Aqaba, Jordan

Tuesday, November 24th
Route of the Ancient Traders
Day 14
M/S Nautica
Aqaba, Jordan
Showers – 75 Degrees

We could see the Jordan hills from Israel, just across the Dead Sea, but we couldn't get there. Now that we have sailed through the Suez Canal, around the Sinai Peninsula, and up the Gulf of Aqaba, we have finally reached Jordan.

We have been looking forward to our visit to Jordan. We have become friendly with a Jordanian onboard Nautica. Nadia Dajani was born in Jordan and has lived all over the world. She returned to Jordan and her Arabian roots 12 years ago. She has become a prominent artist, jeweler, and authority on Arab culture. She has given several talks on Jordan and the larger Arab world and she is selling her jewelry onboard. Her pieces are all hand-made in Jordan and feature Arabic symbols reflecting her values of peace and understanding. I have three pairs of her earrings and just love them.

Jordan is a very unique country in this part of the world. It is a stable constitutional monarchy with a progressive royal family. King Hussein ruled the country, and led the region, for more than forty years. He was a tireless promoter of peace in the Middle East and pushed for a Pan-Arab peace with Israel that would recognize a Palestinian State and the right of existence for both Israelis and Palestinians. In the late 70s, after his third wife had been killed in a helicopter crash, he married American-born Queen Noor. They made a powerful team advocating prosperity at home and peace around the world. King Hussein was succeeded by his son when he died of cancer in 1999. King Abdullah II has continued the work of his father and has further modernized the country. Both leaders are beloved and both of their pictures grace public buildings all over Jordan. The Jordanian people have enjoyed relative peace and an improving standard of living, in spite of lacking the oil wealth of their neighbors. When the modern borders of Jordan were drawn, the country had only a narrow outlet to the Red Sea at Aqaba. In 1965, Jordan traded 6,000 square kilometers of dessert to Saudi Arabia for 12 additional kilometers of coastline on the Red Sea. This was a great deal for Jordan,...until the Saudis discovered oil under the desert that used to belong to Jordan. Oh, well. Bygones.

Aqaba is a growing port and resort community for Jordan and the Middle East. It is the gateway to Petra and Wadi Rum.

Petra was home to the Nabataeans, a tribe of Arabs that controlled the frankincense trade before the Romans. Petra was built in the 3rd Century B.C. After an earthquake, the Nabataeans moved on and Petra was lost for centuries, rediscovered by a British explorer in 1812. It has since become known as one of the most beautiful and beguiling archaeological sites in the world. From the visitor center, it is an 800 meter downhill hike to the entrance of the Siq, a very narrow canyon cut into the rock by an ancient river. The Siq continues for another 1.2 kilometers. You emerge from the Siq to find an ancient village carved into the swirling red sandstone rock. Elaborate facades have been carved out of the hills with grand entrances that lead into suites of excavated rooms. The Treasury is the most impressive of these structures, and the first you come to from the Siq, but it would take days to explore the entire site.

This place is stunning. Everybody says so. Part of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" was filmed here. But we didn't actually see it.

We were excited to see Petra, but Tres was dreading the walk. 2K downhill to get in, 1K walking around the site, and another 2K uphill to get out. That's 5K!!! On top of that, he has a cold. A bad one. It started in Luxor and was fully raging by this morning. This walk would have been a challenge on a good day, but near impossible on a bad one. But he was determined to try. We got to the visitor center and the guide gave us five minutes for a potty stop. I rushed into the filthy, crowded, smelly restroom to find that the only available stall did not have a Western toilet, just a hole in the ground. To add to the challenge of using this facility, the marble floor was wet, with what I could only imagine. After completing my business, the floor was too slick to get a purchase and I couldn't get up. My only choice was to crawl out of there on my hands and knees. Uck!!! I was helped to my feet by a friend from the ship, but I was shaken and exhausted from the effort. I was in no shape for a 5K walk either, so we skipped it. We went over to the Movenpick hotel where we were scheduled to have lunch later in the day. I cleaned up and we relaxed in the lobby with coffee and Queen Noor's autobiography.

When it started to rain, we knew we had made the best decision. They say we missed the highlight of the trip and we have to come back someday. Maybe, but I am going to pee sitting down, or standing up.

Wadi Rum is a magical desert landscape in the heart of Southern Jordan. Wadi means valley in Arabic so this is the Rum desert valley. It was made famous by TE Lawrence's "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" and the movie "Lawrence of Arabia," which was partially filmed here. Lawrence helped lead the Arab revolt with the British against the Ottomans in 1917.

We drove out into the dessert to a visitor center with a view of the Seven Pillars.

From there, we boarded four-wheel drive Jeeps to go deeper into the desert to a Bedouin camp for dinner. The Bedouins are ancient tribes of itinerant Arabs. Historically, the Bedouins would camp in black goat-hair tents in the desert. When conditions would warrant, they would pull up stakes and move on to the next oasis. Now, most Bedouins have settled down, with government incentives, and are integrated into Jordanian society.

We arrived at the Bedouin camp with the sun setting behind the hills and dusk falling on the desert. They had prepared an amazing buffet of traditional sides and salads. At the end of the buffet, chicken skewers and ground beef kabobs were grilling on an open fire. Beyond that, there were two mounds in the sand. The Bedouins dug out the sand to reveal two giant cast iron pots. Inside were racks of roasted lamb and potatoes. This may have been the best meal of the trip. The salads were fresh and full of flavor. The beef and chicken were grilled crisp and juicy. The lamb was amazing. Mild and tender, a Bedouin pulled chunks of flesh off the bone with just the pressure of a finger. It was roasted crispy on the outside and dripping with rendered fat, which had basted the roasting potatoes. We sat on the ground, padded with cushions, at low tables under the tents, while the Bedouins poured wine and their own brand of firewater ouzo, and entertained us with music and dance.

After a great night, we climbed back into the back of the Jeeps and raced through the desert back to the Seven Pillars.

It was a rocky start to the day, but a magic carpet ride to a great evening under the darkening desert sky.

Next Stop: Four Days at Sea