Reisebericht

In the Kingdom of the Hashemites (3rd of November, 2002)

Arriving at the Jordanian border near Al Mustaba, we are very curious about this small country at the Jordan Valley. Since primeval times history of mankind is written here. Nowadays we mainly think about what the daily press reports on the Middle East conflict. We would like to develop an understanding for the conflict while visiting this country. As usual our border-crossing starts with customs clearance now being a routine for us. In Jordan we are also obliged to insure our land cruiser, but fortunately there is no tax on diesel as in Syria. The border guards are friendly and clearance doesn' t take long. As we have experienced many times before, the vehicle is not at all checked as long as the documents are okay.

First we drive to the capital Amman where we set up camp on the large, very nice grounds of the Theodor-Schneller-School, a self-help project for orphans. We can really recommend camping here. The few dinars we pay are spent for a good cause. We need the days in Amman primarily to settle some organizational matters. First the visa must be registered at the police station because we intend to stay longer than 14 days in the country. Then we have to go to the Libyan Embassy to apply for a transit visa to be allowed to travel to Tunesia via Egypt. We are very surprised to hear from the consul in charge that we cannot get a visa without a special permit from Tripolis and that he is not able (or willing) to support us in getting this document. All we can do is ask a licenced Libyan tour operator. This agency is willing to help if we pay them approximately US$ 500 to 800. This is quite expensive for a transit of only a few days! A friend of us, a member of the German Parliament, therefore tries to help us by writing to the Libyan Ambassador in Germany - we are still waiting for an answer. Since ferry traffic from Haifa (Israel) to Piraeus (Greece) was stopped for security reasons, the only alternative for us would be to drive along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and travel through Turkey. Visiting the Iraqi Embassy doesn' t help either. Our visa application in Tehran has not been processed after more than four weeks, but we are given the tip to contact someone from Iraq Airlines who is able to get a group visa within a few days. Our problem is that such a group must consist of at least five people who actually travel together. Jordanian people do not count in this case, otherwise we could have asked someone on the street walking by. Since we couldn' t find others to join us, we are unfortunately not able to discover this very interesting part of the ancient Silk Road. You can imagine that we leave Amman being quite disappointed. We visit the country' s attractions anyway.

Greetings from Archimedes

After having been very close to Mount Everest (8,848 meters) in the spring representing the highest point on earth, we very much enjoy visiting the Dead Sea being the lowest point on earth with 390 meters below sea level. The salt content of 33 percent causes such a strong buoyancy that you automatically float on the surface. Drowning is practically impossible and we physically "feel" Archimedes' Law while taking a bath in the Dead Sea.

Unsinkable in the Dead Sea

Biblical Places

The numerous signs at the roadside tell you that the Jordan Valley represents the center of religious history. But it is kind of difficult to visit these biblical places. The baptismal place of Jesus is located in the middle of a restricted military zone and you can only go there with a hired tour guide taking a special minibus. The current atmosphere is demonstrated by barbed wire, watch towers and machine guns. The Jordan river, here reaching the Dead Sea and marking the border, is no more than a brooklet because too many water canals branch off before.

Baptismal place of Jesus

Narrow Jordan

For the night we retreat to Mount Nebo (802 meters), the place from which the Israelis, led by Moses, looked at their new Promised Land for the first time. From our camp we see the lights of Jericho and Jerusalem in West Jordan in the darkness. We are shocked to hear at the same time, listening to our short-wave transmitter, that practically in front of us another bomb just exploded and killed three people.

Taking King' s Highway to the South

For over 3,000 years this road leading through this unique scenery was used by trading caravans, troops and pilgrams traveling between Damascus, the Mediterranean region and the Arab Peninsula. The supposedly easier route alongside the desert (today called Desert Highway) was avoided because of robbing bedouin tribes and water shortage. We also choose this almost 400 kilometer long route leading us up and down through the green wadi valleys lying diagonally to our route.

Mineral Springs

Near Madaba a special natural spectacle awaits us. In Hammamat Ma’in there are approximately 50 hot springs which pour out and then cascade down the rock faces. We enjoy the hot shower with mineral water falling down from a height of 25 meters. It feels great, but you must ignore the "optical pollution" in the form of a huge, absolutely over-sized first-class hotel in this fantastic valley. At some places soft tourism only takes place on paper. Although there is a lot of land around, the officials do not permit us to set up camp here (not even when we offer them money!) and therefore we sleep safely next to the barbed-wire fence of a police station.

Taking a shower

In Kerak we visit the ruins of a crusader fortress. This is only recommendable if you did not have the chance to see the better maintained fortresses in Syria. It is however worth visiting the smaller excavation sites along King' s Highway if you have enough time. To avoid our "pillar and ruin syndrom" we first of all enjoy the beautiful nature around us.

Wadi Dana

Unfortunately we are turned away at the entrance to the Dana Nature Reserve. Visitors must take a shuttle bus to get to the local camp and we are asked to park our vehicle on a parking lot in the middle of nowhere. Although we are trusting people, we do not like this option. Good for us! After looking around for a while we find a great place to spend the night at the wadi' s edge with a direct view into the valley. We watch the sun go down while it is already dark in the official camp down in the wadi. In the morning we are surrounded by dark clouds. We have to hurry because a thunderstorm is coming up and we want to take our tent down before getting wet.

Camping in Dana

Sundown in Dana

Clouds around us

The Nabatean City of Petra

The word "Petra" is Greek and means "rock". Visiting this town, rock is all you see. We look at pure rock architecture with beautiful facades. Petra is the legacy of the Nabatea, a busy Arab tribe that settled over 2,000 years ago in the south of Jordan in order to control the trade routes and the barter of goods (e.g. incense, spices and silk from China). The tribe charged road toll and protected the caravans. At the height of its power the Nabatean kingdom extended over the region up to Damascus and even included parts of the Sinai and the Negev desert. Thanks to its highly developed culture, a fantastic architecture and the sophisticated dike and canal system ensuring its water supply, this mysterious capital Petra, located in a quite hidden place, enjoyed an excellent reputation everywhere. 106 AD the Romans annexed the kingdom to their empire. The Nabatean kingdom thus gradually lost its importance and totally fell into oblivion in the 16th century. No sooner than 1812 the Swiss Johann Burckhart rediscovered the city of Petra. Scientists however did not start uncovering the ruins more than 100 years later. Today not even 1% of the town has been excavated. This seems unbelievable regarding its size and what you can see. The Bedouin police is in charge to guard the site. The policemen are friendly officers who support the visitors both in word and deed.

Petra

Bedouin police

We access the city by going through a very narrow canyon (called siq) only a few meters wide. The rock faces are partly over 100 meters high and of multi-colored sandstone. At the canyon' s end we can see through a narrow crevice the Treasury with its huge facade. It is chiselled into the red sandstone and made out of one piece. As all the tourists, we continue walking through the canyon coming along various small and large stone graves until we arrive at the amphitheatre. An original sandstone staircase leads us to the rock' s peak with a sacrificial altar. We have a magnificient view to the city of Petra. Its temples, monasteries and graves are chiselled into the red stone. We identify streets, former buildings and a lot of debris, certainly covering up many secrets of the past. We continue our hike until we arrive at the temple of the pharao' s daughter, drink the most expensive tea of our journey and return.

Mysterious Petra
Petra' s Treasury

Kaleidoscope of colours

Bedouin riding a donkey

An additional excursion leads us through a water tunnel of the Nabatea. We walk through another wadi and hike far away from the typical tourist paths. If you really try, it is possible to find absolutely quiet and beautiful spots in Petra so that you can relax after the loud hustle and bustle of the bazaar with all the saddle camels, donkeys, horses and carts and the countless traders.

Climbing in a wadi

Wadi scenery near Petra
Wadi scenery near Petra

Facade out of one piecek

On the Traces of Lawrence of Arabia

We continue traveling to the south. Already in Petra there is a surprise for us. The only gas station around has no fuel, but fortunately we still have some liters in the tank so we can reach Ma’an. Here the people in the town show us quite openly that tourists from the Western world are not welcome everywhere on earth. They throw tomatoes at our vehicle. Later we hear that Ma’an currently is a dangerous place where there have been some shoot-outs lately. Nonetheless these informations aren' t published too frequently in Jordan, because the number of tourists has already decreased and tourism is important to the country. We get out of this town hastily.

Shortly before Aqaba we enjoy the wonderful desert of Wadi Rum. Here Lawrence of Arabia and his Arab comrades-in-arms played their "cat-and-mouse game" with the Turkish army beginning of the previous century on behalf of the British. The vast and quite rough landscape puts us to a real (navigation) test. Our map is inaccurate and hardly a help. Once again we are happy to have a GPS on board. With our 80 liters of water and enough food supplies we start our tour and enjoy this unique scenery for three particularly beautiful days.

Wadi Rum

Wadi Rum
Wadi Rum

At this time we get good news from the Libyan Ambassador in Germany: An exception was made and we will receive a transit visa for Libya in Cairo. Now we can enjoy the days in Wadi Rum without worrying about how and where to travel next. We do some hiking.

Burdah Bridge

We spend the last night in the middle of the desert directly at the route of the Desert Cup, a 168 kilometer long ultra-marathon. 231 runners have signed up for this year' s challenging run. Ute, herself a marathon runner, feels obliged to cheer up those lonely athletes running through the desert. In contrast to the Berlin marathon, the relation here at two o' clock at night is one runner to one spectator. The runners however looked at us as if we were a fata morgana watching them run here in the desert. By the way: The record for running 168 kilometers through fine desert sand is 18 hours and 35 minutes.

Desert marathon

Unfortunately the few days of Wadi Rum must be seen as offroad paradise. According to new plans a guide is mandatory and external cars are no longer permitted in this national park.

To continue to Aqaba we take the desert route which abruptly ends after almost 50 kilometers at the Gulf of Aqaba. We thus spend a few days at the beach inspecting the fantastic (and practically indestructable) coral-reefs. What a contrast when coming from the desert and diving into this underwater world! Here we meet a lot of other tourists who plan to travel via Egypt and Sudan taking the Eastern route to South Africa. We also have to take the ferry from Aqaba to Nuweiba in Egypt, although taking the coastal road through Israel would be much shorter (and cheaper). Would we have stamps of the Israeli/Egyptian border in our passes, then we couldn' t enter into Libya or return to Syria.

Aqaba

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