UAE National Day – in Jordan

We escaped the madness of UAE National Day this year by taking advantage of the long weekend and going to Jordan – somewhere Ande has wanted to go for a very long time. Here’s what happened.

Day 1.

Matija, Mum and a Mosaic at Madaba 

We picked up a self-inflating camping mattress because we were booking double rooms in cheap hotels and parking Matija in a sleeping bag on a mattress on the floor. That made us a bit late dropping the car at the car storage place in Dubai – the guy wasn’t there and the place was locked up so we sent Ande and Matija to the airport and I caught up later (a little hot and bothered) after he came back from delivering passengers.

The flight was uneventful and we got out at the small Amman airport, bought our visas and the man from the Black Iris Hotel in Madaba was there to drive us to our accommodation.  The towns and landscape are very like Southern Syria, it was nice to see olive groves, grape vines and ploughed paddocks after the desert of the UAE.  It’s also a religious mix rather than being strictly Muslim.

Madaba is a small town just out of Amman, which is well known for its scenic old town and mosaics. We went for a wander and a quiet beer in a café to celebrate our holiday, got a burger and headed back for a sleep (Matija’s bed time)

Day 2

Good Times at Karak Castle 

Nice boots! 

We were up early and went for a wander around Madaba, checking out the archaeological park (we went in a side entrance as the front one wasn’t open – we didn’t have to pay, so that was an advantage). I had a chat and a cup of tea with a carpet seller (who had a few sleazy nude carpets on his wall – obviously a christian, not a muslim) and we checked out the church with a mosaic map of the world on the floor.  We had a car and driver booked to drive us to Wadi Musa (Petra) that morning. It’s about a five hour drive – we stopped to look over the massive Wadi Mujib, which has a dam in it and many small farmlets utilising the water. Most of the farms are Bedouin style with a low-slung family tent and a few vehicles parked haphazardly around. They have a few goats and crops of tomatoes and veges growing. We visited Karak castle – the crusader castle where Raymond de Chatillon used to throw prisoners off the walls. It was a massive fortress with three kitchens, dormitories, stables, a prison and churches. Parts of it were built after the Crusade, in the Mamluke period.   We also changed drivers here – which was good as driver 1 was pretty erratic and not very talkative. Driver 2 was much more interesting and a far better driver.

Stairway to the World's Best View

Little Petra

Sploring at Little Petra

Just before Petra we stopped and spent an hour wandering around Little Petra, a smaller version of Petra. It had amazing rock formations and temples carved out of the rock. We climbed a staircase to ‘the best view in the world’ where a woman ‘gave’ us a cup of tea and later insisted on being paid for it. A great preview to Petra.

We arrived at Wadi Musa in the evening and booked into the Cleopetra Hotel – highly recommended cheap hotel (apart from the tiny top sheet), then went for a wander and a dinner with excellent salad, very good falafel and something that was supposed to be a Jordanian specialty but was actually a leg of roast chicken on rice.

Day 3.

Multi tasking

The High Place of Sacrifice

Treasury at Petra 

Royal Tombs at Petra (+Matija and Ande)

After an early breakfast we got into Petra at about 7.30. The admission had gone up from 20JD per person (about 30 NZ) to 50JD (about 80NZ) and we didn’t have much cash left, so we were able to plead poverty to the souvenir sellers inside. Matija took the free horse ride for about 800m then we walked though the Siq, a narrow 2km canyon with old water channels on each side. We broke through to the massive carved treasury and saw a whole canyon of carved tombs and temples that have been there since the Nabateans, several thousand years BC. It was an old trading centre and was lost to European knowledge for many hundreds of years.  From there we did the big climb up carved steps to the High Place of Sacrifice where animal sacrifices were apparently made in the early days. It had magnificent views over the whole area. From there we took a back track past some different tombs and then Matija and Ande caught donkeys up another big climb to the Monastry, which sits high on another outcrop. Matija wanted me beside her donkey (called Michael Jackson) because it was climbing stairs beside some big drops and I spent a bit of time bumping into the donkey, trying not to be pushed off myself. Ande’s donkey (Monica Lewinsky) took the lead and powered up with very little intervention, although it was trained to stop at a souvenir seller on the way (cousin of the donkey driver). Ande managed to multitask – sit on a donkey, drink a cup of tea and bargain while Matija kept asking me to come back instead of taking photos of multitasking. At the top we took a break then climbed back down under our own power and had a cold drink before heading back out past tombs, a collonaded road, an ancient church and more tombs. The place is massive, acres and acres. Matija did a great job walking around up and down steps all day and we were all pretty shattered by the time we walked out at about 3pm (and stopped in a local bar for a couple of beers) before a homely dinner in the hotel.

The Girls 

Day 4.

Ande explains Mushroom rock

Another early breakfast before we were picked up and driven to Wadi Rum. We went past the highest area of Jordan, where Bedouin had planted massive areas of wheat on stony ground, then packed up and made camp in warmer areas for the winter. The crop would spring up after it rained and they would come back in summer to tend and harvest it. There are no fences, but all sheep and goats are shepherded and not allowed to wander onto the crops.  We were dropped off at Rum Village, a rugged little place with old half-wrecked Toyota Landcruisers and camels everywhere. Our guide, 22year old Hamad, gave us a cup of tea at his place then we got on an old Landcruiser ute with three young English bankers from Dubai and blanket over the top for sun protection, then drove out into the Wadi. 

Perching in Wadi Rum 

Can we get one of these?

Wadi Rum is a massive sandy Wadi surrounded by huge stone outcrops. As well as a Mecca for climbers it’s spectacular country and we visited springs, stone arches, canyons, ruins (apparently one was Lawrence of Arabia’s house) and a big red sand dune. We also stopped for tea and chilled while some of the lads played their lutes in a big hair tent. There were a few old trucks taking tourists around, a few camels  and a walking tour, but there was room for everyone and it was a pretty chilled way to see the place.

Matija did some great rock climbing during the day, getting very confident and we stopped that evening at Hamad’s camp, a collection of tents and huts (hair blankets over steel frames) where we enjoyed the sunset and a dinner cooked by Hamad and the other guide, Ayeed (they were actually very good cooks).  I did lose my wallet overnight, but eventually found it in the sleeve of Matija’s coat (praise be to Allah).

Day 5

We had another half day tour on the Landy where we drove into the empty country towards he Saudi border – Nomad’s land. Again, it was big country and we only had Ayeed with us and a few distant landcruisers on huge plains. We visited a Bedouin dam and catchment where they collect water when it rained. A highlight for me was stopping later on and seeing tiny desert flowers and a small plant that attracts sand to the leaves so that animals don’t eat it. Ayeed said that the locals sometimes pick and dry it so the sand falls off, then feed it to the goats. He dug a little hole and found water about 10cm down, where it had rained 6 weeks previously. It was just a neat moment, stopped in this enormous landscape enjoying tiny things and hearing from someone that lived there. Really cool.

We met our car and driver at Rum village then drove back to the bottom of the Dead Sea, where there are salt, potassium and bromide factories on the sea itself and where most of Jordan’s produce is grown, from peppers and tomatoes, to bananas and potatoes. It’s rich country and again, there were Bedouin camps all alongside the road and on the outskirts of villages.

Swimming in the Dead Sea 

Muddy Hell!

We proceeded to the northern part of the Dead Sea and finally arrived at the Kempinksy, where we were booked for the night. After a room service dinner we crashed out (I had a thumping headache) but the next day we enjoyed a champagne breakfast and chilling by the pool while Matija had a great time at the kids club. Fantastic – fifteen years ago we were at the Dead Sea across the water in Israel on our honeymoon. We took a bit of Dead Sea mud and kicked back in luxury before being driven to the airport and flying home.

In Matija’s words  

Top of the Rock (camp below) 

It was fun because I got to ride on a camel, a horse and a donkey. I liked swimming in the Dead Sea because I got to float, but it made me quite sore because of the salt. I liked everything about Petra, mostly climbing rocks. Mostly climbing rocks in Wadi Rum too.

It was cool having my own cabin in Wadi Rum. It was exciting going fast on the truck. I saw a swan too. I liked eating the scrambled egg at the camp by picking it up with flatbread.

Local News

We’re settling into winter now – the temperatures are getting to the high twenties during the day and as low as 15 overnight. Might have to get our cardies out! We’ve been doing a bit of off-roading, I’ve now been upgraded to a Senior Offroader and Ande is now a Junior Offroader, getting comfortable and confident on the sand. I’m playing touch rugby once a week and keeping fit while Ande is staying in Abu Dhabi around once a week, loving her work and life in general. Matija is really progressing with her reading, she has books to take home and her list of sight words are growing at a rapid rate. She’s enjoying school and has some lovely little friends who she shares playdates with and the occasional sleepover.

Visitors

Mum and Dad Ford came over for three weeks to visit! As it was their first overseas trip it was huge and everyone was excited and a little surprised that they were coming – including them.

They arrived on a Tuesday morning and after a little recovery time we visited the local markets, the mountain behind Al Ain and a mall or two to get adjusted to the place. We went for an early breakfast by the camel race track (camels training this time, not racing) followed by a 4WD trip in the dunes. I was leading a convoy with Dad and Ande was following with Mum, Matija and Ellie, one of Matija's friends. It was a neat trip - Mum handled it far better than Dad expected, although Matija and her friend were both sick - probably from the early breakfast as much as Ande's driving. Hard work for Ande to drive and look after two sickies and that's a pretty good excuse for her one little stuck. The dunes out here are beautiful, the 4WD group are great and it was neat to get Mum and Dad on the sand. Then the fun continued. We’d planned a trip into Oman and we headed out on a Thursday afternoon.

We had planned to spend a night near Bahla then cut through Wadi Bani Awf to the coast but a cyclonic weather pattern had produced flooding in many parts of Oman. There was still water across the road in places – one ute that we passed had been washed into a culvert and we read that there was extensive flooding in Muscat – vehicles were piled on top of each other in places and a dozen people had lost their lives. As wadis are dangerous places if it’s raining we changed our route in the hope we could return via the wadi.

After a few hours driving we found the hotel we’d booked for them at Jibrin – it was like an apartment building looming out of a small town and it took a little while to believe this was it. The place was very OTT Arabic in decoration and it proved quite a cool little hotel. Ande, Kevin, Jenni and Jonathan Dittmer were following and after a bit of searching we located a good campsite 6km out of town. After finding the place again (not so easy in the dark) and setting up tents we enjoyed a lovely meal and a wine around the campfire then dropped Mum and Dad off to the hotel and settled in for the night. The Dittmers had tents while the Fords were in the back of the Xterra’s (we’d taken both for the trip).

The following day we headed to the Nizwa markets. They’re fairly rural – there’s lots of silver work, fruit, veg, pots, souveneirs etc. There are also gun shops and we saw quite a few Omani lads wandering around with their new guns. There’s also a lively livestock market. There were a few goats and sheep but as it was just before Eid there were a few cattle as well, mostly bulls. No ramps and pens here, the animals are tied to posts and led around. When being led they have a rope tied to a front leg and if they try to bolt someone drags on the rope, if that doesn’t slow them down they drag a bit harder and drop them onto their knees. Some would see it as cruel, but it was effective. After a good look around we took some cheap and refreshing Indian style tea – plenty of milk and sugar. Normally I wouldn’t touch the stuff but it was actually refreshing and appropriate in the environment.

We headed past Muscat and up the coast about an hour to the Millennium Mussanah, a new hotel where we’d got a good discount deal on 2bdr apartments. The swimming pool and gym weren’t open yet but the rooms were lovely (split level with balcony) and it proved a very nice choice. We stayed in for a few drinks and a tasty buffet dinner and breakfast and enjoyed some time swimming in their little harbour. There were big fish literally leaping out of the water close to us and it led us to wonder what might be chasing them. During our morning walk down the coast Dad and I helped some fishermen push their boat up the beach and I think we were blessed for our troubles. A very nice 5 star place and great value at the discount we received.

We then headed down to Muscat and settled into a basic hotel, the Naseem, in Mutrah the port area of Muscat. There were a few signs of flooding back in the town and when we visited the souq they told us that waist high water had been running through the souq a few days earlier. There was a bit of a sewage odour, but otherwise it was fine. It’s a great little Omani souq here and after a few hours of shopping we had a good shwarma meal on the waterfront and watched the people. The following day was the Eid holiday so there wasn’t too much happening. We went for a drive down the coast, saw a big new hotel development and paid a bit of money to spend the day at the Oman Dive Centre. A few guys were stringing up their Eid sacrificial sheep just around the corner – they must have slept in as it was a bit late in the day. The Dive Centre was a nice spot to swim and laze around, it was a bit rocky close in but there was a big jetty out to a nice area for a swim, there was a fresh water pool and a restaurant (although that was busy and took 40mins to get an ice-cream). A very relaxed Eid break indeed. We got back for a bit of late souq shopping. Matija had 5 Omai Ryals to spend and settled on a call-to-prayer alarm clock and some jewellery. She’d had the previous afternoon to see what was available for her ryals and she was stoked to make the purchase – luckily it didn’t have batteries yet.

We followed that up with a cheap Indian curry dinner at a local restaurant. It was pretty up-market as they supplied knives and forks. Jonathan and Jenni were amazed that the chicken with rice and the barbecue chicken were the same thing – half a bbq chicken on a large bed of rice. It was cheap and cheerful and a real local experience, although the waiter just shook his head every time he wrote down someone’s order.

The next day we hoped to head back up Wadi Bani Awf, although we weren’t sure if it was open. We drove up around Rustaq and were pleased to hear from the service station guys that the wadi was open again. They’re building a big new road at the bottom end of the wadi and the guys had plenty of machinery to clear it up after the floods. The bottom end is basically riverbed and they’d just pushed a fresh track over the stones. It was slow bumpy going and we had to negotiate plenty of water, fording the stream frequently. It’s amazing how fast floodwaters recede here, after only a couple of days there was only a small clear stream washing out the wadi where there must have been a torrent just days before. It’s basically all rock so it hardly holds the water at all, it just rushes off. In parts of Oman there are dams to capture that runoff and hold it so that it seeps into the water table rather than just running away.

The drive was great fun and the scenery was breathtaking with massive sheer walls rising out of the floor. There are little villages strung along the sides of the wadi with strips of date palms watered by falaj systems that run along the walls. Beautiful. We found a lovely spot for coffee and lunch (apart from being chased by wasps) then really got into the serious driving. The road got steeper and steeper and we started to hit more traffic coming the other way, it was a tiny dirt road and it usually meant creeping right to the edge to give the other guy room to get past. We visited Little Snake Canyon then stopped above the beautiful village of Balad Sayt for some photos. Not much further along we followed another Xterra up to Snake Canyon. This is a large canyon with pools and people from Muscat come here canyoning, rock climbing and using aerial ropeways that are set up between the walls. A number of people were there, making the most of it after the recent rain and it was quite a beautiful sight.

Just after Balad Sayt we had to pull over to let a convoy of 11 4WD vehicles through. Our guess is that it was a 4WD tour company that hadn’t been able to get through the wadi for a week or so and they were taking all the backed up traffic through together.

This was followed by a huge climb out of the Wadi. This is the only track to cross the Hajars and it climbs from just above sea level to 2000m at the top. The track is single lane and bouldery and it makes the drive through the old Motu road in Gisborne look like a 4 lane highway. Very impressive.

We finally made it to the top then headed for Bahla and the main road as the Dittmers had to get back for work. Unfortunately it was getting dark and there were no sign posts. We missed the turnoff, hit a dead-end village, went back, picked up an Indian hitchhiker who said he knew the way and immediately led us back to the dead-end village. We finally found our way out (kidnapping the Indian hitchhiker on the way) and said goodbye to Jenni, Kevin and Jonathan. The Fords were pretty tired by this point so we joined Mum and Dad at the luxurious Jibreen Hotel for an international buffet and a good nights sleep.

Then next morning we visited the Hoota Caves, not far from Bahla. They’re quite impressive, you get a train into the hillside itself, then walk for around forty minutes checking out caverns with amazing stalactites and stalagmites and an underground pool with little blind fish swimming around. You half expected to meet Gollum chewing on a fish tail down there. Well worth the trip. We then made the three hour drive back to Al Ain. It took about an hour to get through the border post. They were handing out slips of paper with numbers to determine your place in the queue. I think there were three 14’s and two 17’s. It took a long time and since we had the camping gear I made teas and coffees for our group and handed some spare wine gums and aeroplanes around the waiting room. One woman there was walking out to her car and a ute carrying a camel bumped into her. She wasn’t seriously hurt, but stood there dumbstruck as the ute drove off again.

After a day or two to recover we headed down to Abu Dhabi to have a look. We went to Emirates Palace (the most expensive hotel in the world) for a walk around and a look at the plans for Saadiyat Island, a new development on an island just off Abu Dhabi that will feature some of the world’s great museums. We dropped Mum with Ande then Dad and I went to the Formula One. Jenni and Kevin had some spare tickets they couldn’t sell so they gave them to Dad and I. The whole course and facilities are mind-blowing and the F1 cars were truly deafening as they shot around the track. We had flash grandstand seats with food and drink supplied and we had an awesome spot to view the whole thing from. Vettel blew a tyre on turn one and Hamilton went on to win the thing. Unfortunately no big crashes in front of us but amazing to see those big cars going so fast – the acceleration and deceleration was incredible. Dad spent half an hour trying to explain it to mum when we got back. Mum, Matija and Ande had been checking out Marina Mall, although Mum got a little lost and it took some time to find her way back to the girls.

I dropped Dad off, picked up Ande and returned to the Paul McCartney concert next to the track. He spent 3 hours performing, his voice was incredible and his energy was great – all at 69 years old. It was an awesome concert, we knew nearly all the songs and we were privileged to be there.

The following day we visited the Grand Mosque, I’ve mentioned before that it is one of the great buildings of the world and Deb will be able to back me up when I say that the tour guides are gorgeous too. I didn’t have to don a dishdash this time and we enjoyed the free tour. We checked out the Corniche in Abu Dhabi, drove through Saadiyat Island then spent a few hours checking out Ikea on Yas Island.

After a couple more days in Al Ain we headed to Dubai. We’d booked a 2bdr apartment and I headed down with Mum and Dad for a bus tour around the city centre attractions. We got a good look along Dubai Creek, checking out the museums, doing an hour-long dhow tour then walking through the gold souq, the textile souq and the adjacent streets. The guys were determined to sell me a watch or mum a pashmina. Dad didn’t get hassled too much, although they were all calling him ‘John’.

Dubai Creek is a waterway near the old souqs and dhows from India, Pakistan, Somalia, Oman, Yemen etc. still tie up, load and unload cargo right next to the old city centre. It also splits part of Dubai and heaps of city workers take the little water taxis called abras from one side to the other for around a dirham (30cents). It’s very lively and atmospheric and a ‘must see’ if you’re in Dubai. We finished up at the fish and vegetable markets, which were still bustling at 7pm and saw a vast array of fresh fish and vegetables from all over the gulf. We finally caught a taxi back to the Wafi mall, had a look around and grabbed a food hall dinner. Ande and Matija caught us up in the morning and we headed out along Jumeirah beach, stopping at the Mall of the Emirates where we had a coffee overlooking the indoor ski field. Dad wandered into a suit shop with a big sale on and I nearly bought a very flash suit, only we discovered at the last minute that it had a mark on the lapel and they couldn’t get a replacement. It obviously wasn’t meant to be.

We moved on to the Ibn Battuta mall for a look – it’s a massive mall with whole sections built in the style of Persian, India, China etc. After a good look around we grabbed some lunch at the Lime Tree (a kiwi style café) before Mum, Dad and Ande caught the monorail to the Burj Khalifa. I took the car and met them there. We had tickets for the viewing platform on floor 124 of the Burj Khalifa and despite a few nerves we shot up the lift (10 metres/second - thank Allah you can’t see out as you go up!) and had a stunning view over Dubai right on sunset. It doesn’t actually feel that high when you’re up there but everything on the ground is pretty small. We waited around to see the dancing fountains at 6pm, but they never happened. When we got down we went out the front of Dubai mall and got great seats at a little café where we watched the amazing fountains. It was on at 7pm, not 6 as advertised.

We had a good nights sleep and took Ande to Dubai creek where we took the abras across to have a look around the spice souk and Mum picked up a couple of things at a great little toy shop. We returned to see a couple of things at the Dubai Mall before heading out to see a market near the Jumeirah Residences. Ande had an appointment in Dubai so we dropped her back at her car and headed back to Al Ain. We’d never spent much time in Dubai but got a really good look at it, managed to find our way around most of the time and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We’ll definitely head down there again – it’s a great city.

Mum and Dad had one more day to pack up and get organised in Al Ain before I took them out to the airport the next day. It had been a wonderful three weeks and we’d all had a ball. It was certainly eventful and Mum and Dad definitely got a good taste of the Middle East. Dad had been a little worried he’d run out of stuff to do in three weeks but that wasn’t a problem at all. After a few years away it was great to spend that amount of time with everyone and to strengthen those relationships – great too for Matija to have such quality time with Grandma and Grandad. Maybe we’ll have to meet in Thailand or somewhere next Eid or Christmas!