Saturday, October 2, 2010

Wadi Rum, Aqaba, and Petra!

This weekend I went on an adventure.

First, we went to Wadi Rum and rode camels through the desert for three hours. It was one of the coolest looking places I've ever seen, and camels are funny creatures.
My friend Alex on a camel, while the baby camel stayed close by (it was cute).

Me, Zan, Emma, and McCahey on camels. We were attached to each other. I was the caboose.

Me next to Hashan, my camel.

Wadi Rum! The sun was setting as we headed towards our camp.

Again, my friends and I.

THEN, we got off the camels and walked to a Bedouin touristy camp where we slept over night. Those are the sleeping tents.

The next morning we got into four wheeler trucks, sitting on seats in the truck bed, and had a very bumpy and semi-painful 3 hour ride through the desert (over sand, rocks, etc.).

Then, we went to Aqaba, the only port city of Amman, located in the south on the Red Sea. We got a boat.

Boat.


The sun setting over Israel (which was also touching the Red Sea, as were Saudi Arabia and Egypt)

Casual camel walking down the street in Aqaba, taken from the bus.

We stayed the night at another Bedouin camp, then went to PETRA (one of the 7 wonders of the world). This is the treasury.

Camel drinking water.

More Petra, it was very very beautiful and cool (and hot).

The Monastery, which required a climb up a mountain with 850 ancient-man-made steps.


That's all! I had an amazing weekend, except I felt sick during it and I got destroyed by bugs and dust and sweat. It was all worth it, though. Last night I was sleeping in the tent when I started to feel all tingly, like bugs were nibbling on my legs, but I brushed it off as those weird tickly things that sometimes make you feel like bugs are on you, and then tonight when I showered I discovered hundreds of mini red spots on my legs that hurt (nibbles). The food was also difficult, and I definitely got a mild case of food poisoning on the second day, thus the sick feeling. That's okay though! It was crazy. A young Bedouin man asked me as I walked by "you want a cat, baby?" which was the dumbest/weirdest pickup line I've ever heard (stray cats are all over Petra, too, so he was definitely referring to a cat).

2 comments:

  1. Great pictures. Camel drinking water is my favorite. Best caption: "Boat."
    Wish we were there. We like cats.

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  2. Hey -
    I just found your trip online and it is almost the exact route that I'll be taking with my father in a month. We'll be coming through Eilat to Aqaba and then I want to do the whole desert thing up to Petra.
    Would you recommend any of your guides or tours you used?
    Thanks!
    J

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