My arrival by ferry in Aqaba, Jordan got off to a good start with a functional ATM card that put some Dinar (not to be confused with the Macedonian Denar) in my pocket. The tourist track in Jordan is not cheap though, so my Dinars didn’t seem to go nearly as far as Denars. There is not much of note in Aqaba but from there my group departed by minibus for Wadi Rum with our Jordanian guide, Jemal.
In spite of Jemal, I greatly enjoyed Wadi Rum which is a desert region tinged red and covered with giant rock formations. I say this about Jemal because although he endeavored to be a good emissary for Jordan, his machismo and tendency to not listen to our requests made him come across as a tool. However, nothing can spoil the greatness of Wadi Rum with its glyphs of camel caravans, big stone bridge to climb on, and a lovely sunset. We slept out under the stars and then started our next big day with some delicious sage tea and pita bread with yogurt and spices.
If there was one reason I booked this vacation, it was to see Petra—otherwise known as the place where the Holy Grail is hidden in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. The Treasury is what is featured in the film, what looks like a building façade carved into a cliff wall. The sight really is dramatic and impressive, only appearing after walking about 20 minutes through a narrow canyon. What I didn’t realize beforehand was how much more there would be to see, with other such building-like fronts throughout the area including Royal Tombs and a Monastery. Our second day there, I took off with Simon and Richard from my group on a trail labeled “dangerous” without a guide. The primary danger seemed to be getting lost and unfortunately we ended up standing on top of the Treasury, instead of across from it as we intended. After a couple hours of exploring, we came out another “dangerous” path that was essentially a drainage canyon, a fun scramble once I felt secure that the Bedouin who led us into the seemingly dead-end canyon wasn’t after my Dinars, other than some baksheesh (tip).
After the dust and sweat of Petra, the next logical stop was to freshen up at the Dead Sea. There are many fun facts about the Dead Sea that make it so unique: it’s seven times saltier than a normal ocean (30% salinity) and the lowest point on earth (1,378 feet below sea level). Accordingly, the Dead Sea visit had a warning associated with it that I’ve never received elsewhere in my travels: don’t shave before going in the water. I followed this guidance but nevertheless, water that salty has a way of burning in uncomfortable places. Still, pushing past that, it was fun to float completely effortlessly like a cork. The other girls and I treated ourselves to a Dead Sea mud treatment (3 dinar = ~$4), slathering ourselves with black mud and taking a million photos while we waited for it to dry. Then we washed it off in the sea and I think my skin did feel nicer (though I must confess I did it mostly for the novelty of being smeared in black mud).
This trip is taking me smack dab through the Promise Land, which was laid out in a mosaic map on the floor of an Orthodox Chruch in the city of Madaba. The map was discovered when the church was being renovated, so it’s not complete but the way the locations are labeled is quite something. From Madaba, we drove an hour to (and two hours back, due to a van breakdown) the Roman city of Jerash. Katie's Travel Tip #2: Always bring a snack and water in the case of breakdown/transit strike/apocolypse/other. The highlight of Jerash for me was a group of teenage girls on a school trip. We were all in one of the site’s amphitheatres and several of them said “hi” to me and we chatted a bit. Then, a drummer and bagpipe started playing and the girls flooded the stage to dance and sing. With their head scarves and school uniforms, I thought the girls would be reserved but instead they were spirited and having a good old time. We took some pictures together, which along with my other Jordan images are on Picasa.
Being in Jordan solidified that my group is on the fresh squeezed juice and falafel tour of the Middle East. Seriously, I have both almost every day, with falafel sandwiches going for about 50 cents and fresh juices for $3-5 a large mug. All this would be healthy if I weren’t chasing it with equally delicious baklava—Jordan has amazing bakeries on almost every corner.
Our visit coincided with the Parliamentary elections, so we visited a different Crusader castle than the one on our itinerary. Apparently the decision to close the scheduled castle to tourists was a good one because a candidate was shot there around Election Day. Luckily we didn’t observe any other violence, at least not until we got into some words with a Dutch-Syrian couple as we entered Syria—more on that in my blog on Syria.
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