A Hidden Jem

'This way to Iraq' a sign points the way to the Iraqi border and we know that we've definitely arrived into the Middle East. It's 4am and after a crazy 7 hours flying with 3 hours lay over in Istanbul, we're exhausted but still watch enthralled as the taxi whizzes us to the hotel. Neon LEDs greet us at our hotel and a wonderful Jordanian man lets us check in early. Climbing bleary eyed into bed I can't wait to explore Amman.
Unfortunately my body has other plans and I succumb to the sore throat and tiredness that's

been lurking behind me for days. Asthma joins in for fun and our good intentions of exploring get shelved for sleep and downtime. Still, our hotel overlooks one of the main sites in Amman-the roman theatre so even from my window I get a great view of the ruins and a walk out in the afternoon clears the cobwebs. From our rooftop we watch the sun slip away, surrounded by friendly rabbits, tortoises and chooks and meet up with our group. This is a full group of 16 which our leader Ahmed says is unusual nowadays due to security concerns. Everyone is eager and friendly once again, so I'm sure we will have an amazing time exploring this part of the world. After a quick meeting, we file away full of information and head off to the most famous falafel restaurant.
Our humble street side affair has seen the likes of the king and his family so we know we are eating some of the best food on offer. They give us 'special' falafels, which are coated in sesame seeds and have bits of onions tucked inside. They are delicious! Loading up on hummus, baba ganoush, hot chilli sauce and bread, we tuck ourselves into bed with happy tummies and minds brimming with wonderment.
The next morning we head off early, going to Mt Nebo where Moses found 'The Promised Land' and is apparently buried. There's a 4th century church being excavated and the pope visited recently. It's quite incredible in that Jerusalem and Bethlehem are about 50 kms away hiding behind the haze and Israel's gaze is firmly upon us. There are different

mosaics rescued and restored from the nearby church which are over 2000 years old an a copper sculpture of a serpent on Moses' staff- the modern day symbol of healing and medicine. The area is steeped in biblical importance which is lost on me not only from my boredom in bible class but my foggy asthma brain. What I take away from it is the amazing creativity of humans and their focus and dedication to the expression of their souls desire be that through religion, art or nature.
We head off again this time to the incredible Dead Sea. Not even a sea but rather a lake, this body of water is nearly 38% salt. The water is hot at the edges and a balmy temperature further in and has to be experienced to be believed. I am a terrible

floater but this was amazing! The salt made the water feel soft yet viscous, it was an effort to walk into it as the salt kept wanting to push ones body upwards. Once deeper, it was impossible to touch the bottom! It required physical exertion to push your body downwards only to pop up immediately like a cork. It was quite surreal, floating upright perfectly straight and then slowly being edged up and up and up until your body was floating on the surface. We had such fun taking silly photos reading books and floating off into the distance, soaking up the fresh salty air and hot Jordanian sun.
The Dead Sea mud in world renown for its health and beauty properties so I was eager to experience

its benefits by slapping it all over my body. Scooping handfuls out of a big bucket and rubbing the cool mud from top to toe, it didn't take long for me to transform into a giggling new woman rejuvenated more from the fact it took me back in time to a wonderful camping trip with my friends on the Hawkesbury than it was about making me beautiful. Truth is, I was half sunburnt from the searing sun and my sensitive skin immediately came up in a rash. Ah, the things they neglect saying when promoting beauty products! Needless to say, I jumped back into the delicious salty sea and washed it all off. My skin does feel lovely and soft now though....the resort where we were at had two massive swimming pools with raindrop waterfalls so after I removed all of my mud and surrendered into the relaxing cool water and pummelled my achy body with the raindrop massage.
Lunch was a buffet affair, full of amazing salads but the highlight for me was a lemon juice with crushed mint. Yum, can't wait to get a NutriBullet when I get back and make some yummy juices!
Next we headed off to see the Crusader castle of

Kerak where in the 12th century battles between Crusaders and the local Jordanians took place. We went down into the dungeon first which was later transformed into a very uninspiring and dark Koranic school and then into the massive kitchen. We kept finding holes in the floor which were actually massively deep light shafts and the wall which was where they threw each other over the walls during the crusades. During this bloody period, the Jordanian Muslims and Christians were living peacefully together and both fought together against crusaders.
Petra was an incredible day and I was delighted to be feeling much better and ready to explore this 2000 plus year old site. We began by walking in from our hotel in Wadi Musa into a small yet

educational museum at the visitors centre. It explained how Petra was the capital of the Nabataean empire from the first century BC trading in frankincense, myrrh and spices. It then became a part if the Roman Empire until an earthquake destroyed much of it in 363 BC. Beginning our walk through through 'Bab Al Siq' gateway to the gorge, we came across a ruin that was quite square and had five pillars on the top. It was the obelisk tomb and the five pillars represented how many people had been buried within it. Next we saw the dam where the Nabataeans had managed to expertly harvest the few days of rain, building aqueducts, cisterns and finding ways to cement the absorbent sandstone so

as not to lose their precious rainwater. All around us were towering rose coloured rocks full of yellow, orange, and even blue hues until suddenly we came into the Siq itself. A deep narrow gorge between two massive towering rocks, it was quite a surreal walk-just over a kilometre until we saw a glimpse of the treasury. Surrounded by camels and horse carriages, it was beautiful. Intricately carved, it has a huge funerary urn which according to local Bedouin legend concealed a Devils treasure. It had cups carved in to signify the days the week, and flowers to symbolise how any days were in a month. It and been shot at as people thought there really was treasure in it but is based on a campfire story where the Bedouins said a devil had stolen money from Moses and had to hide it when he couldn't catch up to Moses. We saw it in the early morning and again in the afternoon and it was beautiful to see how the colours of the rocks changed with the light as well as the awe inspiring feats that humans are capable of.
Walking further down the street of facades, we were shown rocks which looked like elephants and dilapidated carvings depicting camels with roman gladiators. Arriving at the theatre, it could accommodate up to 4000 spectators in its day. We continued past a pistachio tree which is thought to be over 450 years old, where the nymphaeum was, walking down the colonnaded street, past the great temple to end our guided tour. We'd had the opportunity to buy a little packed lunch from the hotel, so found a shady eucalyptus to hang out

underneath, watching the camels and donkeys and their Johnny Depp kohl eyed Bedouins tempt tourists with over inflated prices. I'd read up on the monastery and really wanted to see it but didn't want to push my body so joined up with Theresa and Fernando to hire a donkey to take me up the 800 stairs. Of no surprise to anyone who knows me, my donkey had a mind of its own. It clearly wanted to be the leader and kept racing against the others, nearly at its own expense and mine as he rallied to be number one on a precariously thin piece of stone. Wobbling over to the edge, he righted himself just in time as Fernando's donkey pushed him back. Somehow Tony has managed to beat me up the mountain and my five minute walk up over the edge brings me to yet another incredible rock

carving-the monastery. The monastery is one of the largest monuments-47m wide and 51m high dating back to the second century AD. It has always been used for religious celebrations including a Christian chapel with later carved crosses added which is where it gets its name from. We chilled out for a while here, admiring the view and taking this magnificent structure in. There was a very handsome Bedouin man reclining on a cushion, doing his best 'Jack Sparrow' interpretation, somewhat softened by the kitten that jumped on his lap and he was stoking. Quite a contradiction there-intense scary man with eyeliner holding a tiny pussycat.
We walked back down the hill to the main site, passing the numerous souvenir sellers and made our way over to the church. After what archaeologists think may have been an earthquake, most have gone but what does remain is an impressive mosaic floor. Climbing over the hill past the herding goats, we arrived at the royal tombs. This was a collection of four adjoined tombs-the most impressive being the palace monument. We could actually get inside these ones and the colour

of the rock that it had been carved out of was stunning. Deep reds, blacks and white swirled around on the roof and the acoustics were being tested by a happy tourist singing classically. Taking in the sweeping views from in front, we slowly became away of the man running a shop. He was eye wateringly funny, and had us all in stitches, trying to convince us to part with our cash. He'd managed to pick up half an American twang mixed with cockney and was yelling out things like
"Come in and buy something for your lady!"
"Surprise your mother in law, buy her a present"
"Don't have a lady? No problem! Buy something for the secretary!" as well as nuggets of gold such as...
"I like the ladies, they are very soft. You can leave your ladies here as you can go back and get more. I am Mohammed in the mountain, I don't have any other ladies here so leave yours for me. I have a mountain and I have a palace but no ladies"
After lifting our spirits and managing to get quite a few bottles of water sold as well as fridge magnets, we left with lots of laughter and a slow meander back to the hotel. Having covered over 10kms, we were feeling exhilarated but sleepy-enjoying seeing the change in light on the treasury, managing to get a few more photos with the camels minus the hoarding tourists. We finished our time in Petra chilling out in the room for a bit before having dinner at a great restaurant and making friends with the owner who ended up giving me a tip for helping him sort out our groups money. Once a tour leader, always tour leader!
I was super excited to be going back into the desert again. Wadi Rum was as much of a highlight to me as Petra. Heading down to breakfast, we were met with quite a sight. There'd been a sandstorm overnight, only as we were in Petra, it was more like a dust storm. Visibility was very low so we quickly realised our desert experience would be affected. Everyone began buying scarves, wrapping them over their mouth and face to keep the dust out. Tony looked particularly handsome in his Jordanian black, red and white one, and I'd managed to find a way to tuck the end of my scarf into my ponytail. We looked a treat!
We're heading to 'Wadi Rum' which means: wadi-valley, rum-high and is famous after Lawrence of Arabia. We drove for a hour or so passing the Wadi Rum railway still used now for phosphate transport but historically from WWI for the ottoman army for transportation to the Arabian peninsula. It was rebuilt in 1960s and now is used for a TV drama. We spent a while jumping up checking out the steam engine, exploring the carriages and saw where the Jordanian king came into Jordan from Saudi Arabia. Coming into the national park, we stopped to collect our picnic lunch of olives, tomatoes, bread and cheese before driving to eat under an open Bedouin tent near ancient rock inscriptions. Washed down with a cup of sweet cardamom tea, we continued deeper into the desert until we came across our first sand dune. Climbing up the sand dune in bare feet, one step forward was met with one step slipping backwards and the crest seemed quite a feat. Reaching the top, we had a few rocks to sit on, soaking up the landscape amidst the haze of the sandstorm.
Next we moved on to Ali's jump gorge where apparently a bad man was chased by the community and ran to the top of the mountain before he jumped from the top, floated down in his galabea and then ran away. It was a stunning natural gorge full of ancient drawings of humans, camels, footprints and inscriptions. We drove further into the desert stopping at the 'Bridge Rock' was was a wind and sand eroded natural bridge high up in the air. Apparently it was possible to climb onto it so I bravely gave it a go, climbing onto the top in a skirt no less. Tony didn't quite

manage to capture it on camera however! Thanks to Jon though, he's learnt some great new photography skills.
We reached our camp in the afternoon and found our own little tents with beds and a little window; settling in for the night. We had a cup of tea and then I climbed up in between the two rock faces and found a lovely spot to meditate. Finding a lizard to observe, I watched him for about 30 minutes before joining group lazing around a fire and chilling out. Our dinner had been cooked Bedouin style in the ground, like a hangi and we had a dinner of lentil soup, veggie soup, rice, bread, two salads, roast chicken and potatoes. Yum! Off to a very hot tent and little sleep but an awesome day. Deserts are such incredible landscapes.
I'm feeling better now but sadly Tony has taken over as the sick one, finally succumbing to fatigue, adrenal burnout and mental exhaustion from the past few months. Feeling weary and sleepy, we ate our early brekkie and climbed back in the 4x4 hanging with the sheik and pumping his Arabian music. Full of smiles and laughter, there aren't many days like that in ones life and I felt deliriously happy. What an adventure! Sadly, we had to leave the desert as we were beginning to make our way over to the Red Sea where we'd leave Jordan that afternoon.
Driving to Aqaba, our fingers were crossed that the temperamental Jordan to Egypt ferry would be running. We have a beach camp waiting for us on the other side so I'm desperately hoping it all goes smoothly. We checked in to a gorgeous hotel with....wait for it.....hot steamy showers and comfy beds for Tony to recover in and I wandered around the friendly town and grabbing some incredible falafel rolls. Ahmed had managed to get us fast ferry tickets for the afternoon so we made the best of our afternoon in Aqaba reminiscing on the amazing people and landscapes we'd seen. Jordan had touched our hearts and even though our stay was short, it had crept up into one of our top favourite destinations so we felt incredibly sad to say goodbye to our fabulous leader Ahmed who was a wealth of knowledge and organisation. Jordan, you are such a jem-we've loved every minute of you and can't wait to come back.