So it begins

Bedouin Nights

Published Date : November 14, 2004

I enjoyed sleeping in this morning, finally rolling out of bed in time for brunch.  I was sad to be leaving Petra, as I would have loved to explore more of the area.  However, today is our last day in Jordan.  Driving about two hours south into the desert, we have one more place to explore before moving on to Egypt:  Wadi Rum! 

Just 60km east of Aqaba, Wadi Rum, also known as Valley of the Moon, is the largest wadi in Jordan.  It’s a wide valley carved into the sandstone and granite cliffs.  It was here that Lawrence of Arabia, based on the life of TE Lawrence, was filmed.   

There’s something about the wide open expanse of the desert that is strangely appealing to me.  I love exploring the barren landscapes.  Today we are exploring by truck.  Toyota pick-up trucks with benches crudely mounted in the backs to be precise.  With 6 of us to a truck, we took off through the desert, weaving around cliffs and rocks with plumes of sand trailing in our wake.  One truck kept breaking down, so at one point we ended up towing it on about 6 feet of frayed rope.  Eventually both trucks were bogged down in the sand, so we ended up leaving the broken one behind.

We stopped a couple of times along the way to take pictures and enjoy the stunning beauty of the area.  Sitting on top of a natural stone arch several stories in the air, I took a moment to soak it all in.  It’s moments like this when I really like to pause and think about where I am and what I’m doing.  Here I am, a 23 year old from Vancouver, riding around in the back of a pick-up truck through the deserts of Jordan.  A year and a half ago I was still in college, dreaming about being out here, exploring the world.  And now, here I sit.  I love my life!

After watching a spectacular sunset in the open desert, our accommodation for the night was a Bedouin camp.  We had a simple but delicious dinner of chicken and roast vegetables cooked on an open fire.  There was a large canvas tent for those who wanted to sleep under cover.  Finding myself a spot a short distance away from the rest of the group, I used the moon and the stars as my shelter for the night.  I lay awake for a long while just staring up at the sky, watching for shooting stars.   I couldn’t ask for a better end to my time in Jordan.

Borders and Ferries

Published Date : November 15, 2004

Daylight comes early in the desert, and we were up with the light to hike out to our waiting bus.  It was only about a 15 minute walk from our camp to nearest town.  We had known that the night before, but it still kills the illusion a little bit.

When I had originally looked into this tour, Israel had been a possible destination on the trip.  With escalating hostilities in the area, Phoenix Expeditions had elected to remove it from the tour, which meant instead of driving, we needed to catch a ferry to Egypt.  We had an hour drive ahead of us to reach Aqaba.  We needed to be at the ferry terminal by 09:30 to catch the 11:00 ferry to Nuweiba, Egypt.  Mel had warned us that times were only guidelines, so none of us were surprised when we were told on arrival that we were now on the 13:00 ferry instead.  None of us were too concerned and took the opportunity to explore for a little bit while we waited.  When we returned to the ferry terminal we were told that no, we were now leaving at 15:00.  Our departure time finally rolls around and now they tell us that we’ve been upgraded to the next fast ferry instead because we were the only foreigners on the slow ferry.  17:00 came and went, with officials telling us that now we’re booked on the 20:00 fast ferry, but our bus won’t be able to get down the ramp on the other side. Right.  So we ended up finally taking the 20:00 fast ferry while Wayne took the bus on a slower cargo ship leaving at the same time. 

Of course the cargo ferry was delayed leaving Aqaba, so after all was said and done, we finally left Nuweiba at about 04:00.  Another hour on the road brought us to Dahab.  After almost 24 hours of travel, all of us wanted a bed, but our hotel, the Mohammed Ali, told us that they were 8 beds short.  After much cajoling and impressive restraint by Mel, the extra beds magically appeared and we all got to our beds just in time for sunrise over the Red Sea.  Welcome to Egypt.

Sun, sand, surf and mountains

Published Date : November 16, 2004

Unable to stay in bed, I was up exploring after about 4 hours sleep.  It was a beautiful, clear sky, about 27C.  With sand and warm blue sea on our doorstep, I can sense that I’m going to enjoy our next few days here! ��

Speaking of our doorstep, we discovered this morning that our bedroom door doesn’t close properly and can only be locked from the outside.  The water in the bathroom was brackish and sticky, and sand was continuously blowing in the open door to cover the tiled floor.  The important thing though, is that the beds are comfortable and I’m spending the next 4 days in Dahab, diving in the Red Sea!!

There are 6 of us doing our open water dive certification while we’re here.  Since I already did the skills dives back in London, I’ll be joining up with them tomorrow or next day to complete the open water dives.  I can’t wait.  In the meantime, I get to enjoy the beach and chill out.  Tough life.

We were originally supposed to climb Mt Sinai later in the week, but the schedule was shifted around to accommodate those of us going diving.  So we climb tonight instead!  Several of us enjoyed a great dinner at El Fanar, then it was a quick dash back to the hotel to put some things together for the climb.  We caught two minibuses (only half the group is doing the hike) for the 2-hour drive to the base of Mt Sinai and St Catherine’s Monastery.  We arrived at the base of the mountain just past midnight.  The other bus was slowed down by a flat tire and ended up about half an hour behind us.  We wanted to wait for them, but it was too cold so our group decided to head up without them.  Let the climbing begin!