Jordan
Jordan is an odd country in Middle East terms. It`s adjacent to Israel and when the two agreed to open their borders to one another we were involved in an early cross-border tour with a travel company. We flew into Aqaba on the Red Sea coast in December 1994 with the intention of travelling inland to the rose red city of Petra which featured of course in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and The Mummy Returns amongst many others. However on landing we discovered that a rare snowstorm meant that the road was blocked by six foot snowdrifts. So instead we walked across the border into Eilat, Israel for a couple of nights and then returned once the road was open. Petra is stunning but there`s a lot more to see than the classic Treasury building. Although after riding for about a mile on horseback through the Siq (a narrow fissure in the rocks that surround the city) it is the very first sight that you see.
After Petra we visited the haunting desert area known as Wadi Rum via the Seven Pillars of Wisdom which T. E.Lawrence (Of Arabia) talked about and had a meal in the desert as the sun dropped below the horizon treating us to a colourful spectacle as it lit the rockface. The temperature dropped like a stone and we were glad of our warm coats. But next day we were back in Aqaba - which of course Lawrence unexpectedly `took`` from the Turks during World War One with the aid of the Arab League. There, as the temperature was in the high 20s C I was able to enjoy a relaxed swim in the Red Sea.
On a subsequent visit to Aqaba, having sailed from the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, down one leg on the Red Sea and up the other we were lucky enough to see dolphins - mother and baby - swimming alongside the cruise ship. And then, joy, oh joy, just retirned to the ship from a nice day wandering round Aqaba, drinking coffee and eating mezzes just in time to walk out onto our cabin balcony as a full sized turtle surfaced and swam around well within range of my camera. You can see my photos of both in the albums below
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