The Middle East's really worth a look ...

Day 323 - Sunday 30 November 2008

I'm all Intrepid-ed out for the last time this year and as our gang of worldly travellers drifts apart I have a couple of 'administration' days before I fly over the Mediterranean and set foot in Europe again for the first time in 11 months. A huge thanks to another great crowd of experienced travellers who I owe a couple of images. Here they all are with our Egyptian guide Wahid in the Sawa Camp where we spent a couple of nights in beach huts along a deserted stretch of Egyptian coast. From L to R. Kiddy, Hayden, Nicola, Shane, Bern, Lana, Danni, Hannah, Nick, Alice, Yoanna, tall bloke!
















And another! In Wadi Rum and snapped by our Jordanian guide Faizl who steered us through his beautiful country. Our Bedouin friends Yousf (L) and Zayed (R) get in on the 'posing in a dramatic landscape' action. More later!
















Right now I'm sat in the heart of the Middle East here in the northern part of Jordan and for the last week I've been surrounded by places you can't help but hear about as a kid growing up in the 1980s. This mountainous, small, safe part of the world has a wise and beloved King Abdullah II (following in his famous father King Hussein I's footsteps) and in many places it's a case of standing and admiring the views. 'Look, there's Israel and the Palestinian territories, there's Saudi Arabia, there's Syria and that's the road to Iraq'. I say wise because you have to admire this family's philosophy. While around them there are disputes galore they've put the ultimate priority for their country as one of peace and safety. And they've succeeded. This part of the Middle East is uber-safe, amazingly hassle-free (for guys anyway) and a treat. Parts of it are incredibly well developed although many rural parts still have dusty roads and a crumbly infra-structure. The first is a joy to my travel weary eyes. The second makes me think that Jordan doesn't deserve the kind of prices you have to pay for living expenses. For example, 15 quid to do my laundry yesterday and I got dusty feet walking to this Tour Dot Net internet cafe. It's the most expensive developing country in my world this year.

But is it worth the expense (which is not horrendous, just annoying) yes! It packs a punch for a little guy. Yesterday we mopped up the final parts of the country by spending 3 hours wandering the ancient streets of incredible Jerash. Jerash was one of the Decapolis (and then called Gerasa). The Decapolis were a group of 10 cities on the eastern edge of the Roman Empire and Jerash is now one of the best preserved Roman sites outside Italy. A couple of theatres (that got a round of 'friends, Romans, countrymen' from me to test the acoustics), a splendid colonnaded street complete with chariot ruts a couple of thousand years old, wonderful Temples of Artemis and Zeus (the Roman's early Gods were lifted straight from the Greeks) and a massive entrance called Hadrian's Gate that was twice this big when it stood in all it's glory (it still does really).



















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapolis

And then it was onto Amman to tick off the country's capital city because I've seen every one in every country I've been to barring China's Beijing. Amman looked OK. Not one of the world's great cities but it's topography's pretty neat. It's built around 8 jebels (hills) that create a series of 27 meandering districts and are dominated by The Citadel (an Ummayad city - I know - I had to look them up as well) that sits on top of the highest Jebel el Qara where people first settled in Amman. It's also home to the magnificent Temple of Hercules (don't you just love it) built, supposedly, by Emperor Marcus Aurelius (the old Emperor at the start of Gladiator who gets killed by his son played by Joaquin Phoenix).




















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amman

And the viewpoint from The Citadel gave you a great view of Amman's other ancient site. It's high capacity Roman Theatre nestled alongside it's Roman Forum. My initial views on all these Romans were to leave it all for a few days when I'll be in ... Rome. But then I had a spare day, other adventurers and it wouldn't have seemed right to miss Jordan's other treasure. In the end it worked out like a Roman warm up in a Middle Eastern style.














I say other treasure because most people come to Jordan for one reason (although they all find plenty else) and I was one of those 'most people'. And why not?! A treasure that slowly and spectacularly reveals itself. It's setting is not quite the Canyon of the Crescent Moon but it's not radically different.












































Petra means rock in Greek and I could go on about this place for hours and hours. I will a bit but let's cut straight to the chase ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra

The overview is that it's one of my favourite places on the planet, it's remarkably tout/hassle free, it's sandy beyond belief, it's spread out yet compact enough to hike around, it's got more than 600 tombs carved out of solid rock, it's got a reasonably priced entry fee and it's a joy to climb it's ancient steps to it's high places ...



















Petra was home to the Nabataeans who were a group of nomadic people with their origin in the Arab world. They prospered magnificently by controlling the trade routes from the Arabian Peninsula through to the Mediterranean via ports like Gaza in Israel and Alexandria in Egypt. They had their glory years under the reign of Aretas IV from 9BC to 40AD and it's said that 25% of all Rome's imports came through Petra. 'Of course you can bring that cache of gold for Caesar through here my good man but only if you give me a healthy proportion of it'. Easy money! And with that easy money they built magnificent tombs. Like many civilisations they were all about honouring the dead. So Al-Khazneh and Ad-Deir (commonly know as the Treasury, shown above, and the Monastery, shown below) were built to stick dead royalty in. Oddly enough both these names would be misnomers in Nabataean times. The Treasury had no treasure (despite people shooting the urn on it's top to try and break it all free). And the Monastery was used as a church not a monastery (a bit of conjecture I admit).






































These two mega-structures top and tail the city of Petra that stretches out for about 5KM in between them. A city that's roughly organised after the Romans exerted their influence on Petra. Take good shoes, plenty of water, snacks to keep you going all day, a liberal attitude to the treatment of animals (some of the camels, horses and donkeys used by some tourists don't look overly healthy) and go for it! Trust me. It's a belter. And brilliantly accessible while retaining a remoteness (you could walk from the entrance to our hotel in 2 minutes). Get an early start and you can search on your own for The Holy Grail endlessly. Believe me. It's big enough. And you'll find isolated tomb, after isolated tomb, after isolated tomb. But do me a favour. Don't get lost. You'll be in the maze of canyons for weeks.



















(Please excuse me if I die in mid-photo upload. The Middle Eastern Muslims don't drink alcohol but boy can they smoke fags. If I don't come back with lung cancer it'll be a minor miracle. I now know how poor old Record Breaker Roy Castle must have felt).




















The residents of Wadi Musa (the town immediately outside Petra) play on it a bit. And why not. One of the best movies of all time. Sadly, they weren't selling real life Indiana Jones'. But then I'm not sure I need one.











And as if Petra wasn't enough to get me going it was preceded by a day and night before that made me feel a bit like a Wild West cowboy. A lost one a bit far from home.



















Wadi Rum is the unbelievable red desert landscape in the south of Jordan and unlike many National Parks of the world this one's a bit special. 'Where we're going, we don't need roads'.



















There simply are none and you head off into the wilderness packed into a 4WD that twists, turns, slips, slides and traverses you away from the world until you arrive at your Bedouin camp for the night. The Bedouins have lived in this surprisingly homely environment for centuries and now give you a glimpse of a simpler, fantastical way of living. The home cooked food from the oven buried in the sand (the Bedouin version of a Maori hangi) was delicious. The sweeeeeet Bedouin tea flavoured with cardamon was tooth ache inducing. And the view of the crystal clear, star filled night sky from deep in the desert was jaw dropping. Especially when you throw in the fact that we slept in the middle of the camp, right under the stars in body crushingly heavy but incredibly cosy blankets. I'm pretty sure I fell into a deep sleep right after a shooting star blazed it's way across half the planet's atmosphere. In fact, I slept better in the desert than in the fancy pants hotel the night before in Aqaba where we joined the Jordan leg of our adventure. Lawrence of Arabia's got nothing on me!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_of_arabia

The rest of Egypt before we border hopped on a superbly fast ferry out of Nuweiba was, well, Biblical. We hiked to the top of Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. Try as I might I didn't receive any new ones. So we'll stick with the tried and tested moral code for Christians that was layed down all those centuries ago. Every religion's got one. And, simplistically, they don't differ a great deal. So why the tension ...



















The day afterwards we looked around the Greek Orthodox St Katharine's Monastery. Home to some very impressive ancient religious manuscripts, paintings and chalices. Some of the most important outside the Vatican City. But this was all about the pilgrimage for many people and touching the burning bush seemed top of their list. Insert your own gag before Neville beats you to the punch line!














http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Catherine%27s_Monastery,_Mount_Sinai

And we're bang up to date again at the expense of my lungs. Here's a couple of country observations. The first in Africa and the second in the Middle East. Although the lines blur a bit around here. Just like these observations. Some are replicated in Egypt and Jordan. Some are separate. I'll let you know which if you ask me in a month!

Egypt's ...
Baksheesh system is knackered - it doesn't really work - no matter what tip (baksheesh) you hand over it's often sneered at - and Egypt compared to many places I've seen is developed - I think some (it's not all) Egyptians should have more self respect and remember that a man in Nepal would be desperate for that cash
Got a brilliant, super safe city in Cairo
Coffee house scene is unique - old ones where smoking sheesha is obligatory - and new ones full of students drinking lattes
Pink and purple flowers are in full force in November - when it's still HOT
Less conservative Muslim women wear headscarves that add immeasurably to their beauty - they're some of the most beautiful women on the planet
Got the bluest and best river in the world in the Nile
Donkeys have big ears and are essential transport outside the cities (and in some!)
Billions of tourist police are all gunned up but don't look as attentive as they might - especially when seeking baksheesh!
Attitude to tourist security is weird - nowhere in the world do you feel so processed - you get bused around in armed convoys, all eat at the same restaurants and visit the sights at the same time - it'd be possible to DIY it - but aggravatingly difficult - a real downer
Weekends are on Friday and Saturday in the Muslim world - Friday's the day for heading to the mosque (I type on a Sunday that I swear is Monday!)
Older men wear head scarves wrapped around their heads often in white - the red/white checkered head covering is Arabian not Egyptian
Attractions are a little over priced - but you get a great selection of similar styled tickets - a bit like collecting Panini football stickers
Streets are often named after significant dates in their history - 6 October is my personal favourite
President holds ALL the power and while it feels like democracy is alive the President still selects all the political parties and the Prime Minister
People are canny, funny, expressive and weird - welcoming you to Alaska and offering you a scarf for $100 - all to get your attention!
Re-discovered all of it's Pharonic Egypt stuff that was, inevitably, being lost to the sand - kick started by Napoleon in westerners eyes!
Camels sound like Chewbacca and donkeys bray louder than you'd ever expect - all learned while riding them - to make a camel run shout 'arh' and shout 'ush' to slow it!
'Flies, flies, all the time, flies'
Houses are often unfinished on top so that their sons have a place to build their family home when they get married- 'so that's why it looks less developed than it really is'
Five Pillars of Islam are intriguing and worth investigation - they include donating 2.5% of your income to those poorer than you - I bet you didn't know that ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam

And Jordan's ...
Small - you can drive it's length in a day
King is idolised
Biscuits and cakes are awesome
Home to the most laid back of the New 7 Wonders that I've visited
People seem happier, more contented and smilier than their friends in Egypt
Got a sight mentioned in The Bible around every corner
95% Muslim and 5% Christian population are beautifully living in harmony
Got the lowest point on the planet in the Dead Sea at 400MBSL (metres BELOW sea level!)
Priced everything small at 1JD (Jordanian Dinar) - every bag of crisps seems to be 1JD = 1 GBP!
Constantly changing mountainous topograhy pops your ears at least 5 times in every bus ride
Buffets for tourists are tasty yet repetitive, buffets for tourists are tasty yet repetitive
Has MASSIVE national flags flying at it's borders and it's capital

Egypt and Jordan (or Pyramids to Petra) was a journey of body achingly early starts, hikes in hot environments and the most ancient of all archaeology. So much accomplished in so little time. It's a good job the Dead Sea was waiting for me to put my feet up. And yes, I am wearing boardies.



















North America - check!
South America - check!
Australasia - check!
Asia - check, check and check!
Africa - check!
Middle East - check!
Europe - no check!

6 down and 1 to go ...