Hello Jordan!

We are just back from yet another amazing travel adventure. This time, we spent 15 days exploring the beautiful country of Jordan. The highlight of the trip for both of us was the Jordanian people...warm, friendly, inquisitive and always a great sense of humour. If only we had a dinar for every time we heard 'Welcome to Jordan'..... Even the military and police would stop us just to say 'Welcome to Jordan'.

Our first stop was at the Dead Sea where we spent a couple of days relaxing and for me, recovering from my last ever written exams!!! We stayed at a nice hotel and enjoyed a couple of days enjoying the Sea and hiking the Wadi's.

Day 1:

The dead sea ritual goes like this:

1) Coat yourself in a thick layer of dead sea mud and let it bake on in the sun for 15 minutes.

2) Soak it off with a float in the dead sea

At the end, our skin was silky soft (and we knew the precise location of every nick and scratch...ouch!). Unfortunately, we were very thorough with our mud application covering nearly every inch from HEAD to toe. It didn't occur to us that nobody else was putting their face in the Dead Sea. This is for good reason...33.7% saline in the eyes is excruciating!!! Nonetheless, we liked it so much that we repeated it all on our second day (faces excluded).

Unfortunately, the Dead Sea is shrinking...the water level is dropping rapidly and there are many proposals for how to save it. They're talking about building a pipeline to feed it from another nearby ocean. You can see how the water levels have dropped in the picture below.

The Dead Sea is famous for its Spas....so...of course we had to go.... The photo below is taken of me right after my massage....enjoying a beautiful sunset from the jacuzzi....HEAVEN!!

Chris running in a Wadi

A wadi is a deep, narrow canyons hidden within the desert mountains. On the surface the mountains are entirely brown and dry but each Wadi is an oasis filled with springs, streams, waterfalls, many plants and animals.

We also spent a day hiking in a Wadi. Once I got over my hypervigilant snake lookout...it was amazing!!

Climbing up and down this little face with the help of this frayed rope allowed us to see the end of the Wadi and what is reportedly the highest waterfall in Jordan.

(this is not it)

Those of you who know us well know that we have a strong liking for soaking in hot water. Hot tubs are great but our real love is for natural hot springs. We have explored natural hotsprings all over western Canada and in pretty near any country we've visited. To our surprise, Jordan's Ma'in hotsprings have topped our 'best of list'....

The water tumbled down at about 40 degrees C. We arrived in the evening and had the falls nearly to ourselves, except for a couple of friendly locals who welcomed us and showed us the best spot to stand under the falls for a thundering full body massage (and demonstrated the need to hold on to your bathing suit bottoms). Behind the falls was a cave that trapped rising steam....not only natural hotsprings but a natural steam room too!!! In a word...INCREDIBLE!!

Goodbye Dead Sea.

Dana Biosphere Reserve

The second stage of our journey was a trip to the Dana biosphere reserve where we had booked 2 nights in an eco lodge and planned a few days of hiking. The lodge is located 14km down the valley and 1000m below the starting point of Dana village. It was a spectacular hike on a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 20's. There is no shade on the hike so we were glad to be there in the 'winter'.

The only inhabitants of this valley are Bedouin families. They are nomadic people who live in large tents and spend their winters in the valleys and summers higher in the mountains. Although they are poor, this is a deeply engrained culture and way of life that the people are very proud of. They are friendly people known for their hospitality. Each tent even has a designated area for passing visitors who may need a place to stay. We were usually greeted by groups of children and offers to come in for Bedouin 'chai' (tea).

This is a typical Bedouin tent. They are divided up into several areas. One part for the women to sleep, which includes the cooking area. One part for the men to sleep, with a fire to make tea/socialise, and one part for visitors to sleep in. Some Bedouins have an attached or seperate area for their animals.

This little guy was not even walking yet but was tough as nails. We saw him smile his way through several wipe outs as his older siblings dragged him through the dirt. We saw another Bedouin baby using one of these blue jugs to help himself balance as he learned to walk.

Our arrival at the eco-lodge.

Feynan is a great place. It is fully solar powered, and only candle lit after dark. It offers employment, training and income opportunities to the local bedouin people including operating a handicraft cooperative for local women. Another bonus is that the food is entirely vegetarian so a few days free of scary meals for me!!

We went hiking with a local guide (required to see some sites) to see some ancient copper mines (10th century bc). There is some evidence to suggest that they might have belonged to King Solomon. It was amazing to see how extensive the mine shafts were and to imagine how they were built with such primitive materials. Apparently there were a lot human skeletons found there with broken legs leading to a theory that slaves' legs were broken to prevent them from escaping the mines. We were amazed at how well preserved the mine shafts were....we were able to explore both vertical and horizontal mines.

Malachite- this is a mineral that contains copper, which gives it the blue/green colour.

Inside the mine

We stopped for tea along the way....

Bedouin tea is a delicious form of rocket fuel. The black tea and herbs (cinnamon, cardamon, sage...) brew all day on the fire. The secret ingredient is 2+ cups of sugar per pot...no exaggeration!! The children drink the tea from when they are babies so you can imagine the state of their teeth.

On our way back to the lodge, we came across this group of children walking home from school. They were keen to say hello and find out where we were from. They all like to have their picture taken and even more, to see it afterwards on the LCD screen. They learn English in school so were able to communicate with us quite well. Impressive!

This little girl was a sweet as can be in her pretty pink dress waving to us from in front of her tent.

When we wandered past the school, the kids and teachers were outside playing soccer. We were invited in to say hello and play with them. I was assigned to be the goalie.... I'm a terrible goalie and the kids took immense pleasure in scoring goal after goal between my legs!! Chris was really helpful though....he went around recruiting all the older boys to join the game to further cinch my reputation as an embarrassment to soccer....and so, my goalie career ended in humiliation.... The little guys and I left the soccer match to Chris and the older boys. Teenage machismo is alive and well amongst the Bedouin boys.... it looked to be a very serious soccer match.

After getting booted out of the soccer game, the little boys taught me their favourite game.... 'race around the school'. We raced lap after lap, some of them hiding around corners to jump out and scare me. Most of these kids don't wear shoes...they have sturdy, calloused little hobbit feet with built in leather soles. They walk and even sprint around the rocky mountainous terrain without a care....so tough!!

We both left worn out and thrilled by an unexpected afternoon of fun running around with the kids.... AND with an invitation to return the next day to teach the kids about Canada in their English class.

Chris did an amazing job of giving a lesson about Canada to kids with limited english and I thoroughly enjoyed my first time seeing him in action as a teacher. The kids were enthralled with him and giggled at his animated descriptions of our weather and living habits. They had each prepared a question to ask us... they were mostly interested in the weather (especially snow and cold), what we eat and what we do for fun.

Explaining why there is no sun in the arctic in the winter

The whole school was curious about our presence there... the doorways and windows were crowded with kids of all ages trying to get a look at us. I was lucky enough to catch this shot of these two little beauties peering in the window to watch Chris teaching...my favourite picture of the trip.

The kids were very happy to pose with us for pictures after the class...

THANK YOU to the kids and teachers of the Feynan Bedouin school for such an amazing experience... we feel so fortunate to have met you all and been welcomed into your school.

We met a lot of really nice travellers along the way too. Jordan seemed to attract a different type of tourist than many places we've been. Most people had travelled widely and the majority were like us, living away from their home country. At Feynan, we met a really nice family travelling together...they were from all over the globe...US, Brazil, Belgium, India, Switzerland...etc. They had a 20month old with them who was learning to speak in three languages...lucky girl!!

We spent a day of hiking with them, an evening playing 'bullshit' and I enjoyed a very competitive game of scrabble on the Feynan patio...

The view from our sunset hike near Feynan

Next Stop.....Petra!!!!!

Petra is one of the 7 wonders of the world. It is an ancient city carved out of the mountains dating back to the 6th century BC. It was the capital city of the Nabataean people. (I am also told that this is the set of Indiana Jones and the last crusade). The construction of these buildings with primitive tools is amazing, but they have also withstood multiple wars and many earthquakes.

We first saw Petra by candlelight....

The approach to the ancient city is a 2km walk, 800m of it is through a 'siq' or slot canyon (a canyon that is much deeper than it is wide). All 2km of it were lit by candles.... Chris and I hung back when the gates opened so that we could be behind the crowds and enjoy the walk in undisturbed silence....

At the end of the siq, you turn a corner to get a stunning and abrupt view of 'the treasury', the focal point of the city of Petra. At night, it was lit up in a sea of candles. No pictures could do this experience justice... it was magical.

We returned early the next morning to see Petra by daylight.

I nearly get shivers looking at this picture....that siq was my favourite part of Petra...You can see the ancient water system (aqueducts) carved into the lower parts of the siq walls.... we did this walk many times over the 3 days we spent in Petra and it never got old.... I'd love to go back again some day!

There were many, many, many great photo opportunities in the siq. Chris found a really cool big rock to climb up and jump on for a photo......until the tourist police asked him to step off of the most sacred monument in the siq...oops. It really did only look like a rock from behind!!

On our way in to Petra we spotted a maple leaf on a backpack and got chatting with a couple. They were Jay (from Toronto) and Shannon (from Tennessee)....a really nice couple about our age who are living and teaching in Beirut. We ended up spending our entire time in Petra, a day in the desert and a couple days at the red sea with them. We had great time.

Here, we are at the 'High place of sacrifice' in Petra. Shannon is re-enacting a sacrifice by hitting Jay over the head with a large rock....

All wrong guys....they didn't have the alter or method right. This Bedouin lady intervened to show us that people were sacrificed by having their throats slit and the alter was carefully designed to gather and drain the blood away....

Petra is described as the 'pink city' for the colour of the rocks...the colours and textures were really beautiful!!

The ceiling of a cave.

There are hundreds of caves of varying degrees of detail (i.e., some natural, some carved out) scattered in the mountains around Petra. People still live in many of them today.

The city of Petra is massive....there is no end to the exploring you can do there. We probably walked more than 15km a day and still didn't explore it all.

Us in front of the treasury...it's huge!!!

Petra Kitchen

For Christmas eve, Chris has the great idea of signing us up for a Jordanian cooking class. Jay and Shannon were interested in joining us so Chris gave his cooking spot to Shannon and he and Jay signed up as 'eaters' and official course photographers. We had a great evening cooking, drinking wine and eating way more food than we should have.

Shannon and I making Baba Ganoush (eggplant dip)

Only some of the food...we made Jordanian tossed salad, homous, tahini dip, baba ganoush, tabouleh, yogourt/cucumber/mint dip, spiced stewed tomatoes, lentil soup, lamb stuffed pitas, and a main dish of rice with vegetables (+/- chicken). We were STUFFED!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Christmas day at Petra....enjoying the view of the treasury from above (hats courtesy of Jay and Shannon)

So excited to be at Petra!

This building is another highlight of Petra. It is called the Monastery and is located high in the mountains. You have to climb 800 steps carved into a winding path to get there (many people get a donkey 'taxi' to get up). This thing is massive...50m high x 45m wide...the urn you can see at the very top of it is 10m high!

Once again, we were amazed at the kindness of the Jordanian people. Petra is a huge tourist destination yet we were not hassled to buy things. They might ask you once but if politely refused, they would respond with a sincere 'Welcome to Jordan' and many questions about where we are from.

We came upon this Bedouin lady and her kids on our way down from the monastery. She made us tea and we spent an hour playing with the kids.

This little guy couldn't get enough swinging or looking through our cameras for pictures of cats.

Another shot of the treasury

That day we tried to leave Petra via an alternative, even narrower slot canyon.

This canyon was really cool while it lasted!!

Unfortunately, our time playing with the kids meant we left it too late and we ran out of light while navigating the canyon. We decided to turn back and hike back to the main entry/exit route. It meant for a longer hike out and when we reached the siq by the treasury it was pitch black.... this was not a 'Petra by night' evening so there were no candles! It was pitch black in that Siq...creepy! Thankfully, Chris had his headlamp so we enjoyed another beautiful walk through the Siq.

Christmas dinner with Jay and Shannon...well earned after a long day of hiking.

Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum is a desert in Jordan made famous by Lawrence of Arabia. We spent a day there doing one of the most interesting hikes we've ever done...

Rakabat Canyon

Walking across the desert to the start of the canyon

This hike was incredibly diverse, there was some scrambling...

some slot canyons....

crawling over things and even under things....

and finishing with a sunset snack of falafel on the beautiful red dunes and back to the village via the desert...

The Red Sea

Our next stop was the Red Sea with Shannon and Jay. The area we were is a narrow inlet where we were tightly surrounded by Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. There we spent 2 days camping and hanging out at the beach. Chris, Jay and Shannon Scuba dived and I snorkelled.

Another beautiful sunset.

We said goodbye to Jay and Shannon as they headed back to Beirut for new years. We went back to Wadi Rum to spend a few more days in the desert. We had our backpacking gear with us so we packed it all up along with 12 L of water, a few litres of red wine, and 3 days worth of good food. At Rum village we hired a local guy to drive us 15-20 km into the desert to a central spot where we could camp and do some hiking from. He made it his mission to find us a good camping site and did he ever succeed!!!

Rum Village borders the desert....here you can see the transition of the road from pavement to sand.

Eit and the wheel

Wadi Rum

Making camp food...yum!!!!

The coolest campsite ever....our own little cave!

Handsome!

Again, we came across a Bedouin family while hiking and they invited us in for tea. The kids put on a great show for us, even bringing the baby goats in for a visit.

On day 2 in the desert we were enjoying the start of sunset with a glass of wine when up rolled a beat up old truck....a surprise visit from Eit, our driver...carrying a large garbage bag.

'Hello, how are you? you like chicken???"

oh no....

I was really worried about what he might pull out of that bag.

It was chicken but thankfully a frozen one sans head and feathers. Phew!!

To prelude the rest of this story....here's a few things that some of you might not know about me:

1. I like to cook

2. I like to be the boss in the kitchen

3. I am very particular about kitchen hygiene

4. Chris and I have a pretty tight system for maintaining or camp when backpacking. We strictly adhere to the rules that you don't cook or store food where you sleep and you don't sprinkle food around your campsite.

5. We are very anal about looking after our camping gear. I, in particular am in charge of the kitchen gear.

6. Did I mention that I am particular about kitchen hygiene??

This picture is actually misleading because it all looks very peaceful and orderly. What really happened is that this very sweet man came and made a delicious meal but wreaked havoc on points 1-6 above.

The evening went like this....

1) Eit arrives and starts a massive fire (with gas he took out of his truck engine) about 5 feet away from our tent....even Chris was stressed by this one.... we were convinced that our tent would be full of burn holes and smell like smoke (and chicken) forever. (See points 4 and 5 above)

2) Eit takes my wood handled knife and begins cutting up the raw chicken tossing the scraps all over our camp site. Ew. (Points 3, 4 and 6)

3) I start making dinner- broccoli and cheese pasta (point 1 above, I'm happy). Eit had never seen broccoli or cheese before and was surprised to know they were grown/made in Jordan.

4) Eit continues to cut up the chicken with intermittent pauses to manhandle everything in our camp, including Chris with his raw chicken covered hands.

5) Eit finishes chopping the chicken and decides to help me with my pasta.... grating cheese with his chicken covered hands using the chicken covered knife. (Points 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6)

6) Eit cooks the chicken....it looks great

7) Eit decides that my pasta is taking too long and puts my non-stick coated pot (from the gas stove) into the fire. I was convinced it would be ruined, but it actually survived the flames quite well. (Points 2 and 5)

8) We had a lot of friendly but confused conversation....he only has a few stock phrases in english....'eat chicken', 'eat more bread', 'look me' (we think this means...I'll show you or look over here), 'why me' (means explain to me why you don't eat chicken) and 'you're welcome' (what he says when he doesn't know what else to say')

9) We had a delicious meal together (chicken and pita on the fire, plain yogourt to dip and my pasta) and lots of laughs!!

10) Chris and I threw out any food or disposable item he had touched

11) It was too late for Eit to drive home so he went and slept with the nearby bedouins.

It was a total clash of kitchen cultures! I spent the entire evening torn between loving the fact that we were having this amazing spontaneous and totally authentic interaction with this lovely local man and being traumatized by what he did to my outdoor 'kitchen' and camp....all in all it was a fantastic and memorable experience with a lot of interspersed laughs at my own expense!!

Our camp from above

Of course, he also made us tea

Our beautiful camp by candle and fire light

Spot our tent

Oddly, the only rain we saw on the trip was in the desert. The first night we were awoken by loud water on the tent and found that we camped right below the run-off site from the overhanging cliff. We essentially had a small waterfall coming down on top of us and a trickle of water running under us. So, we crawled out and moved the tent to a new, drier site and had a great night's sleep.

When it wasn't cloudy, the desert offered one of the best start shows we've ever seen.

Hiking in the desert

On our way out

Looking at ancient petroglyphs...mostly carvings of camels and horses in the rocks...beautiful!

Our camping experience in Wadi Rum was another highlight among many. We left dirtier and smellier than we've ever been and headed back to the Red Sea to wash it all off.

The first place we stayed near the Red Sea was a bit dodgy and the only other options were fairly high end hotels. So....we decided to treat ourselves to 2 nights in a luxury hotel to finish off our holiday.

The most strenuous thing we did for those 3 days was snorkelling.... the fish and coral were spectacular....every colour you can imagine. We even busted out or old under water camera to capture a few scenes.

New Years landed somewhere in the middle of our time at the Red Sea....our routine for the trip had been to go to bed early (because it's cold and there's not much to do at night) and wake up very early. So...we decided that we'd keep that up for new years. We skipped the lame and overpriced hotel 'gala', went for a beautiful dinner in the city of Aqaba and were in bed by 10:30pm. Lame, I know but we made sure to celebrate Canadian new years at 9am the next morning!!

We had the best seats in Jordan to watch the sunset every night....

Another stamp in the passport and many, many great memories of Jordan- a spectacular country and truly beautiful people.

We hope to return some day, "Inshallah".