain in the middle.

Leaving the Plaza and heading westwards brought us up a small hillside to the South Theatre. This was the main gathering place for on-stage entertainment as the semi-circular, steeply tiered theatre could accommodate 3000 spectators and has extraordinary sharp acoustics as we found. It is still used nowadays for local cultural and arts festivals. Interestingly, there are still Greek letters on some of the seats, presumably used to indicate places for those who had reserved seating!

Adjacent to the South Theatre are the remains of the Temple of Zeus built about 162 AD. This temple has a Classical appearance with 15m high Corinthian columns and a temenos (an enclosed holy precinct).

At this stage on our visit we were becoming a little overloaded with visual grandeur and somewhat awestruck by the never ending pathway to further spectacular monuments and architectural splendour.

In an abbreviated format let it be said that for the next three hours we continued on to see The Church of St. Theodore, the North Theatre, the Cathedral, the Macellum, the South Tetrapylon, the Nymphaeum (fountain) and the Temple of Artemis.

Artemis, the daughter of Zeus and sister of Apollo was the patron goddess of Jerash. Although small, the temple’s eleven remaining Corinthian columns soar impressively from the hilltop site. The columns were built with lead metal padding between the sections making them able to move slightly and thus not break and fall in the event of an earthquake. Their slight movement was dramatically demonstrated for us with people putting their fingers in the gaps and feeling the ‘squeeze’ when these high columns were pushed.

For the first time in nearly three weeks it started to rain slightly and as we were nearing the end of our visit all we had to do was walk back along the 800m of colonnaded central street called the Cardo (from cardiac = heart). On either side of this broad sidewalk are recessed spaces which were thought to be shops. An underground sewerage/storm water system runs the full length of the Cardo with holes at regular intervals to take rain water from the street.

After an afternoon of a fascinating encounter with Graeco-Roman history we headed back the 45km to Amman to prepare for our homeward travel tomorrow.

This has been an afternoon that will never be forgotten; it’s up with Petra in terms of the awe inspiring vista!!

Sunday 9th – Tuesday 11th March 2014 Amman – Dubai – Kuala Lumpur – Melbourne – Hobart

March 01, 2014 in Uncategorized

On arrival at the Amman International Airport we said farewell to Diana and Chris who were heading to Athens for a week before returning to Adelaide.

The remaining group of seven, on arrival at Dubai, had just under six hours before we split into three groups with Sinclair and Janet G. flying directly through to Adelaide, Sue departing for Sydney with this leaving John and Janet E. and us heading for Melbourne via KL.

For all flights security was expectedly tight as at the time of our travelling there was still no information on the missing Air Malaysia B777 200. Our international flights were all on Emirates Boeing 777s but in the newer B777 300s. The stop-over in KL was for an hour and forty minutes but as there was a change of crew and cleaners came on board we had to leave the plane and wait in the transit lounge.

At this stage we’d already moved our clocks forward six hours and we weren’t sure whether it was morning or evening.

The last long haul into Melbourne took a further six hours flying time and another three hours advancement of our watches so we landed at Tullamarine at 1.30am Tuesday. Monday was a non event!

Customs checked our bits and pieces from Ethiopia and all was OK except Corinne’s (cheap) bead necklaces which turned out to be seeds of an undesirable weed!

We then said farewell to John and Janet and wished them well for their forthcoming trips to Fiji and the UK.

We now have a five hour wait at Tullamarine before our 7.00am flight to Hobart. Assuming the flight to Hobart is on time we should be home by 9.00am and can say that, remarkably we’ve had no transport problems at all during this last five weeks apart from one flat tyre.

This was a holiday that was deemed to be “adventurous” to the extent that in Ethiopia we visited areas and tribes that are not frequented by tourists and this could have resulted in a number of potential problems.

The fact that we experienced no difficulties during this period is largely due to our guide Binnie and the drivers who at all times gave us clear advice as to the appropriate protocol to follow and areas to avoid.

We have seen remarkable places, witnessed extraordinary events and gained a little insight to history and culture of peoples not normally encountered except through National Geographic type documentaries.