Jordan - Wadi Rum

We have a list called 'Places to Go and Things to See', it grows and grows and each time we tick one item off we add on three more.


Top of our trip list since moving to Dubai has been Jordan and with the close proximity to UAE we set off for a weekend visit. How great that you can pop to Jordan for the weekend!

We took a flight form DBX to Amman at 18:00 on Thursday evening , getting straight on a internal transfer from Amman to Aqaba in the south coast of Jordan. 

Arriving at about 22:00, we stayed at the Movenpick hotel in Aqaba, which was designed with sensitivity to it's environment yet also had a smack of old school Swiss glamour. We got upgraded to a lovely suite with a sea view, which was great as we never get upgraded to anything!


Jordon's Geo-graphical location is both fascinating and a little perturbing in current climates as it borders Israel, Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia. 




The Jordanian people are friendly, helpful and surprisingly humorous. Tourism being a key revenue stream for them means they want visitors to feel safe and welcome, everywhere we went we were met by genuine smiles.  





The day before visiting Petra we decided to explore the Wadi Rum in , Aqaba. 

Wadi Rum, is a vast 60km mountainous desert to the east of Aqaba. Wadi means 'valley' in Arabic and Rum is said to mean 'elevated' or 'high' in Aramaic. 




We were recommended a local guide by some Swedish friends who had visited themselves recently, Jordan seems to  be very popular with Scandies. His name was Isam - a tall, jolly man who liked to make jokes, we had a laugh. 

We had planned an afternoon excursion of about 5 hours in all inc travel times of about 45mis each way. We set off just after lunch to check out the best bits of the Wadi Rum, take a camel ride, have a camp dinner & watch the sunset before heading back. The all inc cost for two of us was about £50, we did give the camels boys a small tip on top.


Wadi Rum is a striking landscape with a perfectly contrasting slash of blue sky against the rolling golden sands. It's been inhabited since prehistoric times, by many different cultures–including the Nabateans– who left their mark in the form of rock paintings, called petrogiyphs.

The Petrogiyphs

'Wife face cover, big improvement, no?'
 - Isam asked Johan

                                              


We stopped to have a look at some examples alongside a small Bedouin camp. 


The owner welcomed us inside, he was about 60yrs old and had the weathered look of the Bedouin, his face regal looking and proud.


He was very nice man, made us sweet Arabic tea, and sang us a traditional Bedouin love song whilst chain smoking filter-less cigarettes. Heavily coughing throughout his rendition, he actually stopped twice to hack then carried on - it was brilliant. 



We repaid his hospitality by buying some fragrant Amber for £6; which for a comfy seat, some shade, 4 cups of tea and a traditional song was remarkably good value we thought.



                                                   


Next we jumped - well clambered is a better description on some camels for few kilometre ride. Stopping along the way to look at the network of ingenious rock calved canals used to collect rain water.

We also stopped to do some climbing of the beautiful sandstone sculptures, before setting up dinner camp. 











Isam was worried about me climbing but not so much about Johan. 
I was about to get on my female equality high horse when Isam explained it was a matter of foreign politics's not a gender issue. "Your husband from Sweden, he falls down and dies no-one cares, you from UK you fall down and die, Jordan king be very upset with us".  Antoinette Gardiner, the mother of Jordan's current monarch, Abdullah - is British. 

Isam had started dinner whilst we'd been off Camel riding, it was a simple chicken stew cooked over the open fire and it was absolutely deliciousness!! He gave me the recipe.



Recipe:     
Chicken
Onion
Potatoes
Tomatoes
Some Spices
Salt
Water


Method: 
Roughly chop everything and stick in a pot. 
Cover in tin foil and bung on the fire.
Cook for 1 hour.
Serve with warm pita.
Eat with hands. 




We feasted on our stew, laughed at Isam's jokes, drank sweet tea and watched the sunset .....a perfect end to a perfect day! 

Interestingly -  Wadi Rum is also known as 'The Valley of the Moon'. It was a full moon when we visited and the brightest and most illuminating I have ever seen.