Stone Caves

Hardship in the Desert

We had lunch and shopped at this woman's place. She is a widow with four kids and numerous relatives she supports. I ate and shopped and we exchanged cheap jewlery. I gave her my 25 cent bamboo bracelet from Cambodia and she gave me a 50 cent white lucite ring with red chili peppers painted on it, which I now wear proudly.

More Music - More Tea

As the evening wore on we found ourselves at the club house of a local hotel where Tammer and an impromptu band played for most of the evening. The floor is sand that is covered with rugs, except for a place for an open fire in the middle of the room. There is a hole in the roof for the smoke but it didn't draft well. Everything had an eerie glow to it while the band played traditional Bedouin music. It was an amazing evening and much tea was consumed.

Crashing the Batchelor Party

Tammer was scheduled to play at a bachelor party the evening we were visiting, so he dragged us all along. Just as it is in Laos, it is supposed to bring good luck if a stranger comes to your wedding. The couple should have a great life because Tammer brought all 3 of us.

Desert Snow

It does look like snow except that it's 110 degrees F.

Tea Time in the White Desert

Western Desert Landscape

Desert Dining

Adel, Tammer and moi enjoying wondrous desert cooking. (and more tea).

Bedouin Julia Childs

One evening we had a 7 course meal (and tea) cooked on this single fire. It was the best food I've had on the entire trip.

Tea Time in the Oasis

At least 6 times a day, it's time to stop everything for tea. You throw down a rug, start a fire and brew a pot, which you share with anyone who happens to be there. To my right in the picture is my guide Adel and to my left is driver extraordinaire Heesham. Tourists cannot legally travel through the western desert alone and they kept me safe and informed. In the 4 day trip there were at least 20 border stops where an army official had to see all our papers and hear an explanation of what we were doing there. Some of the border stops were out in the desert 100 miles from anything and I think the guards were just happy to talk to anyone. There was always a lot of chatting in Arabic and then everyone would look at me and then more chatting in Arabic and more looks at me. Depending on the isolation of the post - this would take a while.

Desert Cruising in the Egyptian Western Desert

Part of the tour through the western desert is riding in a jeep that the driver treats like a skateboard - riding up and over the rims of giant sand bowls at top speeds. Then there is the high speed turn and skid through the sand....
A quick apology here for the arabic message in my last blog entry. I was trying to email an update from Luxor and it must have gone through the Arabic blogspot. Whatever technology happened, the message was translating by itself into Arabic as I wrote it in English. It's an amazing invention, but I had no way of turning it off.

फिनाल्ली - अबू सिम्बल

वहत अ हूट! थिस इस ट्रांस्लातिंग माय कमेंट्स इन्तो अरबिक। कैन'टी वेट तो सी इफ आईटी कोमेस ओऊ थिस वे ओं माय ब्लॉग इन थे उस।
हैप्पी ट्रेल्स

Bedouin Prince of the Baharia Oasis

Ok, he's not really a prince, but in the community of the Baharia Oasis, Tammer is a very influential man and I'm betting that one day he will be their leader. I was fortunate to be invited to dinner at his house, to hear him play flutes that he created himself, to crash a wedding party, and to go to a club where he and friends played amazing Bedouin music for much of the night.It was an unforgetable day and one that I don't think you will find in any of the travel guides. I learned firsthand that Bedouin hospitality is both magical and real.
Stay tuned for picures of all of the above plus pictures of other desert adventures.
As for now, I'm getting looks from the staff of the Winter Palace in Luxor where I am "borrowing" wifi to send this to you.
More when I get back to Cairo in 2 weeks.
Stay warm if you are in any of the snowy or cold areas.

Bedouin Owner's of Egypt's Western Desert

Prior to this trip I had no idea that the Bedouins literally own the desert. I've read about them being the traveling nomads throughout the middle eastern deserts, but when you travel the one desert highway south through Egypt, each of the five oasis towns belong to Bedouin families. When you stay in a hotel in the oasis, you are enjoying a part of the centuries of desert hospitality that is part of the Bedouin code.
This was written on one of the hotel walls -
"A guest is always welcome. The nomad believe any guest is a guest of God who is warmly welcomed as being brought by God....to be nice to this guest is to honor God."

Egypt's Western Desert-Journey's End

The distance between Cairo in the north, following the Nile south to Luxor, is about 500 miles. If you take the long way through the one road traveling through the western desert, it's almost 1,000 miles.
After 4 days and lots of yellow, white and black sand, I've arrived in Luxor - a large tourist town, known for it's 4000 year old tombs of the ancient Kings and Queens. It does not however, have a lot of WiFi, so I'm sitting in the lobby of the Winter Palace, the most exclusive place in town. This is where heads of countries stay when they are in town. It may have the only wifi in the city, so I'm sitting here, trying to look like the other tourists waiting to check in. I forgot that it is one of the few places with a dress code and I'm sitting here in jeans.

Heading for the Egytian Desert

A quick note before getting some sleep. I'm in Cairo for one night and then off on a drive south through the deserts of Egypt and then the ceremony at Abu Simbel, until Feb 25 when I fly to South Africa. I'm guessing there is little or no cell phone or internet access until then - so more pictures and comments once I get to Johannesburg, South Africa. It has been a great trip to Amman Jorden. In short Amman and the trip south to Petra was one of the best trips I've taken. Damascus Syria was interesting and sadly, Jerusalem, Israel was disappointing. More later.
A final note - thanks to Sandy, Adrian, and Nancy for reminding me that it is the St. John's River in Jacksonville that along with the Nile in Egypt, are the only 2 rivers in the world that run south to north. Please keep helping me correct any errors. Salam (peace) from Ramblin me

The Oldest Bar in the World

It's true irony that the Cave Bar, the oldest bar in the world, is in Jordan, an Islaamic country in which alcohol is forbidden. People have been drinking here in the cave for over 2000 years. I was fortunate to get these pictures yesterday because today it's SNOWING and I may never have a chance to hoist one at the oldest bar in the world. There is also the small issue of roads being closed, so I'm beginning to worry about getting back to Amman to make my flight to Cairo. I'll just worry about that tomorrow......

Petra Magic

One of the locals told me - "all of the other Gulf countries have petrol, we have Petra." Petra is the monument that draws people to Jordan, but Wadi Musa is the small town (16,000 people) that hosts all the visitors to Petra. The town is at the top of a hill and it is a major hike down and up the hill to visit the site.

Petra as Community

The name Petra, for many, is associated with the Treasury building, carved out of the red sandstone mountain - just as you see it in the Indianna Jones movie. It is actually an entire community, also carved out of the sandstone rockface. The photo is of an ampitheatre, but there are also caves used for homes, caves used for tombs, and also an indentation that runs through the entire community that brings fresh water through the community.

Your Camel is Waiting.

You can take any combination of camel ride, horse and buggy ride, horseback ride, or mule ride to see Petra, but after being there, I highly recommend going through Petra on foot. If you must, take a cab to get to the visitor's entrance, but any of the ride choices through Petra takes away from the experience of seeing this extraordinary place for the first time. Part of the impact is the slow reveal and catching that first glimpse of the Treasury through a small crack in the passageway. It's one of those moments.

Petra Restaurant/ Gift Shp

While you are traveling through the passageways of Petra, you find a small rest stop run by Bedouins where you can buy overpriced trinkets or something to drink. The spot is so remote that I was amazed to see the cats resting along with the tourists.

The Last Crusade

If you saw the movie "Indianna Jones and the Last Crusade" you saw Harrison Ford galloping on a horse through the Petra passageways of sandstone rock. During the summer the movie is shown throughout the town of Wadi Musa until everyone is sick of it.
I was lucky on the day I visited. I had the place almost to myself, but as I was leaving I passed massive tour groups making there way in. This is off-season for Petra so I can't imagine dealing with the crowds in the narrow passageways during peak season.

The Petra Moment

There are times in our lives when we come across something that is so remarkable - we know that we will carry the memory of that first sight forever. The Grand Canyon was like that for me - and now Petra.

Petra: Master of the Slow Reveal

You have to walk almost half a mile between sandstone cliffs before you see the golden light and faint outline of a carved temple ahead of you.

Petra Treasury, Wadi Musa, Jorden

The entire Petra area was carved out of the sandstone cliffs by the Nabateans, a pre-Roman group of Arabs who contolled the frankincense trade. It remained hidden for 100s of years until a Swiss explorer named Burckhardt, disquised as an arab, accidently discovered it in 1812. He was also the explorer who discovered Abu Simbel, the Egyptian temple that I hope to visit on Feb 21.

The Petra Treasury