Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea, Jordan

 "Wadi" means valley in Jordan, and Wadi Rum is a popular desert area that people also refer to as the Valley of the Moon. 

Before we left Petra, Jason had a cool run in the morning exploring on his own.

As part of our tour package, we were driven to Wadi Rum (about 2 hours from Petra) and stayed in a Bedouin camp there.

Bedouins are indigenous nomadic people whose lives are now mostly tourism based. After paying an entrance fee to the Wadi Rum area, we drove to our particular camp. It seems like there are 100 different camp clusters in the region. Ours had one reception tent, a huge eating area building, and probably about 30 little cabins. Our cabin had a comfortable bed, heater and A/C, plugs, running water with a flushing toilet and a shower. A generator provides hot water during morning and evening times.

We had a 2 hour jeep ride through the sand dunes, which was a riot. We stopped at a tent that served us tea and dressed Jason and I up in traditional Bedouin headscarves and robes. We ran on some fresh dunes and bounced around in the open back of the truck. Although it went faster than I was always comfortable with, the kids were hooting and hollering and laughing and said it felt like a roller coaster ride. The colours of the sand dunes and different rock features were cool.

In front of our cabin

 

Nana and Ava in the back of the truck

Mushroom rock

The red rock powder can be used as a make-up

We were treated to a traditional dinner with the meat cooked in the sand for hours before the buffet. After dinner, we were taught how to do some traditional group dancing (like line dancing). The male leaders were amazing dancers and we did our best to keep up.

Then we saw some spectacular stars before bed.

dancing inside the large restaurant tent after dinner

The next day, we drove to the Dead Sea and stayed a night there at a fancy hotel. Floating in the very salty water was a bizarre feeling. Our hotel experience included mud massage, so some of us got covered in mud before we washed it off in the sea. Pretty unique!

across the sea is Israel

 

Jason went for a run

We went back to Amman and said goodbye to Jordan. Jason was pretty sore and stiff because he got stung by a scorpion while out on his run, but he managed to heal well enough to fly without issue.

Next stop for the mojo family: Albania!

Petra, Jordan

 I'm giddy just writing this post because we are really here in Petra, Jordan!

I've wanted to come here since I was a kid: in the movie "Indian Jones and the Last Crusade", Harrison Ford goes through this desert canyon to arrive at the Treasury - an amazing temple carved into the rock. 

This is my photo of the Treasury!

We purposely booked two nights staying in the town of Petra so that we could have time to explore the sites of this "Wonder of the World". In case different people in our group needed different things, we had a guide as a part of our tour package, but you don't need a guide to see this site. It's popular and safe and set up for tourists.

We arrived to Petra in the late afternoon, so Nana stayed with the kids in the hotel at night while Jason and I went in and experienced the "Petra By Night" show. It's quite peaceful as you walk the 2km along the path and through the canyon by candle light. You then sit on a blanket in front of the Treasury and it lights up in different hues as performers play traditional music and you are served tea. The stars were overhead and the whole experience was delightful. It was cool (desert weather) and we were wearing our puffy coats.

The next day, all 5 of us (including Nana) went with our guide and driver into the site. We walked the 2km through the Siq - the canyon, which is gorgeous. Then we arrived at the Treasury, which is breathtaking. There's a lot going on there - people selling things, offering guiding and hiking services, and a transport hub of camels and donkeys and electric golf carts for anyone who has difficulty with the walk.

After the Treasuy, we continued walking along toward the theatre and past the Royal Tombs area. The rock colours, the amount of cave homes and carved out rock temples/tombs was astounding. 

Nana and Ava walked to the ruins of the large temple (about 3.5-4km) and then decided to go back to the hotel. They boarded two donkeys and rode back to the Treasury. From there, they got an electric golf cart back to the Visitor Center exit. Thankfully our hotel was just another 100m or so from there. Great job Nana and Ava!

After that, Rachel, Jason and I hiked up to the Monastery. This was a legit hike up, even though it was only about 1-1.5km further than the temple. There were about 1000 stairs to get up, with beautiful rocks and canyons around. At the top, the Monastery comes into view in a similar way to the Treasury, but there weren't many people around and everything felt calm and easy. 

I can't express how lovely it was to exercise, to be hiking, and to be outside in fresh air with less people. We have been in a lot of cities in the last few weeks. I haven't felt very comfortable running and haven't felt like we've been very well set up for me (particularly as a female) to go running. So to be outside, working up a sweat, with nature all around - it felt glorious!!

We had a sandwich at the top and then hiked back down. After that, we hiked up to the top of a peak behind the temple that used to be an old crusader castle. On the top of the hike was the oldest geocache in Jordan, and it gave us a beautiful view! 

To end the day, we walked back to the Treasury via the Royal Tombs and peeked inside several of the caves. 

Overall, this was a dream come true day. We hiked about 16km or so, saw the amazing sites and histoy of the ancient city. It really was as good as I had always built it up to be, but even better that we were able to hike freely here and there. We could have hiked to other view points but we felt really satisfied with our experience and all that we saw.

Today was another reminder to me that all dreams ARE possible.