Ikhwan

Day 283

[despite this trip occurring almost two months ago, it's probably an important post in the travel/research/ramblings blog this has become...]

First off, having someone come visit you in the Middle East is a blast. You get to play tour guide, make practical use of language skills, and enjoy a short vacation yourself. Having that person be your older brother is just an added bonus.

Dana



...From the Dead Sea, Tim and I headed out with a big crew of my friends to Dana nature preserve. April is the best month to see Dana, and having a two-car caravan of excited outdoorsy folk made the trip a perfect kick-off for our around-Jordan tour itinerary. Dana is considered a unique success story for sustainable development, with all the baggage that term implies these days. A tiny village situated on the cliff above a vast wadi (valley), Dana makes an ideal spot for a protected nature reserve. After economic trends dried up the Dana economy in the 90s, the Jordanian government and NGO the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) turned the village and expansive wadi into an eco-tourism geared nature preserve, providing much needed capital to the area surrounding Tafiyleh--the small industrial town straddling the large mountains that rise out of the Dead Sea coast. The locals that stayed in the village or commute from neighboring villages are employed as hotel operators, nature guides, and handicraft entrepreneurs.

After relaxing in the quaint and Bedouin-inspired hotel, our group headed out the following morning (still stiff and sore from the races) for a 4 hr. hike. The descent down into the wadi is long and steep, comprising a myriad of switchbacks past small farm houses and herds of goats. Although still a bit sparse and desert-like for a nature preserve, in April Dana's trees and bushes are in full leaf and full bloom, and the ground is more or less carpeted with strange plants and herbs. If you pay attention to the little things at your feet, you're also apt to spot colorful lizards and butterflies. The real downside to the hike from the village-side of the preserve is the return trek up the switchbacks, which was long and exhausting, if not rewarding for the views of the valley floor below.

Wadi Rum



Parting ways with the bigger group, Tim and I diverted further south to Wadi Rum for a couple days of touring and camping. We arrived just before sunset at Beit 'Ali, an eco-lodge run by a British-Jordanian couple just outside the official Rum preserve. While Tim caught up on sleep, I shared the camp fire and some beer with a stock broker from Amman and a British family on holiday from Aqaba. The next morning we rendezvoused with a Bedouin Mohammad in Rum village, who operates Jeep and camel treks around Wadi Rum out to his secluded tent camp. Fairly tech-saavy for a Bedou, I had found his tour packages and phone number on his website (currently unavailable). Tim and I shared a Jeep tour with an Italian woman named Monica, piloted by one of Mohammad's employees Ruwan. I guess we were paired up with Ruwan instead of Mohammad himself because they quickly figured out I spoke Arabic and could act as translator and mediator for our car. The Jeep was a no-frills 1970s model (actually a Toyota I think), which Ruwan started and restarted via some hot-wiring below the steering wheel. Pretty 'adi here. Our circuitous route took us to WR's main attractions, including secluded springs surrounded by vibrant plant life, ancient inscriptions from the Nabitean people (of Petra fame), strange rock outcroppings and rock bridges, and several sites notable for having supposedly hosted T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia) himself. Of course, and I think Tim would agree here, Wadi Rum's major attraction is Wadi Rum, and all the expansive views punctuated by sand dunes and massive vibrant red rock pillars. Our motor tour ended just before sunset at Mohammad's aptly-named Sunset Camp out in the desert. After a night of communal dining and Debkah dance in what amounted to the party tent, we indulged in the touristy pleasure of a morning camel ride back to Rum village to complete our stay. Two other campers came along for a four camel caravan of two hours of gentle swaying.

Petra



Leaving Rum in late morning, Tim and I had enough daylight to squeeze in a few hours in Petra outside of the quiet (but very touristy) town of Wadi Musa. Fortunately most of the European and Asian tourists were booking it out of the park by the time we descended through the narrow and high rock-walled siq into the ancient city. Impressed by the towering rock-hewn facades of temples, we were both a bit tired from the non-stop adventuring since Friday's race and stuck to a simple circuit of the main attractions, Nabitean and Roman, and saved the stiffer climbs til the next morning. After trekking up to Petra's peaks to check out the High Place of Sacrifice (of probably goats, not virgins) and the Monastery temple the second day, we were ready to hit the road back up to Amman. Trying to give Tim the full Jordan experience, I chose the King's Highway route which snakes (more switchbacks) through Jordan's beautiful middle North-South corridor back to the capital before darting, frustrated, to the bleak Desert Highway in the interest of time.

Amman and Irbid



On our last full day in Jordan, we explored downtown Amman on foot, taking in the Roman amphitheater, Ummayyid Palace on Jabel Al Qala', Darat Al-Fanun contemporary art gallery in Weibeh, and Hashem's restaurant for some sha'bi humus and ful. We caught a trusty Hijazi bus up to Irbid to meet up with my former Yarmouk dorm-mate and American Rotary scholar for some argheelah and a relaxing evening. Ahead of us was an early morning taxi and the trials and tribulations of the Northern border crossing to rendezvous with Tim's friend for 5 days in Israel. My tour guide and translation work done, I could breath a sigh of relief and look forward to playing the passive observer role. And so I also will defer more active observations to Tim's thoughts and memories of the next leg:


Israel


(Guest post from Tim forthcoming...)

Dead Sea Half Marathon

Day 253

The opening salvo of my older brother Tim's two-week visit to Jordan was an early Friday morning race I had been training for, running from the outskirts of Amman down (and I do mean down, net-elevation drop was a nice feature) to the public beach at the Dead Sea. Unfortunately my training had been pretty skittish the previous month, ~60 miles/wk and a week off due to illness, but I was still out to have a good run and enjoy the down-time thereafter with Tim, traipsing all around Jordan. Plus, I could only squeeze in about 3.5-4 hours of sleep that night due to our late dinner and hectic provisions shopping.

All in all, though, things went pretty well. The 15th annual Dead Sea marathon is actually 4 races in one: a short ultra (48k), a marathon, a half, and a 10k fun run. The fun run brought out Jordanians, resident ex-pats, and foreign tourists in droves. The start point and check-in were a nightmare, the busing system to the various start points was ill-managed, but nevertheless it was great to see so many enthusiastic runners in a country normally devoid of respect and recognition of the sport. One caveat though--it's still Jordan and I greatly enjoyed the sight of a number of runners lighting up for their last smoke in the waiting pen.



Tim followed in our rental car to the half start line, and acted as impromptu photographer and enthusiastic supporter at various stops along the way. My race had a couple of talented Jordanians in it (from the national team), so it quickly developed into a 4-man race where a third Jordanian guy and I battled it out for third in sight of the leaders. This was my first race in about 10 months, so I was a little rusty tactially-speaking, besides not being in tip-top shape. I cruised through 5k at 14:45 and 8k at 24:15 before settling down and trudging though the second half of the race. The route was pleasant, although hot (with no shade to speak of on the side of the highway)--so I made good use of the sponge and water stations. The last 5k or so was a bit frustrating, not only because it includes the only 3 or 4 long uphills on the course, but because slow jogging and walking 10k fun-runners were congesting the entire highway. After leaving my race partner at about 10k, I wrapped things up in 1:07 even for third place, which I was pretty pleased with, all things considered.



The various races had different prize systems, but my finish was good for a box of coffee products and a flashy new cell phone. So I could finally say goodbye to the standard base-line Nokia model "foreigner phone" and gain much-needed respect from the camera phone and ring tone culture here. On another bright note, my friend whom I had been coaching for her first half-marathon ended up switching to the full marathon distance last minute and pulled out a win! Her 3:34 was a couple minutes quicker than second place and, not to mention, a Boston marathon qualifier.



I had a big crew of ex-pat friends taking part in the race, from the 10k to the ultra, so with Tim included we all enjoyed the lavish post-race party beside the pool above a crowded Dead Sea beach. Then Tim and I kicked off the rest of the trip...

Fly Rum

Day 253

yikes, a six week drought is up...

Perhaps needless to say, stuff came up and I got a bit swamped with things for a few weeks.



Anyways--in early spring here, I took off with some friends for a weekend in Wadi Rum and Aqaba. Rum is always a treat but the draw this go around was a new program offering flights over the Wadi in a microlight plane. A young female instructor pilot Basima, after smashing the glass ceiling at Jodan's commercial aviation academy, came up with the idea to fly the short jaunt from the airport in Aqaba, land on the dry lake bed outside Wadi Rum park and take up weekenders and tourists for 15-30 min. hops. The twist is, she goads you to do most of the flying (outside of landing). Fortunately it's pretty hard to screw up in such a light plane and I had a blast flying over Rum village and Jabl Rum. If you're an actual pilot, like one of my friends, you can pay half the price essentially and tool around solo.



So yeah that was amazing. Then we took our 4x4 truck way out into the reserve near the Saudi border and set up an isolated camp. I was still in training mode for a half marathon (more on that later)...so I did laps around the dry lake bed one day, and went for a sunset run from camp the next. Sunset run, alone, in the desert. Not a great idea. This is the happy pre-run picture, in which I am oozing (misplaced) confidence at my adventurous idea. I figured I could squeeze in 4 miles before dark, but turns out all your landmarks look different at dusk and from reverse. Short story is I made a wrong turn somewhere, and ten miles of frantic and frightened running via crude star navigation later, I finally saw the camp fire. The real fire, I should say--desert mirages are not just the stuff of myths. So a little dehydrated and bloodied (thorny desert bushes are hard to see and harder on the legs), I wolfed down our lavish BBQ feast and slept easy that night.

Turns out there is a (well-marked) nighttime race in Wadi Rum in late May. For various reasons I will not be partaking, but much respect to all those who do.