A visit to Aqaba would not be complete without at least a night in Wadi Rum. Unfortunately a night was all we could do, so early on Friday morning we loaded Florence up and said farewell to the wind. Richard was under strict instructions not to get stuck as I had no intention of digging Florence out of the sand and after a detour via Jebel Khazali, overlooking the desert plain used to shoot a scene in Lawrence of Arabia where the Bedu are working themselves up into a battle frenzy, we drove further south back to our favourite camping spot well off the tourist route. As the sun set we cooked our supper over an open fire and enjoyed a few hours of desert peace, watching the stars, before climbing into the tent for a good night's sleep. That is until the wind hit at about two in the morning, covering everything in a fine layer of sand and threatening to tear the tent of the roof of the car. Sigh!
The following morning Richard decided to climb the jebel close to where we were camped, armed with camera, camcorder and walkie talkie so that I could join in from my deckchair by the car, shattering his peace with my incessant chatter! A good two hour climb and some excellent photographs as a result.
All too soon we were back to the noise and wind of Aqaba and on early on the 17th we headed north for the Dead Sea and a couple of nights in a hotel to celebrate my birthday. Naturally, the moment I set foot through the door I was struck down with the flu and so followed two days of lying in bed feeling sorry for myself and steadily using up Jordan's supply of tissues. Not wanting to feel left out Richard was caught by the same lurgy - I can think of worse places to be ill but I have now learnt that if I want to stay healthy I should avoid smart hotels at all costs. Determined not to miss out on a float in the Dead Sea I staggered down to the beach on day three and did a very good impression of a stranded elephant seal!
November 20th - off to Damascus. It should have been an easy two hour run to the border, but unfortunately we managed to get tangled up in the Amman road system - probably my fault! We eventually arrived at the border at sunset, just as everyone was racing off to eat. Not a bad time to arrive actually, as people were far to preoccupied with food to bother with silly things like customs checks! First, however, Richard had to sort out a strange rattling noise that had developed in the engine. Overalls on and under the car to investigate - it turned out the noise was coming from a bolt that had worked itself loose. In Helen's non-technical speak, this bolt seems to hold important things like pulleys and belts in place and if it falls out then the engine goes bang and we have a rather large problem on our hands! Not quite sure why it would have worked itself loose, just Florence being stroppy, and we hope the problem is now fixed!
Arrived in Damascus a couple of hours later and plunged headlong into the traffic chaos. You have the feeling of being totally out of control, swept along in completely the opposite direction to the one you want to be heading in. Tempting fate, we had opted for a hotel rather than the campsite - what would it be this time, typhoid? malaria? - and although we were heading in the right direction actually getting to our destination was going to prove to be difficult... that is until a particularly smashed looking taxi pulled alongside and its driver offered to guide us. Hardly time to adopt the stiff upper lip, I'll find it eventually approach - several narrowly missed accidents, half a dozen side roads and a high speed drive the wrong way down a one way street later and we arrived at the Meridien. And all the taxi driver wanted for his efforts was $1. What a bargain!
In addition to some serious shopping in the souq (yet more rugs and backgammon boards) we cunningly managed to time our stay in Damascus with the Rugby World Cup final, watched on some obscure French satellite channel with many 'oh la la's' and 'Mon Dieus' to add to the fun!
24th of November - onwards to Turkey...
