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.