A night spent in Aqaba, the border crossing, ferry port, lovely town, starting point of our Jordan journey. No one had really heard much about things to do around the town, if you’ve visited Dahab, you’ve seen enough, so we were keen to just get a move on. Had arranged for the rental car pickup the night before so around 8am, paperwork was being filled out and a good deal had been struck. My two young, new best friends, Liz and Laura, recent graduates from BC universities, were as excited as I was so necessities were taken care of (new SIM card for phone and munchies for the ROAD TRIP!) and it was agreed that Liz would drive the first little bit until we got our directional bearing, then she would be my driving instructor. It was SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper to rent a standard as opposed to an automatic so as the primary driver of the car, I simply lied and said, yep, sure can drive a standard. Well, I would be driving one by the end of the trip so I wasn’t a complete lie. Was it? Thank goodness Liz could drive standard!
The world changed once we entered Jordan. Developed, organized, civilized Jordan. Busy, chaotic city streets but you could more or less see some sense to the chaos. Traffic lights and road signs (in English even!) and paved, smooth roads… we were home! I felt sick for the girls as we bumped and jumped our way along during my initial introduction to stick shift driving but once we were on the highway, it was smoother sailing from there, even found an English radio station! The roads were mostly deserted as we journeyed towards Wadi Rum, desert destination with impressive landscapes to see. Wadi Rum. Don't you love that name? Waddling through Rum is all I kept thinking. I could use some rum at this point. Will there be rum? What... it's a desert valley with mighty mountains??? Oh. Well, I'll find some rum eventually.
Visitor Centre set up controls all who enter but it was worth it. We paid for a jeep tour through some of the desert (our little Chi Chi Citroen had to stay behind) and an overnight in a Bedouin camp. Pretty standard going for this place. Got to see some inconceivably high rocks / cliffs and beautiful desert scenery but our guide was a bit eager to be done with us as he had a wedding to get to. Arrived at our camp, met a few others who were staying the night, and settled in to simply soak up and explore the quiet and isolation of where we were.
At one point after dinner, our hosts disappeared to drive the couple who was to be staying with us back to the visitor center and to gather a few things. Sun had just set, they would be back soon, lots of light left. So Liz, Laura, and I had the place to ourselves! COOL! Then it got darker, and darker. No hosts, no electricity (we’re in the desert!) so no lights, no vehicle, hmmmm…. out came our head torches and we started the search for lanterns, candles, matches, something. I managed to dig two small, used candles out from the ashes of our fire pit and we crashed the kitchen. Pitch black night by this point. Propane stove, perfect. Lit the small candles, started the tea, and carried on. Hosts came back and found this all to be quite amusing. Ummm… Thanks for stranding us, goobers.
Guide came back later on to play us guitar and sing while we drank tea, smoked shisha, and checked out the stars. *sigh* So relaxed. Set up for sleep outside (there were options to sleep inside the tented areas but no thanks) as it was such a nice night and woke up later to a big moon coming around the side of the mountains beside our camp. Lit up the desert clear as day. Amazing. The days can be rough in the desert but the nights make it worth every sweaty second. Wow.
Up and out the next morning. The dear owner of the Bedouin camp spoke excellent English but asked for some help in responding to an email from an agent trying to arrange an upcoming trip for a couple of people. I played secretary and typed up a response so late morning and we were on our way to try to find Petra. Famous, famous Petra.
The driving was fairly easy highway driving but the closer we got to Petra, the steeper the hills got. And when I say steep, I mean, oh my gosh can cars actually handle this? steep. The scenery got better and better as we made our way to Wadi Musa, the valley where the ancient city of Petra is found. Top of the world views over dry mountain and desert landscapes, small villages and local faces. So happy that we had our own car to do this beautiful drive at our own pace on our own schedule. It was fabulous and we were so looking forward to finding Petra. Google it. It’s incredible.
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