Jordan - a very good trip, more or less
Apr 2nd, 2013, 04:17 AM
#41
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Grassshopper – you should enjoy today’s story. Okay Thursdaysd - Dehli and ? Dgunbug my wife woke up this morning unable to walk. She hurt her back. That would make a trip very difficult. Good luck.
I really should treat today’s report as I would a report for work. Write two or three drafts to ensure I say what I want to say. But no time to do that so I’ll just type and see what comes out. Day 2 in the desert generated a whole bunch of thoughts still unsorted today – on planning, communications, safety, parenting and especially technology and its effect on travel. When I first contacted our desert camp, I discussed by email with Mehedi that we were not looking to hike up steep rocks. I said this because it appeared from his website that a couple of the listed hikes involved scrambling, which essentially means you need to use your hands now and then to climb. This guy is very good. He immediately emailed back with a suggestion to hike up Um Ad Dami, at more than 1,800 metres the highest peak in Jordan. He said “according to your ability climbing to the summit and back to the desert floor takes approximately two - three hours. You can see the border to Saudi Arabia from the top. After which you can relax and enjoy some lunch. After lunch you will drive to the foot of Jebel Haash. Jebel Haash is not as steep as Um Ad Dami or as high, but many people argue the view is more beautiful.”
I suspected even before the trip that my wife in particular would not reach the top. She could do it – she did the Inca Trail last year – but unlike the rest of the family she feels no need to reach summits, prove something, brag for the rest of her life etc. And she would be more than willing to stop half way up the hike and relax.
I had started to worry the day before when we saw what “hiking trail” meant to the Bedouin (not a real trail, just the easiest way through the rocks) that we might have trouble on Day 2. We headed out from camp at 7:30 in our 4x4 on a fairly long drive through the desert. We were going south almost to the Saudi border. As the mountain approached our doubts only increased. Yikes, that is one large rock. We’re climbing that?
Our guide (can’t remember his name) was an expert climber. He parked the car, pointed generally to our “route” and started leading the way. Well within 5 minutes it was clear there was going to be a lot of scrambling involved. We picked our way through rocks and then started clawing our way up a rock face. I told him right away this did not look good. Worse I could see up ahead that there were some ledges with 30 foot drops. So this was not just going to be about my wife and her climbing, it was going to be about my dislike of heights (see Inca Trail trip report). Long story short, we told him almost immediately that we were turning around. He told us that there were only a couple of difficult sections at the start and that it would get easier. No thanks. We’ve seen enough. But what to do with the teenagers?
The youngest boy lives for this stuff. He loves climbing. The other two are fine with it. They all wanted to keep going. So, off they went. And if something happened to them we could spend the rest of our lives regretting the decision. My wife and I went back to the car where we had an unobstructed view of the mountain. A few minutes later we could see the four of them waving and yelling at us from what looked like the edge of a cliff. About an hour later we heard someone screaming. I knew it was the yell of a boy who was celebrating reaching the top of something. My wife thought it was someone falling. She walked about 100 feet away from the car and got sick. This was definitely the worst three hours of her life. We heard later that our daughter immediately yelled at our son at shut the f up. She knew if Mom heard that scream that she would think the worst.
An hour and a bit later they all returned. There had been a couple of dangerous spots but the two older kids reported that most of the trip had been fine. Just a little rough underfoot. We were a little upset with the guide as he had taken off in the lead with our younger son. Occasionally the older two did not know where to go as the guide and younger son were too far ahead. Overall though we had three teenagers ecstatic to have reached the summit and two parents acting like two parents. It made for a slightly tense lunch. It became clearer though our three days there that many expert climbers and hikers come to Wadi Rum. Mehedi had thought he had dumbed down our proposed hike to a very simple level. But back home we would not even call this a hike. It was more of a rock climb/scramble. So no one was entirely to blame. I should have done more research about hiking in the area. He should have read my email more closely.
Fortunately, the afternoon was mostly spent laughing …
I really should treat today’s report as I would a report for work. Write two or three drafts to ensure I say what I want to say. But no time to do that so I’ll just type and see what comes out. Day 2 in the desert generated a whole bunch of thoughts still unsorted today – on planning, communications, safety, parenting and especially technology and its effect on travel. When I first contacted our desert camp, I discussed by email with Mehedi that we were not looking to hike up steep rocks. I said this because it appeared from his website that a couple of the listed hikes involved scrambling, which essentially means you need to use your hands now and then to climb. This guy is very good. He immediately emailed back with a suggestion to hike up Um Ad Dami, at more than 1,800 metres the highest peak in Jordan. He said “according to your ability climbing to the summit and back to the desert floor takes approximately two - three hours. You can see the border to Saudi Arabia from the top. After which you can relax and enjoy some lunch. After lunch you will drive to the foot of Jebel Haash. Jebel Haash is not as steep as Um Ad Dami or as high, but many people argue the view is more beautiful.”
I suspected even before the trip that my wife in particular would not reach the top. She could do it – she did the Inca Trail last year – but unlike the rest of the family she feels no need to reach summits, prove something, brag for the rest of her life etc. And she would be more than willing to stop half way up the hike and relax.
I had started to worry the day before when we saw what “hiking trail” meant to the Bedouin (not a real trail, just the easiest way through the rocks) that we might have trouble on Day 2. We headed out from camp at 7:30 in our 4x4 on a fairly long drive through the desert. We were going south almost to the Saudi border. As the mountain approached our doubts only increased. Yikes, that is one large rock. We’re climbing that?
Our guide (can’t remember his name) was an expert climber. He parked the car, pointed generally to our “route” and started leading the way. Well within 5 minutes it was clear there was going to be a lot of scrambling involved. We picked our way through rocks and then started clawing our way up a rock face. I told him right away this did not look good. Worse I could see up ahead that there were some ledges with 30 foot drops. So this was not just going to be about my wife and her climbing, it was going to be about my dislike of heights (see Inca Trail trip report). Long story short, we told him almost immediately that we were turning around. He told us that there were only a couple of difficult sections at the start and that it would get easier. No thanks. We’ve seen enough. But what to do with the teenagers?
The youngest boy lives for this stuff. He loves climbing. The other two are fine with it. They all wanted to keep going. So, off they went. And if something happened to them we could spend the rest of our lives regretting the decision. My wife and I went back to the car where we had an unobstructed view of the mountain. A few minutes later we could see the four of them waving and yelling at us from what looked like the edge of a cliff. About an hour later we heard someone screaming. I knew it was the yell of a boy who was celebrating reaching the top of something. My wife thought it was someone falling. She walked about 100 feet away from the car and got sick. This was definitely the worst three hours of her life. We heard later that our daughter immediately yelled at our son at shut the f up. She knew if Mom heard that scream that she would think the worst.
An hour and a bit later they all returned. There had been a couple of dangerous spots but the two older kids reported that most of the trip had been fine. Just a little rough underfoot. We were a little upset with the guide as he had taken off in the lead with our younger son. Occasionally the older two did not know where to go as the guide and younger son were too far ahead. Overall though we had three teenagers ecstatic to have reached the summit and two parents acting like two parents. It made for a slightly tense lunch. It became clearer though our three days there that many expert climbers and hikers come to Wadi Rum. Mehedi had thought he had dumbed down our proposed hike to a very simple level. But back home we would not even call this a hike. It was more of a rock climb/scramble. So no one was entirely to blame. I should have done more research about hiking in the area. He should have read my email more closely.
Fortunately, the afternoon was mostly spent laughing …
Apr 2nd, 2013, 04:35 AM
#42
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I had to just paper-towel off my hands -- sweating from reading about cliff edges. Ugh. Not a fan of heights either. Interesting how hike vs. climb gets interpreted. I'm glad all ended well that day.
Apr 2nd, 2013, 05:47 AM
#43
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i really love the place Petra. its kinda under estimated spot by the tourism industry should be promote more for the travel lover or even by the travel lovers so that others could also see that its not just the europe that needs all attentions for the history lovers
Apr 2nd, 2013, 06:31 AM
#46
"So no one was entirely to blame. I should have done more research about hiking in the area. He should have read my email more closely"
_____________________________________________
I think you're being very gracious - he also should have observed the first day's hike and realized Day 2 wasn't appropriate for everyone.
_____________________________________________
I think you're being very gracious - he also should have observed the first day's hike and realized Day 2 wasn't appropriate for everyone.
Apr 2nd, 2013, 06:48 AM
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Part of the reason I am being somewhat forgiving is because I am the person who keeps planning these knee knockers. There is a pattern of questionable judgement a judge would probably take into account if this was a trial.
In the summer we are going here (this will have to be one of our last trips - the money is almost gone). I get a little queasy thinking about it. My wife will be fine with these two if the boys stay away from the edge. We may need those leashes you use with toddlers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolltunga
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preikestolen
In the summer we are going here (this will have to be one of our last trips - the money is almost gone). I get a little queasy thinking about it. My wife will be fine with these two if the boys stay away from the edge. We may need those leashes you use with toddlers:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolltunga
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preikestolen
Apr 2nd, 2013, 07:44 AM
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Yikes, as a parent, the story gives me shivers and I feel for your wife! I'm glad all ended well and I know how rocky those hikes are(and I'm not a fan either of rock climbing type hikes) and only climbed the dunes myself. The guide should have adjusted the plans accordingly...but you definitely had an adventure!
Apr 2nd, 2013, 12:55 PM
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I'm really enjoying your report Cold, I love your sense of humor.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your report, but I'm DYING to know what happened to the family driving from London to South Africa. By any chance did they say they're blogging about it? Maybe you can email her and beg her to write a trip report for Fodors.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your report, but I'm DYING to know what happened to the family driving from London to South Africa. By any chance did they say they're blogging about it? Maybe you can email her and beg her to write a trip report for Fodors.
Apr 2nd, 2013, 04:29 PM
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Hello Stevedatraveler – good point about Petra. And of course there is wonderful history in many places. I guess a lot of people feel more comfortable travelling to Europe. Good news Bniemand. Although I seem to have lost her card, through some clever googling (“England, Jordon, South Africa”) I have located their blog. I am asking her if she minds if I post her blog address. Of course she won’t but I am more comfortable asking.
So after our stressful morning our guide made us another good lunch as we sat on a blanket in the shade. The only problem with these lunches was the flies. One would hope that in the middle of nowhere the flies would have decided to move to greener pastures. But nope. Take out a piece of bread and hello flies.
As we finished lunch we spotted a roving band of camels. Off in the distance at least a couple of miles we could see the owner but basically these camels were on their own for the day. Our guide called them over and started feeding them some leftover food. I guess they thought we all had food as all sixteen of them approached us looking for more. I wouldn’t say we were comfortable with 16 camels coming to within a foot or two of us. They are rather large and a couple of them were in bad moods. But no harm done.
I had told our guide over lunch that we would not be attempting to climb the second mountain. That was fine with the teenagers as the morning climb had been tiring enough. But what to do? We agreed that he would drive us to a canyon that we could walk through and meet him on the other side. We could also do a little climbing if we wanted to. It was now early afternoon and getting pretty hot. He dropped us off at one end of quite a beautiful canyon and told us it would take about 90 minutes to walk through it. He said he would wait at the other end. I pressed him as to whether there was more than one way to go as we exited the canyon. In other words was there any chance we would miss him? Not a chance he said.
So off we went through a very scenic canyon. But it was quite hot and the sand was deep. This wasn’t an easy walk. We ran into three hikers coming the other way - two more French tourists and their guide. They were going to sleep in the canyon overnight. Precisely on ninety minutes we came to the end of the canyon. In front of us was a scene right out of an old western movie. The desert stretched for miles in front of us. We could see a Bedouin camp perhaps 3-4 miles to our right. What we couldn’t see was our guide. Well he must be out here somewhere we thought. It’s not like he decided to go for a beer.
There was a natural flow to the land that suggested straight ahead was our best option but it wasn’t clear cut. After 20 minutes still no guide. This was getting irritating. My wife then spotted a 4x4 off to our left. It wasn’t our 4x4 but it was still our best option. As we approached we could see our 4x4 parked nearby, hidden under a cliff. And there was our guide under the 4x4. Hmmm. I suppose I could have asked what he was doing under the truck but instead I gave him shiit for not being where he should have been. His first answer was that he could see the entire valley and would have seen us eventually. But then he realized that we weren’t happy so he switched to a softer tone. He would have met us but the 4X4 had become stuck on a bush. One zillion acres of sand and our 4x4 had become stuck on a bush.
In fact the story made some sense. He had tried to find a spot to wait for us but in doing so had accidentally driven over a bush while backing into his parking spot. I am betting they don’t practice parallel parking too often in the desert and it showed. As he had attempted to drive off the bush the wheels only dug further into the sand. This actually was pretty funny as the day before he had told us that the only people who got stuck in the sand were Europeans driving their own vehicles. Revenge of the Europeans. He had dug a trench under the vehicle and placed a large rock under it. On the rock was his car jack that he was hoping would raise the wheels out of the sand. This was not working. Fortunately another fellow working for a different company had spotted our dilemma and had come over. But none of his ideas worked either. He took a turn at the wheel and revved the engine. No luck. Well worse that no luck as I will detail in a minute.
Being experts at pushing cars out of snow banks we convinced our guide to dig the sand out from behind the rear wheels. The two boys and I would then push from the front. This was actually a little dangerous as we had to get the vehicle rocking back and forth pretty severely. And if the vehicle rolled too far forward we wouldn’t be able to get out of the way. But welcome to driving cars in northern winters. We do it all the time here. And it worked. Cheers all around.
So I mentioned technology above. At this point my wife pulled out her camera. Her three heroes were knee deep in sand in front of the extracted vehicle. Time for a picture. The man from the other company saw her with her camera, gave her a very stern look and said “just for you”. Yes, yes, just for us, of course, click click. The guy was worried about the Internet, and pictures, and bad reviews. It remains a paradox to us three weeks later. The Internet lets us come up with the idea of a Bedouin vacation. It allows us to review various operations. It allows us to ask questions and make a reservation. But goldarnit it’s still supposed to be a visit to a secluded desert with a mysterious Bedouin tribe member dressed all in black. Not a tripadvisor reader. As I said somewhere else, when you realize your Bedouin guide is reading Fodors at night, it kills the buzz a little bit.
We got back in the car and started the rest of the drive back to the camp. But we noticed immediately from our perch at the back that every few minutes the 4x4 would lurch to the left. This is not as serious a problem in the desert as it would be say in Manhattan. But still it was causing the odd problem, such as someone flying off their seat every few minutes. Then our guide began stopping the vehicle every few minutes, opening the hood and playing with something. Then he would start driving again, lurch to the left, open the hood … repeat repeat. Finally I said to him (again we are sitting on the open back of what looks like a pickup truck) “are you having a problem?” We’re all laughing at the question as it is very obvious something is a problem. If it got any worse we would be driving in very small left hand circles until we ran out of gas.
So our guide, who I repeat we like, comes back and says that when his buddy from the other company was trying to help get the 4x4 out of the sand, he had turned the wheel too hard and broken a steering cable. So he was continually having to rewind it in place so we could get another few hundred yards of left hand turns out of it. I mean, it really was funny. We knew we would get back to camp one way or another so it was time to enjoy how crazy this all was.
As relaxed as we were, we were still somewhat surprised when our guide suggested we stop and watch the sunset. One might think if one was having trouble with a car in the desert that one might keep driving so as not to get stuck in the dark. We mentioned this to our guide but he assured us that the camp was nearby and the 4x4 would get us there. And the sunset was beautiful. But two minutes into the final drive to the camp the steering cable gave up the ghost entirely. There was no fixing it. The steering wheel was spinning in circles as free a bird. At this point one of the boys, after giving assurances to our guide that all videos would be for personal use only (we didn’t owe anyone any promises but we are not video posters), spun the steering wheel and got a good 20 second video clip of it going round and round and round. It truly was hilarious. With that we walked the final half mile or so to our camp.
So after our stressful morning our guide made us another good lunch as we sat on a blanket in the shade. The only problem with these lunches was the flies. One would hope that in the middle of nowhere the flies would have decided to move to greener pastures. But nope. Take out a piece of bread and hello flies.
As we finished lunch we spotted a roving band of camels. Off in the distance at least a couple of miles we could see the owner but basically these camels were on their own for the day. Our guide called them over and started feeding them some leftover food. I guess they thought we all had food as all sixteen of them approached us looking for more. I wouldn’t say we were comfortable with 16 camels coming to within a foot or two of us. They are rather large and a couple of them were in bad moods. But no harm done.
I had told our guide over lunch that we would not be attempting to climb the second mountain. That was fine with the teenagers as the morning climb had been tiring enough. But what to do? We agreed that he would drive us to a canyon that we could walk through and meet him on the other side. We could also do a little climbing if we wanted to. It was now early afternoon and getting pretty hot. He dropped us off at one end of quite a beautiful canyon and told us it would take about 90 minutes to walk through it. He said he would wait at the other end. I pressed him as to whether there was more than one way to go as we exited the canyon. In other words was there any chance we would miss him? Not a chance he said.
So off we went through a very scenic canyon. But it was quite hot and the sand was deep. This wasn’t an easy walk. We ran into three hikers coming the other way - two more French tourists and their guide. They were going to sleep in the canyon overnight. Precisely on ninety minutes we came to the end of the canyon. In front of us was a scene right out of an old western movie. The desert stretched for miles in front of us. We could see a Bedouin camp perhaps 3-4 miles to our right. What we couldn’t see was our guide. Well he must be out here somewhere we thought. It’s not like he decided to go for a beer.
There was a natural flow to the land that suggested straight ahead was our best option but it wasn’t clear cut. After 20 minutes still no guide. This was getting irritating. My wife then spotted a 4x4 off to our left. It wasn’t our 4x4 but it was still our best option. As we approached we could see our 4x4 parked nearby, hidden under a cliff. And there was our guide under the 4x4. Hmmm. I suppose I could have asked what he was doing under the truck but instead I gave him shiit for not being where he should have been. His first answer was that he could see the entire valley and would have seen us eventually. But then he realized that we weren’t happy so he switched to a softer tone. He would have met us but the 4X4 had become stuck on a bush. One zillion acres of sand and our 4x4 had become stuck on a bush.
In fact the story made some sense. He had tried to find a spot to wait for us but in doing so had accidentally driven over a bush while backing into his parking spot. I am betting they don’t practice parallel parking too often in the desert and it showed. As he had attempted to drive off the bush the wheels only dug further into the sand. This actually was pretty funny as the day before he had told us that the only people who got stuck in the sand were Europeans driving their own vehicles. Revenge of the Europeans. He had dug a trench under the vehicle and placed a large rock under it. On the rock was his car jack that he was hoping would raise the wheels out of the sand. This was not working. Fortunately another fellow working for a different company had spotted our dilemma and had come over. But none of his ideas worked either. He took a turn at the wheel and revved the engine. No luck. Well worse that no luck as I will detail in a minute.
Being experts at pushing cars out of snow banks we convinced our guide to dig the sand out from behind the rear wheels. The two boys and I would then push from the front. This was actually a little dangerous as we had to get the vehicle rocking back and forth pretty severely. And if the vehicle rolled too far forward we wouldn’t be able to get out of the way. But welcome to driving cars in northern winters. We do it all the time here. And it worked. Cheers all around.
So I mentioned technology above. At this point my wife pulled out her camera. Her three heroes were knee deep in sand in front of the extracted vehicle. Time for a picture. The man from the other company saw her with her camera, gave her a very stern look and said “just for you”. Yes, yes, just for us, of course, click click. The guy was worried about the Internet, and pictures, and bad reviews. It remains a paradox to us three weeks later. The Internet lets us come up with the idea of a Bedouin vacation. It allows us to review various operations. It allows us to ask questions and make a reservation. But goldarnit it’s still supposed to be a visit to a secluded desert with a mysterious Bedouin tribe member dressed all in black. Not a tripadvisor reader. As I said somewhere else, when you realize your Bedouin guide is reading Fodors at night, it kills the buzz a little bit.
We got back in the car and started the rest of the drive back to the camp. But we noticed immediately from our perch at the back that every few minutes the 4x4 would lurch to the left. This is not as serious a problem in the desert as it would be say in Manhattan. But still it was causing the odd problem, such as someone flying off their seat every few minutes. Then our guide began stopping the vehicle every few minutes, opening the hood and playing with something. Then he would start driving again, lurch to the left, open the hood … repeat repeat. Finally I said to him (again we are sitting on the open back of what looks like a pickup truck) “are you having a problem?” We’re all laughing at the question as it is very obvious something is a problem. If it got any worse we would be driving in very small left hand circles until we ran out of gas.
So our guide, who I repeat we like, comes back and says that when his buddy from the other company was trying to help get the 4x4 out of the sand, he had turned the wheel too hard and broken a steering cable. So he was continually having to rewind it in place so we could get another few hundred yards of left hand turns out of it. I mean, it really was funny. We knew we would get back to camp one way or another so it was time to enjoy how crazy this all was.
As relaxed as we were, we were still somewhat surprised when our guide suggested we stop and watch the sunset. One might think if one was having trouble with a car in the desert that one might keep driving so as not to get stuck in the dark. We mentioned this to our guide but he assured us that the camp was nearby and the 4x4 would get us there. And the sunset was beautiful. But two minutes into the final drive to the camp the steering cable gave up the ghost entirely. There was no fixing it. The steering wheel was spinning in circles as free a bird. At this point one of the boys, after giving assurances to our guide that all videos would be for personal use only (we didn’t owe anyone any promises but we are not video posters), spun the steering wheel and got a good 20 second video clip of it going round and round and round. It truly was hilarious. With that we walked the final half mile or so to our camp.
Apr 3rd, 2013, 04:40 AM
#54
Great story!
“Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
“Now it is a strange thing, but things that are good to have and days that are good to spend are soon told about, and not much to listen to; while things that are uncomfortable, palpitating, and even gruesome, may make a good tale, and take a deal of telling anyway.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit
Apr 3rd, 2013, 05:33 AM
#56
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Yes great quote FD. Primarily because of what I do for a living but also because I knew I would be writing this report, I was thinking at the time geez no one is going to believe this happened. If it were just the two adults we would have been a bit more irritated. But especially with two boys, climbing a mountain and then spinning circles in the desert on a 4x4? It doesn't get much better than that.
Now, how to make the last three days sound even the least bit interesting. This could take me awhile.
Now, how to make the last three days sound even the least bit interesting. This could take me awhile.
Apr 3rd, 2013, 06:17 AM
#57
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What a story! I'm enjoying reading along. We leave for Israel tomorrow morning and hope to visit Petra. We are planning on just an overnight stay there as time is limited and our physical abilities to climb are hampered by my husband's recent torn miniscus and my even more recent back problems. Ugh. Not planning on any of the hiking experiences you mention!
Apr 3rd, 2013, 10:43 AM
#59
Back on India... It occurs to me that I would be remiss if I didn't point you to this thread:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...d-in-india.cfm
Much as I find India fascinating, I am having serious second thoughts about traveling on my own again.
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...d-in-india.cfm
Much as I find India fascinating, I am having serious second thoughts about traveling on my own again.
