Wednesday
Last day of class ! To enjoy longer weekends, the two students negotiated with their teacher to have extra hours each day in exchange for a 4 days week (Sunday to Wednesday). I follow the Lonely Planet’s advice to make the most of my last free morning in Amman. Not too far from home, there’s a center for modern art built on hillside on the ruins of an ancient church and ever more ancient pagan temple. The church was in fact built on top of the ruins of the temple. The place is extremely quiet with gardens, fountains,… super relaxing in the hectic city that is Amman. I spend a couple of hours there before heading back home. We have a road trip ahead of us with stops in Madaba, Mt Nebo, Wadi Mujib, Dana, Petra, Wadi Ram, Shobak and Karak… all of this in just a couple of days, warrior style!
Madaba is an ancient city where there’s a church with a very unique feature. The floor is paved with a mosaic that, instead of the usual Bible scenes, is a map of the region 2 000 years ago. However we’ve very little time to visit since we arrive at the worst possible time; a funeral is about to start. Back on the road we head to Mount Nebo. According to the Bible, that’s where Moise got to finally see the Promised Land. The view is indeed impressive with the Dead Sea, the river Jordan, Palestine and Israel at our feet. From up there the region feels very small. All these people really need to learn to live together because there’s just nowhere else to go…
We booked a cabin tonight in Wadi Mujib. We enter our destination in the GPS and are on our way on one of the three southbound roads. Driving around in Jordan is pretty straightforward outside of Amman. They actually are just starting to give names to street so having a GPS is not always enough to arrive at destination. We arrive at the Wadi Mujib dam and take a break to enjoy the sunset. There we start to talk with a Jordanian who has been living in Spain for years and we learn, amongst other things, that we’re not where we want to be. Our cabin is at Wadi Mujib reserve, it’s on the other side of the valley, down by the Dead Sea and there are no direct roads. We have to trace our steps back to the previous fork, cross the mountain to hop on the Dead Sea highway. We wanted to avoid arriving by night… failed! We call the reserve to warn them about our late arrival, re-program the GPS (correctly this time) and turn around. Driving by night in the mountains… is fun :D We arrive safe and sound, get our cabin keys and improvise a dinner in the cabin with yogurt, cookies, laughing cow and a few other things we bough on the way.
Thursday
Getting up the next day, we realize that we’re actually right next to the Dead Sea. There are no beaches though, only pebbles but we’ve no time now to test it out. We’ll come back later for the very touristy experience of floating effortlessly in the Dead Sea. This morning’s plan is to hike the Siq trail. A “Siq” is a canyon dug by water (what else?). It reminds me of last year hike in the narrows (add link). We walk on the river bed against the current. It’s not very strong at this time of the year but they close the site as soon as it starts raining. When that happens, the Siq turns into a mortal trap easy to imagine. Seeing how narrow the canyon is, the current and water level must go through the roof in no time. The place though is gorgeous. The water sculpted the rock, revealing the colors of the different strata. It looks like nature painted the cliffs after having sculpted them. It’s simply amazing. On top of all that, we get to wade in the shade, which is a desirable luxury in the desert. We take our time and enjoy every minute of the hike in the Siq. The trail has some challenge though; we have to climb small falls along the way. Ropes are installed to help us through but some of them are tough because of the current. We almost see no one; it feels like we have the all place to ourselves. It must be a bit more crowded on weekends. It’s a very special place and we bring back unforgettable memories.
Back at the cabin, we take a dip in the Dead Sea… and it’s gross. Sure we float as expected but it leaves an oily and disgusting sensation on the skin. We stay about 10 mins then spend twice as much time in the shower. It’s a bucket list item clearly but once you’re past the strangeness of floating way more than usual, you realize than swimming in such salted and polluted water is just plain disgusting.
In our minister like agenda, we have Dana and Petra by nigh for the rest of the day, so no time to fool around or to take a wrong turn. We even check the map twice to avoid any error. Dana is a small village in a valley also named Dana surprisingly. It’s a very green place compare to the rest of Jordan and there are lots of hikes available. The village is at one end of the valley and you can see the valley going all the way down to the Dead Sea. Sadly we have no enough time for a real hike and we have to be happy with just visiting the village. It was abandoned during the last rural exodus but people are coming back and it’s being actively restored. The site is worth it and through tourism; people try to give it a second life. The village is small but an old man tells us about a small hike that we could do. We follow his instructions, following a stream to its source and from there we have a very nice view of the village, exactly as advertised :D It’s already time to leave though. Petra is not very far but we really want to do the very touristy Petra by night.We arrive without snags and on time for the famous experience. As suspected, it’ll be touristic but nonetheless enchanting.
The doors of Petra are closed for the night but we know the password (Mellon) to enter. It’s beautiful night in the desert with an amazing sky full of starts, very much unlike what we’re used to in the cities. There’s not a single cloud and the further away we walk from modern Petra the less light pollution we suffer. The first part of the hike, we’re still in the valley, but with the obscurity, we can only guess what structures lay on each side of the road. The silence of the night is only troubled by footstep and whispered conversations. We arrive at the entrance of the Siq, big dark mass ahead of us. It’s very high and narrower than the one in Wadi Mujib. Little dim lanterns are installed on the ground to make sure people don’t trip. We enter the Siq following these lanterns, with the steep cliffs on our sides and the sky full of stars above our heads. It’s a unique experience. After a half-hour walk we arrive at the Treasury, it’s the sculpted temple that everyone knows from Indiana Jones. On the little plaza in front of it there’s a sea of lanterns and a few rows of carpets for the visitors. We take our seat and are welcomed with tea. Then a Bedouin comes and tell the story of the site. To finish, we’ll have a little concert of traditional music. It’s a well established show clearly but very enjoyable. To be out there, in the middle of this ancient city, at night with only lanterns, it’s probably like visiting Lorien right after having gone through the Moria. We got dazzle that day, Wadi Mujib, Dana, Petra,… a day I won’t forget anytime soon.
*You should have taken Sindarin as your first foreign language!