I have now seen the "line in the sand"

I imagine that I will probably never make it to Mars. I mean I'd like to go but logisitically...getting time off...who will feed my fish...there's just a lot to consider.

But I made it to the next best thing...the Wadi Rum desert of Jordan. In fact it actually was the Mars set for the Val Kilmer movie "Red Planet" (which recieved horrific reviews but not because of the set).

In order to get energized for the day, we stopped for an arabic coffee complete with carmadon and grounds in the bottom. It's an acquired taste to say the least. Then we piled back into the SUV driven my Muhammad (yes another Muhammad) and headed a few kilometres down the road before he simply veered off the road and into a sandy abyss.

We bumped along for a while past bizarre rock formations and the occasional camel before stopping to start climbing. Do you remember being a child and the satisfaction that you took from scaling a giant jungle gym? So despite cricity old joints I managed to make it to the top of several rock structures in my flip flops (damn toe still inflammed). Muhammad wow'd us with his driving ability and would approach the tops of the rock bridges in his 4x4.

After a delicious lunch cooked out in the open desert (I was too ill to enjoy most of it by Carrie swears it was the best salad that she has ever had), we had a chance to see my personal highlight. Sand dunes. My whole life I have wanted to see massive, wind-rippled sand dunes. I have seen large piles of sand, and giant plateaus of sand but none of these have satisfied the photo that I have in my head of a true sand dune.

That dream came true today as we stood on the edge of a massive golden sand dune, covered in ripples gazing into Saudi Arabia. While it killed me to be so close to another country and not visit I took solice in the setting - it really was a unique and gorgeous place. And, as I had suspected since childhood, sand is indeed fun. We took turns running down, rolling down and susbequently falling down the dunes.

Muhammad then took us to an area that blew my mind...a spot where the different colour sands meet but never mix. There is clear line in the desert - one side is red sand and one is gold...AND THEY NEVER MIX. Winds will whip the sand into a frenzy but the sand remains firmly planted on it's side of this proverbial "line in the sand".

And at the end of the day we discovered sand in places where sand should never be... but to put a check mark on another bucket list item...well worth it.

An awkward tea party

"Tea, tea, tea"…the repeated chant of the word forced me to open my eyes and stare at the teeny glass of the warm beverage being thrust in my face. This was at least the 1000th cup of tea that has been forced upon me in the past 24 hours. Somehow I could clearly recall my tea overdose but I couldn’t tell you where I was. I glanced around the tent that I was lying in...on a thin mattress next to a roaring fire while a Bedouin sat nearby playing some hypnotizing snake-charming music and two cats eyed me suspiciously. The other Bedouin man kept chanting “tea, tea” – it seems my short but powerful nap had left me completely disoriented.

The voice of Carrie, my travel mate, startled me back to reality - we were the sole guests of a Bedouin camp in a Jordanian desert. Initially a brilliant idea… sleeping in a traditional camp, learning the ways of the nomadic Bedouin people, sampling traditional fare…it quickly turned into an awkward affair.

As we were the only guests, our hosts were constantly aware of our presence...trying to entertain us or give us more tea. The chilly temperature of the desert at night meant we were forced to remain with them and the fire. Then came the food...I have seen less food at cruise ship buffets. I am not sure who they thought was going to be eating but there were several dishes, an entire lamb and a huge basket full of pita bread. The Bedouins (musician Mohammed and fire-making Mohammed) did not join us rather they sat and watched us eat…yes creepy. We ate enough to be what we hoped was polite before returning to fire.

It seems no visit to the camp would be complete without a visit to the ‘museum’ on site - this was a mandatory fun activity. And was we followed behind musician Mohammed nodding politely as he pointed at random old photos and explained them to us in Arabic as we wandered through the only actual building on site…all I could think was ‘if it got cold enough my toe may actually just fall off’.

Despite the warmth (and the generous offer to spend the night with them next to the fire) we braved the cold and headed into our goat hair tent to hunker down for the night…and don every piece of clothing we brought.

I needed Podiatrist Mohammed...

Harrison Ford is easily the driving force behind wanting to travel in this region. Yes this region is beautiful and steeped in history but I would be lying to you if I said that it wasn’t 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' that fueled my desire to visit Petra (before anyone comments, Transformers 2 actually had the reverse effect...terrible movie…lucky I went at all). So like a moth to a flame, I eventually made it to this famed icon…it seems as though the only thing that could stop me was my own toe.
In real life I never seem to have toe problems but while the rest of my body thrives on traveling, my toes seem to reject the idea outright. This time the offender is the baby toe of my right foot. It developed a little blister that of course was made worse by my flippers yesterday. Well today it has blossomed into a full infection; swollen red, warm to the touch and pulsating. Taking steps in flip flops hurts and there is simply no way that giant toe is going to fit in a shoe. But toe be damned I am going to see the set of 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'.

After a painless border crossing from Israel, a drive through the winding desert mountains we started our stroll into the ancient city of Petra. It’s probably about a mile walk from the visitor center to the start of the main city but it took us over an hour cover the distance and not because of the tough terrain or my angry toe, it was the amazing scenery. The Siq canyon is a narrow, winding coloured rock canyon that actually seems to glow red in the rising sun. It’s just impossible not to saunter slowly, slack jawed at this amazing setting.

Petra is an ancient city full of ornately carved facades into rock designed to hold bodies after death. The city itself has over 480 of these such tombs, the treasury being the most famous was actually not a royal tomb (those were elsewhere) but just a really rich family. It is by far most preserved and the best spot to see the carvings. As with real estate today, it's all about location. The treasury is your first encounter as you exit the Siq canyon. The Treasury is also sheltered better than most from wind, sun and the annual hour of rain.

The most popular name in the world is…Mohammed. And given the fact that I only know 2 back in real life, it was only a matter of time before I had to stumble upon a whole slew of them to balance out the stats. I am actually surprised the country of Jordan is not called Mohammad. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fine name – just confusing when you are trying to find YOUR Mohammad in a crowd. We started to differentiate our Mohammeds based on our encounters…Mohammed #1 (first one we met and our main guide)…Camel Mohammed (a vendor that Carrie had chatted with found me later and offered to give me one camel for her. Now I like camels to I seriously considered the offer before an outraged Carrie demanded that she was worth far more than a single camel)…etc.

I cannot attempt to explain the conflict in the Middle East; I find it to be a confusing and an odd combination of stagnant and ever-changing rationale. I can tell you some of the far-reaching effects however. Jordan is a teeny country nestled in between Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, Israel and Palestine. Not really ideal neighbours when you are trying to attract tourists - Petra at its high point was seeing a peak of 7000 tourists a day and an average of 3000 – 4000…we were 2 of 200 tourists there during our visit. This gave us a virtually abandoned ancient city to play in, especially since there are none of those pesky rules about climbing in or on things…after a couple of painkillers, and my toe and I were scampering up rocks, over bridges and in and out of caves. But for the Bedouins who depend on tourism, it is a very sad time.

The sun always seems to set faster on good days, so after several hours of scampering through ruins and drinking tea from random Bedoiuns, and we found ourselves hurrying to back to the treasury for the hike up the Siq canyon during dusk. The thought of stumbling through the canyon in the dark coupled with the angry little toe lead us to take a horse drawn car to the entrance and a chance to meet…Cave Mohammed.

This Mohammed, who Carrie thinks that I should return to Jordan and marry, drives a cart during the day and seems to alternate his nights between sleeping next to sheep and camels to protect them from wolves and sleeping in a cave in Petra. He even extended an invitation to spend the night in his cave with him. I am sure that some of you are wondering how we could forgo such an offer...the chance to sleep in the ancient city of Petra!? I'm not too worried, if things don't get better with my love life in Seattle, I'll be back. You are all welcome to visit.

(toe is doing better thanks to some over the counter antibiotics...love the loose standards)

Show-krun for reading!