Leg 02 - First Steps To Freedom - Madain Saleh - Amman, Jordan

30 Oct 09

On returning to the hotel, there is coincidentally a policeman there. As we set off he waves us down and tells us we need petrol for our journey! Actually it seems he needs petrol to follow us, though his advice is timely as unbeknown to us, most petrol stations are closed on a Friday .. that’ll be today then. As we head off on the main road it is obvious he is a tail, kindly he remains behind, so I set the speed. Except – when the time comes to changover he pulls in front and flags us down. Quickly we learn that every time the tail changes, we have to stop and wait; the changeover involves a handover of paperwork on us. Nearly all the other tails set the speed by driving in front. The few times my frustration got the better of me and I tried to overtake we were flagged back – get in your place Shaw. All driving styles were in evidence from youthful steadiness, thro’ youthful impetuousness (drive faster than the Pajero can manage, then when it is obvious we can’t keep up slow to a snail’s pace then race faster than we can manage again, all the way to the I’m not bothered we’ll do 45 kph regardless. Two I stopped to tell to speed up, but the effect was short-lived. I never resolved whose fault it would have been if we did not make the border by midnight – the expiry of our visas! These tails changed about every 40 km and on entry and exit to each town as areas of responsibility changed – a mere 750km of this faffing. All I presume for out security. Incidentally, the media case of 4 (?) French tourists being killed in a drive-by shooting near Meda’in Saleh a couple of years ago was not actually the case. I had seen a blog suggesting otherwise and Abu Sultan confirmed, it was near Medina, a long way South, though they may have come from Meda’in Saleh. Anyway, this was 750km of not being able to freely find a loo, stop for a snack and leg stretch, choose our own pace or points of interest – we were prisoners on the road. Another 470miles driven.

At last the Jordan border, phew most speak a little English. The offices are not in the right order. We have a Jordan visa – needed it for the Saudi visa application ... no we don’t. They’re now out of date! But, new ones are free here. Okay where’s that office – no sign but find a room – v quick, written in log, stamped and out. Back to first visited (2nd in order) office, okay now we can be stamped in. Where next – car import, 3rd office, well no. Need 3rd party insurance first – 5th office. Oh, just in the middle of this, come and park over here, we’ll do your customs clearance (somewhere out of the 3rd and a half office(!)) . So – any electrical goods? What does that mean, do I have an encyclopaedic memory of every piece of wire I’ve packed. He stops me past “mobile phone”. Fuel/benzene, well yes; where, mme in the middle of this kitchen sink ... lets make it up as just 1 can of petrol. They were pretty good really. Okay now to that 5th office, no lets go to the 4th office to change money and get rid of all Kuwait dinar and Saudi riyals. Never bartered over exchange rates before, but it seems to work! Now the 5th then back to the 3rd. All done – visas free, passport stamps 11JD ea, car tax, car insurance (3rd party) 19.5JD. Like so many border posts, its dark at night and strangers are all over the place – take our time and watch everything.

The freedom as we emerge into Aqaba is palpable. There are people of both sexes walking about enjoying themselves, we’ve got rid of our police “escort” and I can go and have a beer ...

31 Oct 09

Up early (7) to take apart roof rack, make truck driveable again and extricate bag of dive gear.  So time to shower, pack dive bag and breakfast - rather quiet in hotel and security (sic) guard asleep at scanner in entrance.  All ready for my 0915 DiveAqaba (http://www.diveaqaba.com) pick-up, ten past and no show - phone up.  Yes we'll be with you at about 0900! "Oh, our clocks went forward yesterday ..."  No wonder the hotel was quiet.  Wait an hour - dive bus arrives - "Is this Dive Aqaba?" - "Yes".  Interesting, seems to be going in the wrong direction.  Well after a further 30 min faffing, they pick me up from somewhere in town where the wrong bus dropped me off.  To be fair - Dive Aqaba were very good - from an e-mail the day before, Rod Abbotson replied that evening; their pick-up was on time and when I ran off on the wrong bus they came and picked me up - brilliant.  They were recommended by a Kuwait diving friend - Phil  Barawitzka - who was there that day, but sadly I missed him in the faff.  Most importantly, while Chris had a day tidying and enjoying the 5* luxury of the Intercontinental, I had a great diving day with the "Seven Sisters and Tank" as the first warm-up dive and the deeper "Cedar Pride" wreck as the 2nd.  The first time I've dived the Red Sea and it lived up to its famed fantastic visibility.  Dive Aqaba, ran a good tight ship with thorough briefings, tho' my "buddy" didn't subscribe to buddy checks and just jumped in and waited for me to join him - he'll have to wait longer then while I do my own "buddy checks"!

Diving is tiring stuff, so we ate in the hotel that evening - with the odd beer - the elixir of life.  It was a 2 night stay, because most directions you leave Aqaba from are over mountains and just as you shouldn't fly within 12 hrs of diving, neither should you drive over mountain ranges.  Lonely Planets was sharp on that - a shrewd piece of advice.

1-2 Nov 09

Off to Wadi Rum today, famed for its part in the film setting for Lawrence of Arabia (colour version).  Just call in on the castle at Aqaba - it's the only feature of the town worth a special visit -  but, refurbishment not complete and it is a small site with little special to offer so we do not linger.  Sadly, the only local interaction we have there is with some wayward children (8-10 yrs - should be at school) who's only grasp of the English language seems to be the Hollywood version with mostly F-word use and the aggressive body language and facial expressions that go with modern violent films.

Wadi Rum - stunning.  We are met by Nayil, son of Obeid Al-Amamreh (wadirum_disidesert@yahoo.com), at the visitor centre, led thro' the passes etc that we need, including one that allows us to drive our own 4x4 around in the protected area.  We are well looked after by Nayil during our day and half in the Wadi except that he is running the show almost by himself and whenever a little extra attention is required, such as when one of the dormatory tents blew down he is absent briefly to arrange help.  These pauses were frustrating but not a sig problem.  Nayil did well to show us some nearby highlights in our arrival afternoon and the following full morning he included much more, including the more distant aspects. He managed almost all the features I had picked-out as worth doing.  For the evening and the morning tour we are part of a group of 6 - 2 American ladies (Julia and Michelle) who added some

sparkle to the events and a couple of Belgian guys.  A small and relatively subdued group - only to be expected in the off-season period.  The plus side was that there were not so many tourists around the Wadi.  We had the pleasure of a full moon that night , but the wind increased steadily the following morning and the visibility was dropping markedly as we left in the early afternoon.  Visibilty worthy of Kuwait.

2 Nov 09

The wind is gusting as we set-off (a dormitory tent blew down in the morning) and aren't we glad that we have seen Wadi Rum before this awful visibilty set-in.  The sad aspect is that as we turn off the Amman road for the Kings Highway - famed for its spectacular panoramic views and sweeping wadis - we can hardly see anything. Even stopping the truck to view is unpleasant as the wind is v strong at the panorama points and the dust gets everywhere, including behind your eyeballs.  I know you would like to see what it can be like, so here is a Google Earth pic.  Our pic was a sand collage.

Late away from Wadi Rum and with a few planned sites the day is too short.  Some of the plans require good vis for the views,so we press on.  We drive by Petra - enjoyed it 20 yrs ago and we don't have the time now.  Shobak castle - mme, its dark by the time we get there and there are no tourist night sodium lights to make it pretty, so that is a miss as well.  We arrive at our accomodation - Dana Guest House in the dark - it is run by the Park authority and has a hippy/posh  pension feel to it with eco awareness emblazoned across all activities.  Very friendly and well organised.  The view is to die for, but it is still blowing a gale with poor vis.  We will not be hanging around.  An early morning walk around the once abandoned village proves interesting.  A couple of "hotels" have recovered some buildings and made a go of it, but sheets of canvas and polythene seem to be required to fininsh the job off.  About half the village remains abandoned with the rest awaiting the tourist boom.  Dana Nature Reserve is deservably popular and quite a few walkers set off while we were there - it is poorly signed/mapped though, at present.

3 Nov 09

All the views were stunning, this is from our balcony - which I got locked out on, in a gale, in my p-jays, when the lock jammed - all to bring this pic to your home ....

So after a strole around, breakfast and some truck re-organisation including re-inflating the tyres after the Wadi Rum desert driving we are off.  (Reducing tyre pressures (as far as half pressure) gives improved grip in the sand, but made the truck a bit wayward on the road.)

Karak Castle is a stunning fortress, tho' not as well described/explained or maintained as Crac De Chevalier which we saw in Syria last year.  The vis is still poor, so a planned cros-country route down a steep wadi towads the Dead Sea would have little value, besides we are still tired after the long drives and pressure of departing Kuwait.  We make straight for Madaba, well but for a wrong road out of Karak; that decides it we are cutting out those extra visits and going straight for Madaba.  That clock change has really shortened the useful day, it is dark by five and with little dusk, just dark.

Madaba reads well in Lonely Planets.  With our Middle Eastern experience we found the "historic" buildings quite ordinary and the town not unusual.  It is starting to develop with the buidling work for a tourist precinct coming along.  The main interest  was the strong Christian community there and the multi-faith aspects of the town.  We stayed in the Pilgrims House - its attached to a Greek Orthodox church and like so many minority religious buildings in multi-faith ares of the globe sat behind heavy security gates and barbed wire fencing.  It was reltively basic and only one fellow traveller tried to convert us.  The town is also a centre for mosaics, old ones, with some excellent museum examples, not that they are well cared for or maintained - perhaps with them surviving the last 2 millenium they are good for a while yet ...

4 Nov 09

Having cut out so many places – time, poor visibility and Chris has picked-up a sore throat/cold which is getting her down – we are prioritising what is left. It is tempting to try to see all those famous places from Sunday school bible lessons! Mt Nebo it is then – should be a pleasant drive out and the vis may be better looking down into the Jordan valley. It’s a short drive out of Madaba. Lots of tourists, but worth the run and pleasant countryside to boot. Views pretty good as well. Decide to add Bethany (Jesus was baptised here - according to tourist pressure and writings at least 20 yeras old ...) as the drive down the mountain into the Valley looks exciting. (Excuse me while I digress – if my writing goes funny (!) its ‘cos I’m doing this in Gallipoli accom and the netbook is well charged with static which keeps running though my p-jays to vital parts ... No, it is not as exciting as you woud imagine!) ... So, an hour out of our way to Bethany – what a rubbish site. There’s nothing to see unless you subscribe to a 1 hour bus ride to the site where you are dropped and not picked-up for at least another hour before the journey back to the carpark. No we are not prepared to waste 3 hours plus on what is a scimpy site anyway.

And so on past Amman – not worth stopping as the Syrian Embassy there DOES NOT issue visas! We (Chris especially) are starting to feel the pressure of these visas and may have to change our itnerary again to best tackle our perceived solution. Leg 03 next ...