Two Wanderers

Taxis: we weren’t keen on trying the taxis in Egypt, as we were still intimated, not wanting to get taken for a ride (no pun intended!), and Cairo cabs in particular have a bad reputation for milking as much money out of tourists as they can. As it turned out since we booked a tour for Egypt, there wasn’t any need for them. Our first foray into Jordan proved quite manageable. We probably paid more than necessary for the ride from the ferry into Aqaba, but the driver was kind and friendly, and we didn’t feel ripped off, and that’s what really matters. We took a taxi to Wadi Rum (arranged by our tour guides there) without any trouble, and again from Petra to Dana. By the time we got to Amman, we didn’t think anything of flagging down a taxi to take us across town, especially as they are quite supposed to use their meters. A trip clear across town ended up costing us less than $4 (and this in a country whose costs are generally only slightly less than back home).

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Well, we’ve been in Syria for about 5 days now, and to be honest we haven’t done a lot.

We arrived in Damascus latish at night on the 11th. Our first order of business was to get ripped off by a taxi driver. We’d originally agreed to pay a price higher than we’d been told we should because we only had very large bills, and needed change, so 100 syrian pounds (about $2), seemed reasonable. When we got to the hotel, the driver says “no change,” and requested as payment $3 US (this was after he went on a spiel about Canada, Italy, France… good, USA, UK bad during the ride), which we ended up paying just because we were too tired to bother arguing.

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Well, today was definately an interesting day. It didn’t start out great, as we woke up to find our leftover chicken was missing from the fridge, so our breakfast was lacking in protein. But we made our way first to the JETT bus office to arrange our tickets to Damascus for tomorrow, and then to Abdali bus station to catch a local bus to Jerash. It was shaping up looking like it would be an exercise in frustration, comparable to getting to Amman, because the first bus we were directed to was a full sized bus. We would have been the second and third people on this bus, and they don’t leave until they’re full. Getting to Amman, we were the 7th and 8th people on, and still waited almost 2 hours to depart. But we asked around some more, and a very nice gentleman pointed us to an actual minibus that was almost full and departed within 10 minutes.

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Something generally lacking in the Middle East has been grocery stores. Fresh produce is readily available, and there are many “supermarkets” that sell chips, chocolate bars, water, pop and maybe two or three other products. But there’s still been a bit lacking.

So conveniently, in Amman there is actually a Safeway. Our visit there was a generally uneventful occasion, in which we stocked up on things like cereal bars, cookies, and other non-chip snack supplies. But the real surprise was the candy store, where they were selling chocolate coins. Canadian chocolate coins, just like we’d get at home. We actually didn’t get any because they were expensive, but it was kind of odd nonetheless.

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Dana Village

We’ve just arrived in Amman, after spending 3 days on the Dana Nature Reserve. Despite how much I try to hide it, I’m just not a city girl at heart. It was so wonderful just to sit around and enjoy the relative quiet, the shouts of a few people, the braying of donkeys, the crowing of a rooster or two, and the many many songbirds. And for the first time, I learned that bats do actually make an audible noise – I always thought their sounds were too high-pitched for us to hear, but when I inquired about the weird nighttime squeakings (get your mind out of there!) – there were crickets, but also some high-pitched squeaks that we were told were the bats. Neat.

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Stairway from Heaven

We’ve spent our third day in Petra now, and it was definately the hardest. We’d wanted to visit the second most famous facade in Petra, the Monastery, and we’d planned on taking horses one way, as we’d heard you could do that.

Unfortunately, we had no such luck, apparently the horses are unable to climb all the way to the Monastery. You can take donkeys, but you have to walk about 3 or 4 km from the entrance gate to the centre of the site to get a donkey, and by the first one we asked started at an unreasonable price, and by the time he’d come down to the realm of reality, we were so frustrated with his tactics that we weren’t going to buy from him anyway.

So we walked the whole distance. Probably only about 6 km or so from the entrance gate to the monastery, but it involves dropping right to the bottom of the valley, and then climbing a mountain out. Then turn around and go the other way. So we got a lot of practice on the stairs today. It was worth it though. The monastery, like the Treasury at the other end of the city, is an unforgettable sight.

We leave for Dana tomorrow. We’re not sure where next internet will be available, so it may be a while before you hear from us again. Don’t worry though, we’re fine.

– Neil.

The Treasury

We have been in Wadi Musa (the town beside Petra) for 3 days, and have been to Petra for 2 days, going back again tomorrow. We haven’t really taken much rest in the past week, and are getting a little tuckered. Nights haven’t been fully restful either, as our room is not at all insulated, and we can hear every shout, car horn and prayer call quite clearly – the first call to prayer of the day seems to happen sometime around 4am, though we really can’t figure how many people are actually up at that time, unless they just haven’t gone to bed yet, since it seems to be a very evening and night-oriented society. (which has made finding breakfast on occasion quite a task – many places in less touristy areas don’t open until 9 or 10 am)

Petra:
It is just a huge site. It would take more than just a few days to explore most of it, not even all of it. Though most of the spectacle is really just the sheer size, and ornateness of some of the facades, as many of the caves are actually uninspiring – they made the doorways very ornate, and then the inside is usually just a chamber, maybe 2 or 3, sometimes with dugouts inside – we found one today that appeared to have been a stable, that was one of the more interesting caves. Many of the caves are actually very smelly (pretty sure that some people have used them as toilets) and have garbage in them. Some of them are still used by the locals for feeding and housing their goats, and possibly donkeys.

We haven’t been to the museum yet (hope to do that tomorrow), nor have we read the little tourist books that they have for sale (there are a couple of them in the common room of our hotel, will look at that in a bit), so we don’t have much idea of the stories, or how the city was really organised, or how people lived their daily lives. The stone itself appears to be quite soft (sandstone) so while it seems remarkable that they did it, it is still more understandable than the Pyramids – we can fathom how it was done, and that it may even seem reasonable to have done it.

The rocks themselves are unbelievably colourful – photos will never do them justice. In places, they look like what may have inspired Salvadore Dali (recall the melting clock?) – the colours run and blend into each other. The ceilings of some of the caves are art unto themselves – like murals with no particular subject, just amazing colour and soft contours.

We figure that the people who lived here were a very hardy folk – the amount of walking and climbing just to get from one place to another is incredible. Of course, the stairs and paths have worn over the centuries, so it may have been easier once upon a time. Now you have to just about rock climb to get to some areas, where there might have once been stairs. Just to get from the entrance/visitor’s centre to the bottom of the siq (the long canyon-like entrance to Petra, the entrance containing the famous Treasury, as seen in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) is close to 2 km. Probably at least another 1 km or more to get to the restaurant/museum area, all over very uneven, hilly ground. To get to the Monastery (which we will be doing tomorrow), probably another 1.5km. Then you have to walk it all back. Or hire a horse, camel, donkey or horse-drawn cart (each of which seem to do part of the trail, but not all of them at the same parts).

(In case you were wondering, the inside of the Treasury is nothing like the movie – it’s actually just a very large chamber, with some antechambers or rooms at the back which we couldn’t explore, as the main chamber was gated off).

Something I have found interesting is that the horses at the top of the siq, to take people back to the entrance (the main entrance is at the top – you go down a ways to the top of the siq, which again goes down to the actual entrance at Petra, the Treasury), appear to be in very good condition – we hired a couple yesterday, as we had actually gone for longer than our bodies could handle – and the owners appear quite proud of them. But the horses that draw the carriages (from one end of the siq to the other), many of them are in terrible condition – looking very tired, stumbling, frothing at the mouth, smelling quite bad, being driven harder than is necessary… If ever you are in a tourist area where animal rides are being offered, please please check the condition of the animal before you agree to anything. Their conditions will only improve if people refuse to pay for unhealthy animals. Sadly, it appears that many tourists here don’t notice. It was worse in Egypt – we didn’t look that closely, as we were trying to avoid the touts altogether, but we heard from others who had actually considered it, that some of the animals were in horrendous condition (we had heard this elsewhere as well). The irony is that right at the entrance before Petra (at the very top), there is an animal hospital/rehabilitation centre, that appears to promote the well-being and proper care of horses.

– Kathy

Our Camels

Or perhaps that should be lack-of-saddle sore. Kathy and I spent the weekend (well, the western weekend) riding camels in the Wadi Rum desert not far from Aqaba. We encountered some of the most beautiful scenery we’ve seen in a while, met some interesting people, and had a generally good time.

We also had some mighty weird weather. Both days we were in the desert, we experienced a tiny smatter of rain. On the second day in particular, it looked like we might be in for a real rainstorm, but that never materialised.

The saddle sore bit comes in from camels being extremely bouncy animals. When you watch someone else riding a camel, even other amateurs like ourselves, it looks very graceful, with one leg folded over and one hanging loose. Once you get on, though, you learn the truth. Not only are camels bouncy, but the Bedouin have put absolutely no effort into designing a decently comfortable saddle. So what you have is a few boards and sticks lashed together, with a horn front and back. Similar to what we put on pack horses at home. The extent that they worry about comfort is just to throw some blankets over top. The first day wasn’t so bad…towards the end of it, we were feeling a little worked over, but on the second day, we were just aggravating bruises. Kathy stuck it out, but I ended up getting off to walk a couple of times. So, while I do highly recommend going camel riding if you ever get the chance, I would suggest trying it for one day before committing to a second.

It was a great experience all the same, and Wadi Rum has definitely been another highlight of our trip.

We are in Wadi Musa now, the modern town built near the ancient Nabataean city of Petra, of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade fame. We opted not to do much of anything today, and if we feel up to it tomorrow, we will go and visit the site. We’ve heard that people who do this trip going the other way find the Egyptian sites underwhelming after seeing Petra, so we’ll see if it lives up to the hype.

– Neil.

I’d also like to add that if you are going to ride barefoot, wear sunscreen on your feet! I have the worst sunburned ankle! Despite the appearance of rain late in the day, the early morning was quite warm and sunny, and the clouds in the afternoon did a nice job of cooling things off. Cleared up just after sunset (no spectacular sunsets like we’ve heard about), for a very lovely evening with a sky full of stars like we rarely see at home.

– Kathy

Aqaba doesn’t have the historical draw of much of the region. History happenned here, but it’s left relatively little trace. However, there is excellent diving, in the limited available coastline between the port and the Saudi border.

So we went scuba diving today. It was something we’d intended to do in Dahab, but kind of missed out on. I haven’t gone in a long time (probably close to 8 years, shortly after I learned to dive), and Kathy had never gone before, so we just did a shallow dive from the shore. There was still some amazing coral to be seen, and lots of colourful fishes. My only other diving experience has been in the Jasper lakes (where there is almost no life), and among the Gulf Islands off of Vancouver, where there is tons of life, but it’s all ugly and dull colours. So the tropical view was a pleasant change. Kathy saw a couple of octopi that I missed, but there were fish everywhere, as we saw a few eels as well. There was also a fair bit of coral around.

We’re off to Wadi Rum tomorrow morning, 10 am, so we’ll be out of touch for a few days, until we get to Petra.

– Neil

We have arrived safely in Aqaba, Jordan, and so far we have noticed quite a difference from Egypt. The cab driver that brought us to our hotel took us straight there, without trying to sell us on a different hotel, and he was quite adamant that Jordan is different than Egypt. He appeared to be quite proud of his country, something that we noted was lacking in Egypt.

Immigration was remarkably easy, hassle free, and the agents were quite friendly. So far our experience has been, “Canadian? Ok, you go.” A smile and a wave, and barely a glance at our documents or bags. They had us unlock and open our bags at the port, to ask about my shampoo and then send us on our way. (A mere formality, I suspect)

Internet is more expensive here, so we will try to limit it a bit, at least until we can find something a bit cheaper.

We are in Aqaba for 3 nights (including last night), as we plan our route through Jordan. We’ll post the plans once we have something figured out. Today we are heading to Aqaba Castle and the tourist office, to get some information (hopefully it’s better than Egypt, where the tourist offices simply pointed you in the direction of their favoured travel agency, or so we were told – we didn’t actually investigate for ourselves).

Stay tuned for more from Jordan!

-Kathy