Big 2010 Trip: 17th, 18th & 19th Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra

We had the morning to explore Aqaba, so we headed off to the corniche. Our first stop was the ruins of the medieval port, then a nice stroll along the beachfront watching the holidaying Jordanians frolicking in the water on one side and the locals in their community garden on the other.

We had a look at the ruined Aqaba castle and the big flagpole and headed back to the hotel via some shops to buy our picnic lunch. We set off at 11am with our Jordanian guide for our 2 hour drive to Wadi Rum. At the visitors centre we met the Sheik who owned the camp we were to stay at. We transferred to 4x4 cars and set off into the desert. Our first stop was Lawrence spring where we had a traditional welcome tea in a Bedouin tent.

We set off toward the mountains and had our picnic lunch in the shade of the magnificent coloured cliffs. We then walked up Jebel Khazali where there were centuries old rock carvings.

This one is of camels.

We then drove to Lawrence's house and then on to the last stop, Umm Fruh Rock Bridge.

When we arrived at our campsite we had a welcome tea with the Sheik in the shadows of the cliffs. We had time to go for a walk and do some yoga before watching the sunset.

We finished the evening with a wonderful meal that had been cooked under the ground and toasted marshmallows on the fire before retiring to sleep under the stars. This visit to Wadi Rum was an awesome experience and definitely a highlight of the trip.

18th In the morning we had a traditional Bedouin breakfast of flat bread, oil and dukka, we also had cheese and jam along with tea. It took 1/2 an hour to get to the visitor centre where we transferred to a bus for the 2 1/2 hour drive to Petra. When we arrived we dropped our bags off at the hotel and set off to buy lunch of falafel rolls at a local takeaway. Next stop one of my bucket list sights, Petra. It was a slow hot walk down past many tombs and through the Siq to the magnificent sight of the Treasury.

There were many other people there and it was difficult to get good photos. The guide was rather tedious, he showed us the famous Treasury- Al-Khazneh, the street of facades (40 tombs), 7000 seat ampitheatre, the royal tombs (they looked amazing), then continued along the main colonnade street and Nabataean ruins. We were happy when we had free time to explore. We had a bit of a walk around then headed back to the hotel. I then set off with a few of the others from the group to a hamam where we had a nice steam and a good scrub before meeting the rest of the group for dinner of mensaf, a traditional Jordanian meal of lamb, rice and nuts topped with a yoghurt sauce.

19th We set off at 6.30 am and walked to site with Mark and Cathy to the Siq. Because it was so early there were hardly any people there and we were able to get some great photos.