Well, its our last night in Jordan and what a wonderful time we have had. Following my last post we took a journey out to Wadi Rum – an amazing desert area – rolling sand dunes punctuated by huge rocky outcrops. We saw Lawrence of Arabia’s 7 pillars of wisdom which was huge. We then took open backed 4 x 4 trucks for a desert safari. One of the best stops was at the rock bridge which we climbed to have an amazing view. Actually – some of us wimped out first time round and had to be coaxed up – a very big thank you to David who kindly got me up without too many tears and tantrums – it was great to get there and to do something I was really scared of doing. But it was worth it and as they say nothing ventured nothing gained….more of this later…

That night we ate a lovely camp meal of chicken and rice with vegetables round the camp fire and slept out under the stars – we saw 2 amazing shooting stars, one of which left a silvery trail in the sky. It was absolutely boiling though and impossible to sleep.

The next morning we took camels to return to the bedouin village – a one and half hour trek across the dunes. My camel was called Sindy and Ian’s, Bob. They are such beautiful, stately creatures. We then drove on to Aqaba – a beach resort where I was able to snorkel across the reeef and where Ian did 2 scuba dives. More adventures!!

Today was our last day – a morning drive to Amman and then the afternoon free to explore. We visited the Citadel and the Archeological museum which holds the Dead Scrolls. After this we took a walk through the old town where Ian was able to go in one of the Mosques ( no women allowed as it was not a Friday ). After this we explored the vegetable market and the gold souk followed by a trip to a small stall which sold a local delicacy of goats cheese covered in nuts and then smothered in hot syrup – delicious ! A final stop for mint tea and then back to the hotel.

So now its last minute packing before we leave at 9am tomorrow morning for the airport. Its been a fantastic, action packed trip and one to be highly recommended. Thank you Exodus for a wonderful holiday but most of all to our lovely travelling companions who have been absolutely great – one of the best groups we have ever travelled with. So – see you folks back home soon with 4 memory cards of pictures – lucky you !

Well, its up there with Niagra Falls, Ankhor Watt, Everest Base Camp and all the other amazing sites we have been lucky enough to see. Our first day saw us walking through the Siq, a narrow canyon with walls circa 50 feet high. It winds and turns through a narrow way, its sides carved with 2000 year old carvings. Eventually you emerge into a wider gap through which you get your first view of the Treasury ( think Indiana Jones here ) – an absolutely incredible site ( google Petra ) and you will see. The Treasury is carved out of the red rock and was used as a sacred tomb. After much photo taking, we started our walk through to see the rest of the site. It is absolutely huge.

The site is carved out of the rock with tombs, temples and alters all within the rock face – the ruin of a 2000 year old city. The heat was relentless – 35 degrees – and so dry. It is a rocky, sandy site full of beduins walking through with their camels and horses. We took a very steep and hard walk up one of the canyon faces to see The Monestry – another intact building carved from the rock. A very hard climb taking around 45 minutes but well worth it to discover this amazing place. After climbing down we made our way slowly back through the site and to the Treasury which was deserted by this time – we had the place to ourselves!

We spent our second day at the site today climbing to the high places – the sacrifice sites. This was the hardest climbing we have ever done in the 40 degress heat. But what a day. Our guide took us up a ‘non tourist’ route clambering through crevices and across scree – up into the canyon to the top to get a wonderful view backdown into the Treasury. We then climbed higher, walking ledges with sheer drops on one site ( eeek!) until we reached the very top of the site – then back round the canyon and down the other side passing rarely if ever visited tombs cut into the rock. 10 miles hiking – absolutely shattered at the end but a fantastic day.

This evening we went back to the site to see it lit by candles and hear the beduin music. Of course I have bought a local beduin music CD and look forward to playing to you all when we return… Off to the desert tomorrow, to Wadi Rum for our day in the wilds – sleeping under the stars tomorrow night. Hope to blog again at Aqaba on Friday. Love to all. Over and out.