The second week of our trip to the Middle East was spent in Jordan. After an hour's drive to Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba, we walked across the border into The Hashemite Kingdom ofJordan. The city of Aqaba has a population of 200,000 and is in a special economic zone. From there we headed out on the Desert Highway to Amman, climbing quickly up to 1500 meters on the Desert Highway, passing through very rugged, barren landscapes to reach a desert plateau within an hour. We then headed west to Wadi Musa, a village close to Petra. The next day was a full day in Petra, which by our watches amounted to 31,000 steps and 169 flights of stairs.
Petra is one of the Middle east's more famous archeological sites. The city was a major trading outpost between the far east and North Africa, 2000-3000 years ago. The Nabateans built the city, which is located in the mountains deep a river gorge where it was more secure. At about 0 AD the city was conquered by the Romans, leaving ruins from their time including an amphitheatre and a temple. Only 25% of the city has been uncovered. The Nabateans built enormous facades, carved out of the soft sandstone mountains for the burial of their Royal Families and other nobility. Perhaps the most famous two are The Treasury and The Monastery, the latter of which is the best preserved. In this harsh desert climate the Nabateans had to be excellent water engineers to collect and con conserve water; as well as to prevent disaster from flash flooding.
From the gates where there is an excellent museum, it is a 2 kilometre walk downhill in a siq (a very narrow steep canyon) to The Treasury, which is located in the main valley. From there one sees many tombs on both sides of the valley. There are numerous merchant selling their wares - jewellery, clothing, statuettes etc. - as well as many donkeys and camels available for hire. In fact one can ride a golf cart from the treasury up to the gate for $20USD. There is much to photograph from landscapes to people and ruins. After our lunch, Julie, Sal and I headed up the 900 steps to The Monastery. Once at the top we climbed further up to a lookout and a delicious drink of freshly squeezed orange and pomegranate juice. From there looking west we could see Paran where we had stayed in Israel.
After a second night in Wadi Musa, we left for Wadi Rum, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is located on the high plateau, about an hour from Aqaba near Jordan's souther border with Saudi Arabia. We arrived at our camp, where we met our Bedouin hosts in time to get settled and head out into the desert for lunch in a Bedouin tent. This was total immersion. The meal was cooked over a fire (chicken, rice, salad and freshly made unleavened bread). In fact, all of our lunches for the next 4 days were cooked in a similar way. Our accommodations consisted of a one room "tent" with framed woolen walls, a 3 piece en suite and a king sized bed. The electricity was generated by solar power and all the water was trucked to the camp in big bottles. The weather was very dry with day time highs of about 14-16C and lows near freezing. It was cool riding in the back of the pick up trucks so long underwear and down layers under gortex was mandatory. Meals were eaten in a nice facility complete with library and fireplace, and the food was great.
The geography of Wadi Rum is most interesting. If you have seen Lawrence of Arabia, you have seen what it looks like. The light at the start and end of each day was fabulous. It made for great image making. Camels wandered about as did Bedouin tribesmen. The sand was brown to red. The mountains are very interesting in the nature of the sandstone. There was very little green vegetation at this time of year so most of the hues were reddish through all hues of brown.
The images from these two UNESCO World Heritage Sites follow. The walk down the siq is at the beginning of the images from Petra, followed by the main valley, then the climb to the Monastery. The images from Wadi Rum are a collection in no particular order, consisting of both intimate landscapes, people and food, and the grand landscapes. It was an interesting few days.
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