Israel/Jordan Day 13: Goodbye Eric, Hello Jordan!

 Israel/Jordan Day :

Wednesday April 13th to 14th - Wadi Rum for 1 night

This was a day we were looking forward to, but also regretting.  Our last day with Eric but the start of our Jordan adventure.  Jordan has been on our list for a very long time - mostly for Petra, but also for the desert vistas of Wadi Rum.

We checked out of our hotel and took the main road south - it cut sharply into the rim and along the inside edge of Ramon Crater.  When we got to the base of the gigantic crater area, we were a little shocked at the scale of everything - from the top of the crater it all looked like a flat plain, but from down below we were surrounded by huge rolling hills.  We felt very small.

Eric took us to a little hiking area to take a look at some rock formations and different coloured sand from the crater, but mostly just to get us up and walking!  Further down the road into the Negev Desert we came close to a bunch of friendly tank operators doing exercises in the sand.  Very cool and not something we see at home too much!

So we could delay the pending sad parting with Eric, we stopped at a rest stop near the southernmost city of Eilat.  Eilat is a bit of a resort town - the only Israeli City on the Red Sea (well, the smaller Gulf of Aqaba) and very close to seaside areas of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

It was time... we said goodbye to our newfound friend and promised to stay in touch.  What a fantastic experience we had with Eric.  I have no doubt we will see him again.

Through Eric, we had arranged our Jordan leg of the tour, that included transportation, some accommodations and help crossing the border.  The border was an interesting experience - I'm trying to remember crossing a significant border like that on foot, and all I can remember is pre-9/11 walking over and back to Buffalo for cheap wings and beer (and to show you how different security would become, one of my friends lost is ID and still talked his way into Canada (yes... it was Murray)).

A representative helped us on the Israeli side, gave us instructions and we passed a gate and walked ourselves over "no man's land" until we were ushered in to the Jordanian side border control.  There was a couple there with a child that seemed to have been stuck there for hours.  Luckily, our names were on a list, and Beth and I went through.  Then we heard Alex being ushered in to "Room #10"... my strong memories of Midnight Express were boiling up (Alex... what did you pack??) but I guess it was just a misunderstanding as he was out five minutes later.

We were met by our driver and guide... Ahmed and Ahmed.  It was quickly apparent that this would not be an Eric experience, but for the Jordan leg, I just cared that we had someone to take us where we wanted to go.  Ahmed was a funny little character, with a pretty thick, quiet spoken voice.  I caught about 50% of what he said as I was closest - the others got much less than that.

Wadi Rum, a large desert area famously visited by Lawrence of Arabia during the Arab revolt near the end of World War I, has been featured in practically every Hollywood movie set in a desert over the last 40 years.  We stopped at the Visitor Center for a bathroom break and to get a good view of the seven pillars.

I think the Seven Pillars...

We were getting a little peckish, and it being Ramadan, there were limited options for lunch - a few special "tourist provider" places were allowed to serve lunch, so we went to one to feast on an excellent buffet.  Alex, was a happy man!

Part of our package included a jeep tour of the desert and some of the rock formations.  It sounded cheesy, but it ended up being really fun.  One spot saw Alex getting out and running down a huge sand dune like a chicken with his head cut off.  We also went down a huge embankment (and did it again after insisting on an encore!) and saw some really cool rock formations.  The desert is a strange, wonderful place.  So dead and quiet, with epic scale and proportions.  It's the closest thing on land I can imagine that feels like scuba diving in a huge ocean expanse.

After the jeep tour, we were transferred to another vehicle which shuttled us to our "hotel".  What a find!  Alex and I had been holding this one back a bit from the ladies... we were staying in Wadi Rum UFO Luxotel, one of the bubble hotels in the area - it did not disappoint.  Seconds after getting to our room, Beth and I were lamenting that we were only staying here one night - that's the toughest part of travel - balancing seeing, doing, moving and stopping!

Dinner, down a sand strewn path from our bubbles in the main building, was excellent.  We are not lacking for good meals on this trip, and we seem to be able to get a good mix of vegetables, carbs and meat, not to mention desserts like baclava and other treats.

What an experience.. standing in the window watching the sun go down... Beth and I were giddy... paradise!