July 18, 2009

• Road to Jordan: Wadi Rum

  As our final few days in Arabia drew near we decided to head out to the desert, making a brief stop in route to Little Petra.
  
  Far down in the valley below is the Petra we have explored the last several days. But while the majority of the ruins in Petra proper are charnel houses, little Petra contains the remains of the day to day buildings…the restaurants, the trading posts, the daily places of business.
  
  
  Almost feels like jawas are about to pop out any minute, doesnt it?
  
  This dilapidated staircase is an alternative pathway to the monastery we saw before. It is even steeper than the 800 steps we took, and takes about half a day to complete.
  
  And of course, what would little Petra be without a little Siq?

  That completed, it was off to Wadi Rum! Wadi is arabic for desert, and Wadi Rum is best known as being the adopted homeland of T.E. Lawrence, aka Lawrence of Arabia
  
  The title comes from proverbs 9:1: “Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars”. While only 5 pillars are visible in this formation, the arabs and the desert itself make the last 2
  
  Our transport was a 4×4, so we could drift, skid, and jump among the dunes
  
  The sand of Wadi Rum is soft and yielding, not at all like the hard gritty gravel like sand I am used to in Los Angeles.
  
  One of the bedouins who calls this unforgiving landscape home, and wouldnt have it any other way
  
  The size of this sand dune is immense, although the perspective doesnt do it justice. So, being the mature traveler I am, I figured the best way to show you would be to climb to the top and then RUN DOWN!
   
  
  minor slip, but I am okay
  
  Wheeeeeee!
  
  Once again I adopted the local dress over my usual Indiana garb. Xanga, meet Josh of Arabia.
  
  During our mad max like tooling around the desert we managed to get a flat tire. Actually, whatever jeep had our guide Okla in it (guide pictured above) seemed to break down. You can imagine he wasnt too popular with us waiting in the sun to fix a flat
  
  The house of Lawrence of Arabia, the british engineer who helped organize the arabs during their revolt against the ottoman empire in 1915-1918. (It’s a bit of a fixer upper)
  
  Aramaic Graffiti (Jesus wuz here)
  
  The rock bridge, again not quite to scale
  
  You know me though, I take it as a personal challenge from nature to do these things
  
  As the sun began to set, we decided to head to our campsite for the evening
  
  Pretty swanky, eh? Camping doesnt always have to be “roughing it”
  
  
  Another one of my favorite shots of the trip
  
  While I was busy getting my adventure on, Short Round was celebrating in his own way
  
  by taking a nap and enjoying the scenery
  
  
  
  hmmm…a fire pit?
  
  MARSHMALLOW TIME!
  
  after the marshmallows we had our almost nightly ritual by this point of smoking hookah and playing gin rummy before bed
  
  
  Our tent.

  Well it was time to set off for the village and from there home…
  
  but with the 4x4s gone, how would we cross this vast expanse?
  
  
  The way they did it in olden times…on camelback!
  
  I was taught by my guide to click my tongue and pull on the reins to talk to anf guide my camel along the path. From my understanding my commands meant “hey camel, do whatever you feel like and periodically wander back in the right direction when the boss is watching or the other camels get too far ahead”
  
  …And so came to an end my Road to Jordan. I had seen wonders of the world, explored ancient ruins, discovered the stargate and holy grail, swam in the dead sea and camped among the desert nomads. Truly no more adventures could be crammed into a single vacation.

  I hope you have enjoyed my trip as much as I did. When next you visit, you can continue to read about my ongoing adventure, my medical Residency. Watch in awe as I puzzle out how to diagnose and treat patients! Be amazed as I resume sharing my medical misadventures! Wonder how anyone trusts somebody with only days of clinical experience with their well being!

  THE ADVENTURE NEVER ENDS WHEN YOU ROLL WITH RVEBLADE

  til next time…

  • 2:25 pm
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