Day 1- Fly from Heathrow arriving in Amman, Jordan in the late evening. Stay overnight in accomodation near the Dead Sea
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| http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/deadsea.html |
Day 2- Relaxed start to the day to allow the oportunity to acclimatise (phew!). We can bathe in the Dead Sea in the morning although one of my colleagues assures me the flies on the shore are just terrible!
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| http://www.viphealthholidays.co.uk/introduction.html Obviously I will look like the above lady and not like a floundering hippo! |
After lunch we're transferred by coach to Wadi Arava which is the valley that connects the Dead sea and the Red Sea. This is the starting point for our trek. At some point during the coach transfer we get out and hike for an hour and a half through the canyon of Wadi Kudeira which is apparently very impressive with steep canyon walls and a slow flowing stream. The last part of the transfer is by Bedoiun trucks to our overnight camp next to the biblical Feinan copper mines.
Day 3- Today we'll trek for 8 hours covering 17km from Feinan to Faron. This takes us from the valley floor at 200m to 1350m. Apparently we'll go through a number of climate zones and across a variey of rock formations and strata. I have a habit of falling over, so keep your fingers crossed for me. It would seem that we'll trek up about the equivalent of Snowdon. So we're intending to conquer Snowdon before we go to Jordan to reassure ourselves that we won't collapse part way up! We follow trails through wild Bedouin country (I'm back to Jordan now!) and will occasionally see views of the Wadi Arava border area. Half way through the day we'll reach the Roman copper smelting site of Um el Amad which is another part of the Feinan complex where we'll be able to see visible signs of the ancient slave labour camps.
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| http://www.flickriver.com/places/Jordan/'Amman/Umm+al+Amad/ |
After this point the scenery will change and we'll reach an area of white sandstone domes, with regular patches of juniper trees (thank goodness as I'm bound to be desperate for the loo by then, the kitlist specifies toilet roll and matches to burn it with! Eww!!!). It would seem there used to be a juniper forest covering this area. We'll begin to see Bedouin encampments as we climb higher into the black mountains and will eventually reach our campsite. Thank goodness, I'll be totally knackered by then!
Day 4- Another 8 hours trekking today will take us from Faron to Um Elalda, once again covering 17kms. We stay on high ground following Bedouin donkey trails which take us over ridges and into gullies. This area is descrbed in the trek info as vast, barren, rugged and incredibly beautiful. We'll see very few Bedouin dwellings on this day as this area is sparsely populated. Occasionally we'll be able to catch a glimpse of the Shaubak castle which was built by the Crusaders and towers over this area. It was built to protect the King's highway, this desert road was used through biblical, Roman, crusader and Ottoman eras. Our night time stop will be at Um Elalda.
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| http://klh-pjo.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/day-5-mt-nebo-madaba-st-george-church.html |
Day5- Today we only have to walk for 7 hours to travel the 15kms from Um Elalda to Moeesra, so an easy day then! The terrain is similar to the day before and part way through the trek we will arrive at Beidah which is also known as Little Petra. This site is thought to have been the major 'caravanserai' or fortified resting place of the Nabataean capital. The info describes this area as an archeological wonderland, in a hidden valley, amid white domes of sandstone which will leave an ever lasting impression! After descending into this valley we continue for a further hour to reach our night's camp site.
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| http://www.navtravels.com/new/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127&catid=46&Itemid=116 |
Day 6- Today we will travel 13kms to reach Petra, entering the world heritage site from the lesser used eastern approach near to the ancient monastery.The views from this ridge are described as staggering.
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| http://gingerandscotch.com/2009/01/jordan1.html |
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| http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petra |
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| http://www.primeau-canada.com/jordan-petra.html |
We then reach the village of Wadi Musa where not only do we have a proper bed for the night but we can also visit a Turkish bath! By this point I would imagine we'll pong a bit so that sounds really attractive!!!
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| This will be us!!! |
Day 7- This is a touristy day when we can choose to revisit Petra or we can visit Wadi Rum which is another world heritage site and apparently very beautiful. That evening we get a celebration dinner in a local restaurant which includes a glass of wine!!! Woohoo!!!
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| The Seven Pilars of Wisdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Rum |
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| Nabatean Temple at Wadi Rum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Rum |
Day 8- We have to go home! We get an early morning transfer to Amman and fly back to Heathrow.
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