I notice that Adam has included a photo of Treacle in Wadi Rum, nuts deep in the sand. We got up that morning and crusied around in the sand dunes, having a great time not really following a particular route or looking at the maps - when we somehow managed to drive right out the other side of the desert & into a small village. Unperturbed we saw an opportunity to take a short cut and get back in for more off road sandy fun. We headed over to a ride when Flump, she kinda sank down into the sand. Not to worry said Ads and reversed her back a bit - Flump. It seemed we weren't going backwards either!
Thankfully we had bought a shovel incase we encountered such terrain in Mongolia, and this was to be it's first ever use. We were in quite deep and after a lot of digging, and moving only a inch forward in about 45 minutes, i think Ads suddenly remembered the sand mats that he had bolted on to the side of the car. Put them under and were out straight away. A good buy for 30 quid.
The last big site we went to in the Middle East was Petra - & what a way to finish! Having been before numerous times Adam suggested that we get up as early as possible to try to beat the crowds; so at 7.00 we got in the free shuttle bus from the hotel down to the site entrance. The sun had just come up but it wasn't yet hot. The entrance to the site is at the top of a long hill which runs down to an amazing canyon, where you literally seem to walk inside the rocks. It was about 1.5k from the entrance down to the Treasury and as i hadn't read the guide book re:the site i didn't know what to expect or where any of the actual "sites" were in relation to each other - This is because i find that if i read up on a site/location before hand i tend to create an image in my head and sometimes can be dissapointed with what is actually there. Aanyway so in this instance i had no idea what was coming & that first glimpse of it shining in the mornig sunlight, it's facade poking through the crack at the end of the canyon was pretty amazing!!
As we had go up so early and walked briskly down through the canyon there was pretty much no-one else there which made for a great experience.
No time to dilly dally, Adam said we must press onward and up to the Monastery whilst it was still relatively cool & quiet. It was an absolutely massive trek up some 1200 steps.... but when we reached the top we were rewarded with a wonderful sight. The Monastery is even bigger than the Treasury and again we had the place to ourselves. :o)
The rest of the day was spent exploring the huge site at our leisure, then when it came time to leave Adam took us to the Movenpick hotel for a well earnt ice cream. Yum.
I think we were both a little sad to leave Jordan as we had such a great adventure there and eventhough adam had been numerous times before i think he too was pleasantly surprised at the new light we were able to shed on it together as a couple.
Our last stop in the Middle East was a return visit to Damascas - quite possibly our favourite city so far. It was even more fuin this time as we stayed in the same place so knew where we were, where to go, places that were good to eat & drink...
We picked up a few souveniers, wandered the souk again drank more fresh balckberry juice, and visited the city museeum which was shut on our last stay. It is in the process of being re-organised so the displays were a little scrappy - apart from some lovely near complete mosaics with fabulous patterns and very intricate designs. We were wandering around when an elderly guard came up to us and becconed us through a restricted area down a flight of stairs. It led to the tombs, which is a partial reconstruction of what lies underneath some of the ruins we had previuosly seen in Palmyra. The tomb fronts all had individual carved busts of the people who were entombed within. They had such haunting eyes and long faces with delicate features. I felt very lucky to be able to see it, and it was quite spooky to as it had been done very well.
We also got to look around in the synagogue there with it's frescos, so all in all a very good visit.
Thats all for this entry - hope you are all still finding it an enjoyable read - we're still having fun out here xx
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Red Or Dead
Jordan has a population of some 5 milion people which is roughly the same number that live in Damascas, so first impressions were that it was quite a bit less hectic than it's neighbour.
In Syria we had noticed quite a few pictures of the monarch & his father in various poses, statues & mosaics & it was the same in Jordan. The best poster & one that we noticed most frequently was of the succession of previous kings all in a row - like a regal identity parade!
On arrival we briefly went to Amman to get some money however we rather alarmed as not a single ATM in the city would dispense money from any of our cards. A rather panicky moment! Still we headed south, down to Aqaba on the coast of the Red Sea and were lucky enough to be able to camp right on the beach with the locals. Adam haggled us a good price for the days hire of snorkles & masks and we headed down to the shore. Once i'd got the hang of it in the shallows we swam out and in less than a minute were hovering over a coral reef marveling at the wonders below.
I saw the coral - white frond type, and some shaped like a brain :oS, black spiky sea urchins, anenome, zebra fish, long pink & green fish .. it was superb. Then after an hour or so we came back in to shore & Adam took us into town for a special treat for lunch. Pizza Hut!! Yeay!!
The next morning we went snorkling again & swam further out this time and saw even more fishies. Zebra, neon, some crill, long fish, black ones, black ones that turned blue in t e light, a yellow flat fish, a catfish, tiny baby zebra fish living in an anemone tree, the brightest orange fish & a whole school of tiny fish that changed colour in the light & swam right up infront of my mask.
Adam was singing out of his snorkle - i guess he was happy to - and i laughed so hard that i poped my mask off.
After a lovely time in Aqaba we headed up to Wadi Rum, which was like a great big sandy adventure playground for Adam - and we had a great time tying to navigate with a rubbish tourist map & satellite view of the valley which when you're on the ground isn't actually that helpful. We saw some of the really cool caravanerssi pictures drawn onto the rocks and had fun just driving & admiring the stunning scenery. We hardly saw a soul in there that first day. That night we slept up on the roof and watched the night sky, discussing the possibility of life on mars and feeling that we are just a very small part of a truly wonderful & beautiful universe. It was that night that i saw my first ever shooting star :o). Although i am now informed (**Spoiler Alert**)that they are not infact stars at all but pieces of space debris hitting the earth's atmosphre. Not quite as romantic an explanation but still looks pretty.
Next on our fabulous fun times in Jordan we headed to the Dead Sea. When we arrived though we found that there is no longer any real "Free Access" to the Sea and that there was a massive cordoned off section of beach complete with restaurants & pools but at this point in our trip & given the late hour it was prohibitively expensive to go in.
We decided to drive a little further down the beach, camp up and then go in early the next day to make the most of the facilities and get our money's worth! So we got settled in a dissused car park just down the road, where locals were having a massive night picnic with children running around and music blaring. We sat up on the roof looking out to sea eating our bowls of mongolian supernoodles when 2 guys came over and said we could camp in their small compound & use their shower & toilet facilities too. A very kind offer. I think the guys name was Hammed (?) anyway he sat us down at his cracked plastic garden table & chairs and poured us cups of hot sweet tea to welcome us.
In the morning he appeared again when we got out of the back of the Landy with two cups of hot sweet sweet coffee flavoured with cardamon & we were able to walk round the back of his hut which led down to a neglected and empty section of beach & had the whole of the Dead Sea to ourselves... well it was about 7.30am! How wonderful!!
I was very surprised at the temperature of the sae, it was really warm! And very clear too. We had great fun & then when we got out, covered in the strange oily residue & walked back up to the hut. Our new friend unlocked the toilet block and we attempted to rinse off the remnants of the sea. Then it was time for yet more tea, and then more tea and then more tea. This time so sweet you could stand a spoon up in it but with a squeeze of fresh lime in it. Lovely. After this we went and sat in his hut which he proudly told us was air conditioned - quite a relief as although it was only about 9.00 it was up in the high 30s. He dashed out and bought a watermelon & we sat on the bunkbeds eating lushious melon & wathing strange news clips in arabic on his mobile phone - which included among other things a strong man from the local area who could bend coins on his eye socket, a baby girl playing with a cobra and the trial of saddam hussein.
When it came time to leave we had worked out that Hammed & his freinds were a group of road sweepers and one of the gang worked up at the resort but just how they had a key to the compound i'm not sure. As so often in our trip it has been the people who have the least who have been most willing to share.
In the next installment we head north - but i shall end this time with a brief list of injuries that i have sustained so far on the trip
In Syria we had noticed quite a few pictures of the monarch & his father in various poses, statues & mosaics & it was the same in Jordan. The best poster & one that we noticed most frequently was of the succession of previous kings all in a row - like a regal identity parade!
On arrival we briefly went to Amman to get some money however we rather alarmed as not a single ATM in the city would dispense money from any of our cards. A rather panicky moment! Still we headed south, down to Aqaba on the coast of the Red Sea and were lucky enough to be able to camp right on the beach with the locals. Adam haggled us a good price for the days hire of snorkles & masks and we headed down to the shore. Once i'd got the hang of it in the shallows we swam out and in less than a minute were hovering over a coral reef marveling at the wonders below.
I saw the coral - white frond type, and some shaped like a brain :oS, black spiky sea urchins, anenome, zebra fish, long pink & green fish .. it was superb. Then after an hour or so we came back in to shore & Adam took us into town for a special treat for lunch. Pizza Hut!! Yeay!!
The next morning we went snorkling again & swam further out this time and saw even more fishies. Zebra, neon, some crill, long fish, black ones, black ones that turned blue in t e light, a yellow flat fish, a catfish, tiny baby zebra fish living in an anemone tree, the brightest orange fish & a whole school of tiny fish that changed colour in the light & swam right up infront of my mask.
Adam was singing out of his snorkle - i guess he was happy to - and i laughed so hard that i poped my mask off.
After a lovely time in Aqaba we headed up to Wadi Rum, which was like a great big sandy adventure playground for Adam - and we had a great time tying to navigate with a rubbish tourist map & satellite view of the valley which when you're on the ground isn't actually that helpful. We saw some of the really cool caravanerssi pictures drawn onto the rocks and had fun just driving & admiring the stunning scenery. We hardly saw a soul in there that first day. That night we slept up on the roof and watched the night sky, discussing the possibility of life on mars and feeling that we are just a very small part of a truly wonderful & beautiful universe. It was that night that i saw my first ever shooting star :o). Although i am now informed (**Spoiler Alert**)that they are not infact stars at all but pieces of space debris hitting the earth's atmosphre. Not quite as romantic an explanation but still looks pretty.
Next on our fabulous fun times in Jordan we headed to the Dead Sea. When we arrived though we found that there is no longer any real "Free Access" to the Sea and that there was a massive cordoned off section of beach complete with restaurants & pools but at this point in our trip & given the late hour it was prohibitively expensive to go in.
We decided to drive a little further down the beach, camp up and then go in early the next day to make the most of the facilities and get our money's worth! So we got settled in a dissused car park just down the road, where locals were having a massive night picnic with children running around and music blaring. We sat up on the roof looking out to sea eating our bowls of mongolian supernoodles when 2 guys came over and said we could camp in their small compound & use their shower & toilet facilities too. A very kind offer. I think the guys name was Hammed (?) anyway he sat us down at his cracked plastic garden table & chairs and poured us cups of hot sweet tea to welcome us.
In the morning he appeared again when we got out of the back of the Landy with two cups of hot sweet sweet coffee flavoured with cardamon & we were able to walk round the back of his hut which led down to a neglected and empty section of beach & had the whole of the Dead Sea to ourselves... well it was about 7.30am! How wonderful!!
I was very surprised at the temperature of the sae, it was really warm! And very clear too. We had great fun & then when we got out, covered in the strange oily residue & walked back up to the hut. Our new friend unlocked the toilet block and we attempted to rinse off the remnants of the sea. Then it was time for yet more tea, and then more tea and then more tea. This time so sweet you could stand a spoon up in it but with a squeeze of fresh lime in it. Lovely. After this we went and sat in his hut which he proudly told us was air conditioned - quite a relief as although it was only about 9.00 it was up in the high 30s. He dashed out and bought a watermelon & we sat on the bunkbeds eating lushious melon & wathing strange news clips in arabic on his mobile phone - which included among other things a strong man from the local area who could bend coins on his eye socket, a baby girl playing with a cobra and the trial of saddam hussein.
When it came time to leave we had worked out that Hammed & his freinds were a group of road sweepers and one of the gang worked up at the resort but just how they had a key to the compound i'm not sure. As so often in our trip it has been the people who have the least who have been most willing to share.
In the next installment we head north - but i shall end this time with a brief list of injuries that i have sustained so far on the trip
- cut toe on coral
- giant splinter in wadi rum
- stubbed same toe getting back into car - wadi rum
- dropped 1/2 kilo shackle pin from tow rope on foot
- fell over on nemrut dag - 2 inch cut on thigh
- fell over in Aqaba going up a flight of stairs
- fell out of back of stationary Treacle & bashed shin, brusied ribs
- caught buttock on Treacle back step - massive bruise
Jordan.
The ancient city of Jerash.
The Italian motor home club seemed to be following us everywhere!!!
One of my favourite places of the whole trip - Wadi Rum
I true off roader's paradise.
By the seven pillars of wisdom
Up on top of the sand dunes.
I think we will camp here for the night.
Can you see us???
When we got stuck , took about a hour to get out and its the first time we had to use the sand mats!!!!
On the rock bridge.
Well if its good enough for a king then its good enough for us.
Petra!!!
This is the treasury first thing in the morning.
After a 2 hour work we got to the monastery.
This little fella seemed happy that we bought some rocks from him and gave him a lolly.
And a few more people had arrived in the afternoon!
Need some specs? Then i know just the place for you.
At sea level.
Having a float in the dead sea.
Camping at Aqubba.
Just after we had been snorkeling.
A family of 5 we had met from france.
I see that orange is now everywhere a bit like pizza hut!!
Talking of pizza hut, well it would be rude not to!!!!
Well that's the middle east all done, now we have to turn round and head for home.
The Italian motor home club seemed to be following us everywhere!!!
One of my favourite places of the whole trip - Wadi Rum
I true off roader's paradise.
By the seven pillars of wisdom
Up on top of the sand dunes.
I think we will camp here for the night.
Can you see us???
When we got stuck , took about a hour to get out and its the first time we had to use the sand mats!!!!
On the rock bridge.
Well if its good enough for a king then its good enough for us.
Petra!!!
This is the treasury first thing in the morning.
After a 2 hour work we got to the monastery.
This little fella seemed happy that we bought some rocks from him and gave him a lolly.
And a few more people had arrived in the afternoon!
Need some specs? Then i know just the place for you.
At sea level.
Having a float in the dead sea.
Camping at Aqubba.
Just after we had been snorkeling.
A family of 5 we had met from france.
I see that orange is now everywhere a bit like pizza hut!!
Talking of pizza hut, well it would be rude not to!!!!
Well that's the middle east all done, now we have to turn round and head for home.
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