Redefined Timeline

I’m back to being two years behind with posts as we enter this unseasonably warm November. Thankfully, I am now only one post away from jumping forward to 2024 travels. We’re making progress! The last days of this Jordanian tour included Wadi Rum, Aqaba and the Red Sea.

Wadi Rum lies in the southern part of Jordan near the border with Saudi Arabia and has been featured in many movies over the years, including John Wick, multiple Star Wars films, and Lawrence of Arabia. The vast desert is still home to bedouins who take advantage of tourism by building semi-traditional camps for travelers to stay in. While the one we vacationed in left much to be desired, there are others that are quite nice and air conditioned. Harb Eco Camp was nestled against a rock outcropping with a couple lines of… quaint… rooms. That’s a nice word for shabby. Our tiny room consisted of three single beds, zero tables, and sand-covered floors. The minuscule place was lit by a single bulb hanging from the ceiling, and only a one foot square window to provide ventilation. Add three bodies to the room, and it was stifling with the midday desert heat.

We arrived in Wadi Rum in the afternoon. After unloading our luggage, we hopped aboard a few trucks and SUVs and headed out into the desert. A slow traverse weaving through the never-ending sand dunes made for an other-worldly sight. Neither Caily nor I felt the need to pay extra to keep meandering the desert, so we got the pleasure of taking a speedier ride back to the camp while standing in the rear of a pick-up truck. It was a win, until the truck broke down just outside our accommodation. Oops. Totally worth the ride!

The bedouins have a tradition of cooking their dinner wrapped in foil and then buried underground, and I must admit, it was delicious. After four hours smoldering beneath the surface, they dug it up and freed it from an early grave. Once the sand was eradicated, rice, chicken and vegetables were dumped into bowls for us famished tourists.

Caily and I elected to rise before the sun for a sunrise camel tour out into the desert. Kaylee elected to sleep in. Firas, our G Adventures guide, ensured us that our camels were not poorly treated, unlike the ones wandering Petra. In fact, our camel drivers had spent the night just outside our camp, snoozing with the camels in the sand.

I am not a tall human, and somehow I ended up being given the tallest ungulate, which was also the leader. It was also quite chilly, and I certainly didn’t dress properly. We lazily clomped through the desert as the sun gradually rose above the horizon. The warm sun felt delightful on my cold skin. It was absolutely worth the early wake up.

Boarding a camel 101: Hold on tight. First, the ass end goes up, before the front end eventually follows. A sandy face-plant is an actual possibility. Deplaning is about the same… Front first, followed by the rear.

And with that, our time in the desert had come to an end. I am still finding sand in my backpack.

The final stop on the tour was Aqaba and a snorkeling excursion in the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea. We were flanked by Egypt and Israel to the west, and Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the east going through the Gulf of Aqaba. Just motoring out into the gulf was a security nightmare. We were warned to keep our phones put away and not take a photo of any sort of security features the entire way down the gulf. Apparently, if any sort of photography was observed, the military would stop the boat. All with a war raging a stones throw away. Nothing could go wrong here. We safely made it through the gauntlet and into open water of the Red Sea, but not before Firas shouted, “Customs! Hide the liquor!”

To our surprise, this was an all-inclusive booze cruise with food. Trident Yacht Tours ferried us towards the Jordanian and Syrian border for snorkeling. Fun facts: All of our Google maps placed us in Egypt and/or Israel at some point. Apparently, the surrounding countries were screwing with the satellites for entertainment.

The snorkeling was less-than-stellar. The water was not very clear, the sights through our goggles included tires, trash, and discarded construction equipment. And few to no fish. Probably because the water was so polluted. I mustn’t forget the jellyfish… they were tiny and stinging. I am still shocked I didn’t grow a fin or tentacles while I was in there. Needless to say, none of us stayed in long. The remainder of our boat ride was spent on deck enjoying the sun.

For the first time since entering Jordan, we felt unsafe. While lounging on the boat deck, we were roused from our conversations abruptly as we heard a missile launch. My gaze turned upwards where I spotted the jittery trail of the projectile amongst the clouds. That was followed almost immediately by the boom of the Iron Dome in Israel shooting the missile down. It did not take long for a visible increase in police patrols in the Red Sea. Not long after that, our boating adventure started coming to a close as the captain pointed us back towards the safety of Jordan.

That completes all of my Jordan posts. Finally. Onwards to three-ish weeks traveling through India in March 2024. Life goals: Finish posting about India before the end of the year. Wish me luck!

November 2023