Desert Safari

Desert Safari - Dubai and Jordan

Summer is hot in Bangalore this year so what did we do??...decide to go to a hotter place! Yes, we planned a trip to Dubai and Jordan...having done Egypt, this virtually completes our Middle East sojourn, I guess.

Day 1 - Bangalore - Dubai

Left by the 10.30am Emirates flight to Dubai and reached Dubai at 1pm (local time - Dubai is 1 1/2 hours behind India), our car was waiting thanks to Santhanam and we were taken to the Jormand Hotel Apartments near Al Mankhool Street, which I had booked through RCI and hence got it at Rs.11,980/- for 3 nights for a triple room with breakfast. Hotel is ok, decent, location is fabulous and good eateries and supermarkets close by. We relaxed in the cool AC room that day except for a short stroll in the evening.

Day 2 - Dubai

After breakfast, left for the Palm Jumeira, had a look at the Burj Dubai and then on to the Atlantis Palm Hotel with the Aquarium called the Lost Chambers which is just amazing, the entire ambience is of an enchanted world with floor to ceiling mammoth glazing with fish and ambient lighting transports you to another world. It was well worth the entrance fee od 100AED. By this time we were hungry so tucked in and went on to Deira Dubai through the under sea tunnel, visited the largest mall - the Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa, world's tallest tower and returned to the hotel around 7pm, happy yet bushed. Ranga's classmate picked us up around 8pm and we went to his home for dinner. Parking is such a problem in Dubai that he parks his car on the road paying by the hour! Returned to the hotel past midnight.

Day 3 - Dubai

Decided to relax in the hotel as the next few days would be hectic, so barring a short trip to the supermarket to pick up some eatables, just lazed...

Day 4 - Dubai - Jordan (Amman/Jerash)

Checked out of the hotel at 5am and caught the 7.30am Emirates flight to Amman. Reached Amman at 10am (Jordan time), exchanged US $ 50 for 35 Jordanian Dinars (1JD = 0.7 USD and Rs.63.7) to pay the visa of JD 10 for each of us and got the VOA and went out where our tour rep was waiting with an exquisitely comfortable Hyundai H1 van for us. Hyundai has a huge presence in Jordan but what I could not fathom is why Hyundai found it necessary to name our Accent the Verna and vice versa there?! Went straight to Jerash which is about 60kms from Amman and had a 2 hours walking tour through the ruins of the best preserved Roman site in the world, seeing the cart ruts in the ground and the huge amphitheatre in front of you, you can practically visualise the Roman chariots thundering down with the Roman crowds shouting cheerfully, a surreal experience! The earthquake of 740AD put paid to this civilisation and tore asunder Jordan from the African continent creating the Red Sea and also taking the Jordan river partially underground. 40 deg heat does take its toll, tired and hungry we went to a local restaurant where hot Arabic Jordanian food was served with Khaboos the size of an extra large pizza, straight out of the oven and the humus, lybanna, aubergines and yogurt - all healthy and light food cooked in olive oil. Post lunch we reached our Hotel Arabela and checked in..and crashed out. Toshu had developed an ear ache so didn't go anywhere.

Day 5 - Madaba, Mount Nebo, Dead Sea

Drove down after breakfast to Madaba - the home of the Church of St.George which is the proud custodian of the Byzantine Mosaics from nearly 2000 years ago, esp the beautiful map of the old world (see left pic). The Government is giving a lot of impetus to artisans to revive this art, we visited one such factory and picked up a couple of souvenirs. Then we went to Mount Nebo, a short distance away where Moses is supposed to have breathed his last and has some fab panoramic views of Jericho and Jerusalem across the Dead Sea. Israel is barely 6kms away but millions of kms from the minds of the Arabs. After a great lunch we reached our hotel the Dead Sea Spa and Resort and the hotel room was huge, and had the breathtaking view of the Dead Sea. The dead sea at about 1500 feet below mean sea level is the lowest point on earth. Its salinity is so high that no flora or fauna are found in the waters, and also NO WAVES, which is a little unnerving. Only ripples are caused due to wind blowing over the water. You can float but can't stand or swim...a weird but awesome experience. Got out of there quickly to swim at leisure in the lovely pools of the hotel, which was full of tourists and local Arabs taking the weekend off. Check out this pic taken at night from the hotel room balcony

Day 6 - Petra

Leaving the hotel after breakfast we drove through bautiful desert scapes to the piece de resistance of the Jordanian odyssey - Petra, the ravine which was once the bustling trade route of the ancient world...where the pink sandstone stands testimony to the ancient Romans and Egyptians having a busy trade with exchanges, rest houses and treasury (the breath takingly beautiful building carved into the sandstone mountain face) all within a steep mountain ravine with rock formations which make you speechless in their natural beauty. This steep road is accessible only by foot and you can take a horse cart back at JD10 per head. Tiring yet exhilarating - an absolute must - see. Returned to the hotel Crowne Plaza, (bought a lovely book on Jordan which I shall read at leisure) - this is the closest hotel to the entrance to the Petra walk, had a late lunch by barely managing to put spoon to mouth and collapsed, woke up to a bright 7pm sun dappled evening dived into the pool and cooled off amidst awe inspiring rock face backdrop, enjoyed the cool evening breeze and lolled about! Had a lazy dinner and called it a night.

Day 7 - Wadi Rum, Aqaba and Amman

Having firmly decided not to walk another step, we took off for Wadi Rum after breakfast, the rock formations left behind by the sea changing directions after the massive earthquake of 740AD and of The Lawrence of Arabia and Indiana Jones fame, both of which were filmed here. Got into a 4x4 jeep which drove us into the heart of the Wadi with these towering cliffs on either side where we saw the etchings made by the Neolithic men, had tea or kawa in a traditional Bedouin camp and returned after testing the mettle of our sun block lotions to the hilt. Back in the AC comfort of our van, we groaned when we had to get off at the port of Aqaba, had a lovely lunch and proceeded to the only port in Jordan which borders the Red Sea and shares the waters with Saudi Arabia, Israel and Egypt and a potential flashpoint politically. The Govt. is mulling over diverting the waters of the Red Sea to the Dead Sea, which is evaporating as the Dead Sea is a major revenue earner for Jordan...any major eco repercussions, you think???! The cool sea breeze and the lovely corals under the sea and the tank graveyard form the Jordan - Israel War of 1956 soon drove the heat from our minds and we saw the looming Mount Sinai across the Sea with awe...The drive back to Amman takes close to four hours but the roads are lovely. Checked into Hotel Arabela at around 7.30pm, had a simple dinner and tried valiantly to watch some TV but the eyes had a mind of their own and off we went into zzzzzzzz land..

Day 7 Amman - Dubai - Bangalore

After breakfast went for a city tour of Amman, enjoyed the Roman amphitheatre and the Citadel and the drive around the clean, up and down city with many houses being veritable palaces, I guess they need those sizes to accomodates their huge families(!)...had lunch at "Kashmir" which serves Lebanese and Indian food, and checked out to reach the airport at 3.30pm for our Emirates flight to Dubai with a connecting flight to Bangalore, reached home the next day around 11am, IST, tired but exhilarated having traversed 1000s of years of history. Beautiful and humbling experience.

Day 8 - Home.