Petra & Amman Jordan Day 7
Petra & Amman Jordan
Day 7 - Saturday, November 27, 2004 - Travel from Petra to Wadi Rum to Amman, Jordan - Flight to Cairo, Egypt
We were up early today, a 6 AM wake-up call but we had set our alarm for 5:45. It was still foggy and cold but not raining yet. Samir told us at breakfast that this unusual 5 day cold front was to move out of Jordan this afternoon.
A final thought from yesterday: Jeff told us that he had found out 700 people had been evacuated from Petra yesterday because of the storm. Again, we count our lucky stars that we got out OK, with only a few scratches, as our friend Charlie Emmons, fell twice as he climbed the slippery slopes of the walkways back to the bus.
We were on the bus by 7 AM and headed southeast out of Wadi Moussa through several small isolated villages high on the hill sides. It is well below freezing here this morning with frost and snow on the ground as the kids are walking to their village schools. We are right at 5000 feet in elevation and we have on our few long sleeve shirts and sweaters each day. I am even wearing my sweater so you know how cold it must be.
We are traveling on the King's Highway again, built as a trade route with the gateway through Petra as the ancient crossroads for the Middle East. As in the northern part of this route we saw camel crossing warning signs and Samir told us about the dangers of hitting a camel.
If one hits a camel in the daytime, it is one's fault and one is fined $1000. If one is hit during the night time, there is no fine. Either way, the camel will die. Samir explained that camels are very proud animals and will not want to live with even a limp.
After a steep climb up the mountain with no visibility due to the very dense fog, we traveled down a bit to meet the main Desert Highway. The fog was not as dense so Samir was able to give us the history of John Burkhart, the Swiss explorer who rediscovered Petra.
The road was very busy with many trucks transporting goods from Syria to Saudi Arabia. To complicate things the road was being widened so in the construction areas we were sharing two lanes with a few other cars and thousands of trucks.
This flat desert area is the home to semi-nomadic tribe of Bedouins. This was also the setting for Lawrence of Arabia and the real Lawrence who fought the Turks for the independence of these Arab states. Now many people come here for wilderness camping, rock climbing, and to see the clear night skies.
In the valley Wadi Ramm/Rum most people live in block huts with tin roofs and herd goats and camels. This is also the trade route for the modern highway that runs from the port of Aqaba on the Red Sea. We stopped at the Wadi Rum Ecotourist Center to get our four 4 wheel-drive vehicles.
Each vehicle had a local driver/guide and we headed into the Wadi Rum Protected Area. Our first stop was the visitor's center where we were able to overlook the rock formations in the valley. We got back into the Nissan jeeps to explore the sand dunes and weather rock formations.
The sheer vertical cliffs and weathered rocks were awesome. We made frequent stops to get out and walk in the red sand as well take many photos along the route of the shifting sands - there were no real roads.
We came upon a Bedouin tent where young men and boys were conveniently waiting for us with their camels. Samir had arranged for us to have a camel ride for only 1 Dinar each ($1.40).
The guides took us on a short ride through the desert guiding the camels and walking with us all of the way. Many of the camels have been known to reach around and bite their passengers. The ride was surprisingly smooth and certainly a treat for the morning.
After about two hours we headed back to the eco center and had a little time to use the restrooms and a few people shopped. At 11:30 we headed back to the Marriott, seeing that the fog still had not lifted and we had travel very slowly in that the visibility was less than a car length. Once at the hotel we had lunch, showered, packed, and got ready for our long road trip back to Amman and the airport.
Gennie and I sat in the back of the mini-bus again and did the journal on the ride north. This was an experience - the road is very convoluted so I was bouncing around a bit as I typed.
We arrived at the airport in Amman just at 5:35 and Samir said goodby and we were passed on the OAT representative who helped us through with all the paper work. It was quite easy when you know what to do. We were taken to the departure room and waited for our Cairo flight to board.
Through the whole process we had two security clearances to go through. When we were ready to board, we had to go passed another. The aircraft was full and very warm. Gennie and I were given right side, window and middle with the Emmons getting the aisle seat on both sides.
Movenpick Heliopolis Hotel - - - Meals: B, L
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A CD OF EACH TRIP IS AVAILABLE.
These CDs are compilations of slide presentations of each day (pictures of the events during the day) accompanied by music reflective of the nation and day.
On most CDs there are presentations on the people of the country, people traveling with the group, flowers, and panoramas.
On more recent trips, short videos have been included on the web pages and these videos are also available in the CD.
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Comments
Post a Comment!After seeing the movie, and now seeing your pictures, I'm jealous! How special to see the landscape and vastness!
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