Desert Trekking
Good editor Carolyn Enting fulfils a long-held dream in Petra, discovering Jordan’s other wonders along the way.
Exploring Jordan’s Wadi Rum Desert by camel
After years of seeking it would have been a thrilling moment for Swiss explorer Johann “Louis” Burckhardt to finally lay eyes upon the legendary city of Petra – concealed for centuries at the end of a long narrow canyon in the desert, and known only to the Bedouin.
Burckhardt had been searching for the ancient Nabataean city for years and it was only when he learned Arabic, dressed as an Arab and convinced a local Bedouin that he was on a pilgrimage that he was finally taken there in 1812. His ‘discovery’ opened up Petra to the world.
The first time I saw a picture of Petra’s Al-Khazneh (the Treasury) was on the cover of National Geographic at age 7. My father, an ardent subscriber, told me the story of its discovery. I was captured by the history and image – a magnificent facade chiselled from a pink sandstone cliff and framed by the Siq (narrow rift through the rock). I’ve wanted to go there ever since and that dream came true on a recent tour with Exodus Travels.
Approaching the Treasury via the Siq like Burckhardt did, the magic is apparent and despite sharing the moment with tourists from all over the world I blinked back tears as I stared up at the beautiful facade. In that moment it was as if nobody else was there. And after I’d had my private moment of revelation I was grateful I was not alone as I was able to share the wonder with my new friends on the tour – and they were able to take the obligatory photo of me standing in front of it.
Visiting the Middle East solo seemed a challenging proposition, so a group tour was the way to go (though upon arrival in Jordan you quickly realise this is a country that you can navigate safely). Usually an independent traveller I had some reservations about doing a group tour, but those fears were quickly laid to rest. ‘My lovely group’ as our guide Abdallah ‘Ab’ Marashdeh called us, was indeed that and became a group of new friends as well as respectful, fun and caring travel companions.
A former school teacher and bee keeper, Ab is an experienced guide with a passion for history and a dry sense of humour – a perfect match for me and a busload of Brits. His lineage is also Bedouin so the nomadic lifestyle as a tour guide suits him.
Three nights in Petra is the reason most book a tour to Jordan with Exodus Travels but once you’re there you discover this seventh wonder of the world is one of many Jordanian highlights. The ‘A Week in Jordan’ tour (nine days) covers vast distances and places of significance. It was a case of being introduced to marvels that you never knew you wanted to see until you were there, such as the view from Mount Nebo over the Jordan Valley, Dead Sea and Jerusalem (just 46km away); Madaba, a Byzantine town famous for its mosaics and home to an ancient mosaic map; and the city of Jerash, built by the Romans 10,000 years ago. Jerash is one of 10 Roman cities in Jordan and the most intact. Stepping on these ancient stones, visiting the temples of Artemis and Zeus, and walking its streets is a spine-tingling experience. Especially
when you consider archaeologists have spent 85 years excavating it and only 10 per cent of the city has been unearthed.
Starting the tour in Amman, I had a day to explore by myself before the rest of the group arrived. I followed Exodus Travels tips of what to do, including visiting King Abdullah Mosque where
I was kitted out with the correct dress and headscarf. The adjacent shop sells artisan wares handmade by refugees including glow-in-the-dark plates and jewellery set with zultanite gemstones that change colour depending on the light source.
The Jordan Museum is a short taxi ride away and worth a stop to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and Ain Ghazal statues. The latter are nearly 10,000 years old and believed to be the world’s oldest full-figure human statues.
Having built up an appetite, I act on a local tip and head for eatery Hashem, where the locals queue for what must be the best falafel and hummus in the world. It’s the oldest restaurant in Amman and Jordan’s king has been known to dine here. It is a relaxed restaurant with plastic tables, fast service and cheap prices. My meal cost the equivalent of $2.
Other Amman must-sees include the Roman Theatre, which seats 6000, and the Citadel, which sits on the highest hill in Amman with a great view of the city. Here the Temple of Hercules is the most impressive. They are yet to find the rest of a statue that belongs to a giant marble hand found near the Temple. The statue is estimated to have stood over 13 metres high, making it one of the largest statues from Greco-Roman times.
Amman is a melting pot of cultures from the Middle East, explains Ab, with 43 nationalities and a population of 10 million including 4 million refugees (2 million Syrian, 1 million Iraqi and 1 million Palestinian). Jordanians make up about 25 per cent of the population, though 60 per cent of those were originally Palestinian refugees. “They have strengthened the economy by joining the workforce,” says Ab.
After two days in Amman, which included a trip to Jerash, we follow the Kings Highway, which takes us up and down huge ‘wadis’ (valleys) to Mount Nebo, Madaba and Kerak on our way to Petra. We stop to take in the views and I buy artwork handwoven from camel hair from a roadside stall, and meet a Bedouin that looks like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean, wearing a shemagh with eyes rimmed with black kohl.
Later, in Petra, I buy some Arabic ‘kohel’ from Mahmond Al-mashleh who has specialised in kohel for 12 years and sells it from his store in Petra and Facebook page. He applies the kohel to my eyes and the affect is instant. My eyes stand out and I look made up yet the rest of my face is totally make-up free.
This natural kohel also has a practical purpose. According to Mahmond it helps lashes grow longer, which is good when you live in the desert (Jordan is 85 per cent desert) as longer lashes create some shade for the eyes and act as sand filters. It also helps clean the eyes and for this reason the Bedouin have been known to use kohel on babies. Another natural beauty product traditionally used by Bedouin women is red mineral powder found in the desert, applied to the cheeks as a beautiful rouge.
The Kings Highway brings us to Mount Nebo, where Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land and also died. From here you can see Jerusalem in the distance. Mount Nebo also looks over the valley of Moses’ Spring, which supplied water to the Nabataeans in Petra via an advanced system of man-made clay channels. “You can’t separate Jordan from religion. Everywhere you will find something biblical. Jordan is part of the Holy Land,” says Ab.
Since 1933, the Franciscan church has owned and cared for this spot. The Franciscans rebuilt a church on the foundations of an existing church where Diakonikon mosaics have been uncovered – considered one of the most beautiful examples of Byzantine mosaic in the Middle East. The mosaics were covered over when Christian iconography was banned, and later rediscovered.
The artists who created these mosaics were from nearby Madaba, a very rich city during the Byzantine golden age. It is believed Jesus once passed through this way because there are more than 100 churches in Madaba with more still being discovered. It is also believed that at one time all of the city was paved in mosaic. Today one-third of Madaba’s population is Christian and two-thirds Muslim, making it one of the largest Christian communities in Jordan.
We head to St George’s, a 19th-century Greek Orthodox church, known as the church of the map because its floor is a mosaic map of the region created in the 6th century. Only part of the map survives but it is considered a vital resource and scholars who have studied it have used it to go on and make archaeological discoveries. The church is also a gallery of beautiful Byzantine mosaic art.
Our next stop, Karak, an ancient Crusader castle with a grim history, is a stark contrast. The fortress held a strategic position near the Dead Sea, which the Crusaders controlled as they used boats to cross to Jerusalem (which they also occupied for a time). In its heyday it spanned four levels and measured 25,000 square metres but fell into disrepair from earthquake damage.
Earthquakes in 363 and 551 are also one of the reasons why the Nabataeans eventually abandoned Petra. Like Madaba, Petra and nearby Little Petra looked very different in their day. Today Petra is known as the ‘rose-red city’ due to the colour of the sandstone rock from which it is carved, however at the height of the Nabataean empire all of the facades and interiors were coloured and decorated. There is one example left, in Little Petra – a ceiling covered with original paintings. With this prompt you can imagine a very different version of Petra.
Much of Petra is still undiscovered, though modern visitors to the region are more respectful than those who came to Petra seeking treasure in the past. “When the local Bedouin came here a few centuries ago they thought the urn atop the Treasury, which is thought to be the tomb of the greatest Nabataean king, was full of gold so they started shooting it. That is why it is known as the Treasury, and why part of it is broken,” says Ab. “The bad shooters [missed the urn and] hit the statue in the middle (Tykhe, goddess of prosperity). They finally realised it was just rock, and the urn actually symbolises death.” Staring up at the facade you can still see the bullet holes.
It takes more than two days to fully explore Petra but you can still see a lot in that time. A must-do is the hike up 800 stairs to Ad Deir (the Monastery), which will have you gasp in wonder
“You can’t separate Jordan from religion. Everywhere you will find something biblical. Jordan is part of the Holy Land.”
when you round the final bend of the path. The Monastery is similar in design to the Treasury, though less ornate, but monumentally larger.
The way to the Monastery is lined with stalls where local Bedouin sell handcrafts and offer complimentary cups of tea. I made many stops on the way, talking to the Bedouin, taking their photographs (with permission), drinking tea and ultimately buying camel hair scarves and crafts I didn’t need (but I didn’t mind because the experience was so rich).
The next day some of our group tackled the High Place of Sacrifice, a tough hike up to a mountain plateau in 30-degree Celsius heat, rewarded with spectacular views over Petra and more Bedouin tea, which is strangely cooling in the heat.
Winding our way down into the valley by a different path we found ourselves alone in the desert, where we stumbled upon an ornate tomb. The absence of other tourists brought a sense of discovery and it was the highlight of our day.
Time spent in the desert in Jordan is not complete without a visit to Wadi Rum, the Valley of the Moon, a favourite place of Thomas Edward Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia). He was loved by the local Bedouin who he helped during the Arab Revolt, and his face was carved into a rock in the area by the Bedouin well before the movie Lawrence of Arabia came along in 1962. Like Lawrence, we mounted camels and headed into the desert to watch the sun set where he and Prince Faisal assembled the tribes for the attack on Aqaba during the First World War. Our trip was executed with much hilarity due to our ungainly and sometimes terrifying mounts and dismounts. Exploring the desert the following day by 4x4 was considerably more comfortable, though less romantic.
Our night at Wadi Rum was magical. The sky was so clear that we didn’t need a torch for all the stars and moonlight. We slept in Bedouin tents under camel hair blankets, and shared a traditional meal, zarb, cooked underground similar to a hāngi.
After all the hiking and camel riding we were ready for some relaxation in resort town Aqaba. Located by the Red Sea, its renowned for some of the best diving and snorkelling in the world. Floating over a red lionfish in my bikini just metres from the shore I was spellbound until I remembered it’s one of the world’s 10 most dangerous fish.
The tour ends at the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth. The sea is shrinking as both Israel and Jordan are diverting water that usually flows to it into dams, as well as drying parts of the lake for its rich minerals. Because the Dead Sea borders Israel and Jordan, boats are no longer allowed to cross this body of water and you are not allowed to go to the beach after sunset. On both sides the Dead Sea is a place where the only things that now float in the highly buoyant water are tourists. People come to smear mud over their bodies before washing it off in the Dead Sea.
“Most sea salts are sodium chloride but here it is magnesium and other minerals including potassium,” Ab explains. “So you can’t eat the salt in the Dead Sea but the minerals and mud are very good for the skin.”
Covering yourself with mud is fun and floating in warm water with such high salinity and “21 beneficial minerals” means your skin feels silky smooth on exit. I’m sure I feel healthier, or maybe it’s a week in Jordan that’s done its magic.