16th November 2002

What better place to spend my 31st birthday than Wadi Rum? With Max back in the UK for ten days, Vicky had taken custodianship of Dillon the Land Rover - the responsibility! Along with Vicky, joining us on our birthday trip were Chris and Jules, a South African couple who have lived in London for the past ten years and are now on their way home (driving a lovely, shiny new Land Rover - not that any of us are jealous!) and Rakad and Ahmed. Rakad travelled with Vicky and kept us all entertained over the CB, while Ahmed drove his own car - not a 4WD, which left me wondering just how far we would be going into the sand. I really shouldn't have worried - in Ahmed there is a rally driver fighting to get out and a bit of sand certainly wasn't going to stop him!

The evening was spent in a traditional Bedouin tent - 'bait char' - with delicious food, Sangria brewed by Vicky and a fantastic birthday cake provided by Ahmed...

The next day Ahmed and Rakad had to return to Aqaba and Richard and I took on the role of tour guides, taking the convoy off to 'Lawrences Well', close to Rum Village. This was Vicky's first real experience of desert driving and, after an initial hiccup cured by letting air out of Dillon's tyres, there was no stopping her - the huge grin said it all. Richard, Vicky and I had to return to Aqaba - an easy 1 1/2 hours down the desert route - to meet Dr Belal for supper on the beach - another delicious feast - and decided to return to Wadi Rum the following day to carry on exploring...

20th November 2002

Leaving the rock arch at Kharaz en route for the Lawrence of Arabia film set, Vicky's voice came over the CB - 'Dillon doesn't seem to have very much power...'. Richard and Jules set to work diagnosing the problem, first taking off the drivers side wheel to check the hub; although not in great shape, it wasn't the culprit. Eventually the problem was traced to the handbrake - seized on and never to work again! Catastrophe? Not really - Richard and Jules removed the problem by removing the handbrake! Simple really (sorry Max!).

Our last day in the desert was taken up with Richard, Jules and Vicky making the strenous climb to the summit of Burdah to enjoy the spectacular views from the rock arch at the top. Back in Aqaba, Chris and Jules departed for Egypt (for anyone taking the ferry from Aqaba to Nuweiba bear in mind that a sailing time of 1100 actually means anytime from then until midnight. We eventually saw the ferry slide by at 1600). Max arrived back from the UK and faced a quick turned around as it was time for him to head for home with Dillon. With the problems that the Land Rover had been experiencing, Max's decision to take the ferry from Haifa, Israel, to Greece and another across to Italy was probably wise. Missing from the vehicle was Vicky (just as well really as her space had been taken up by backgammon boards, boxes, rugs, waterpipes and the other paraphernalia collected after months of travel) who had decided to stay in Aqaba to continue diving. It was strange to see Dillon disappearing down the road for the last time and the beach seemed terribly empty without its collection of vehicles and tents. We were pleased to hear that Max made it back to the UK in 10 days, with Dillon complaining all the way but behaving for long enough to get home.

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