Freedom in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Trip Start
Jun 21, 2008
1
9
23
Trip End
Jul 24, 2008
Aqaba,
Jordan
Thursday, July 3, 2008
After leaving Dahab I was driven to a Bedouin tent to meet Hamdi's relatives (he's Bedouin). I thought I'd be a great way to learn about their culture, but not having it be this touristy dinner with a souvenir shop out the door. It was a blast! His friends were pretty cool dudes and we just sat around in their tent smoking shisha and drinking Bedouin tea until 1am, at which time I was taken to St. Katherine to climb Mt. Sinai. Mt. Sinai is the mountain which Moses ascended and received the Ten Commandments.. The hike is rather extensive... 4 hours up, 3 hours down - at least 4,000 feet elevation gain. I climbed with a group of Columbians who were incredibly sweet
Nick shooting at sunset
. There were many older woman in the group... which was the source of some issues later on. Basically, the hike was amazing but once again, an Egyptian male/guide completely ruined the trip. It was Hamdi's friend, who was like a slave driver. He wouldn't let the women stop, got pissed off when one of the Columbians wanted to take a camel up, and basically ruined the entire experience. There was something almost magical about this mountain, and making the ascent in time for sunrise was something I've never done. I've never hiked all through the night. At the top the stupid guide Josiph told us to go up for 5 min, come back down, and watch the sunrise from the coffeeshop. I had trucked my tripod up the whole hike and basically refused, I watched the sunrise from the top and it was beautiful. :) When I came down, not only was my group not in sight, but apparently Josiph fell asleep. I didn't know this, basically ran down the mtn so they wouldn't leave w/o me, and half way down I hear this voice farrrr off in the distance yelling- "AMERICAN!!" I look around 1/2 km up, Josiph is waving wildly and hauls ass down the mtn to catch up with me. While I thought he'd be mad, he really didn't seem to care. He was nice to me (too nice..), but I didn't give a crap since he was so rude to everyone else. The whole experience had such potential to be something really special and unique, but surprise surprise- my guide ruined the entire trip. None of us paid him and of course I reported back to Hamdi. After Mt
Joe can't take anymore. Jordan
. Sinai I we went directly to Nuweiba. None of us spoke the entire van ride. I was so angry and upset, Hamdi was pissed because I was obviously having a bad time, and all I wanted was to get out of there. I was also scared shitless about the next part of the trip, all on my own. Once he dropped me off at the Nuweiba port (to catch the ferry to Jordan), I felt incredibly alone and scared. I walked to where a bunch of people were waiting outside, walked toward the front of the seating area to ask the snack dude where the hell I was supposed to go. Honestly at that moment, I swear to you that every single person on those hundreds of benches was just staring at me. Not only was I the only foreigner, but Asian for that matter, and female. Of course the guy didn't speak english. I sat to take a seat in the far corner and the feeling of all those pairs of eyes on me was just terrible. I literally closed my eyes and realized that this was crazy and that this was hell. If I managed to make it to Jordan, I seriously considered throwing in the towel. This was insane.. I had no one to turn to, I was alone in every sense, there was not ONE tourist in sight (the joys of low season)... and I didn't think I was even going to make it on this ferry. I sat for 20 minutes just avoiding eye contact with everyone and planning my next move. I just started asking anyone I could for help. There was a Muslim man sitting on the floor next to me, I handed him my ticket and he held it upside down and muttered something in Arabic, showed it to someone else, they muttered something else, and finally it got to this dude waiting in a car
out of the Wadi, Jordan
. HE SPOKE DECENT ENGLISH!! His name was Elat, a Syrian interior designer. We quickly became friends and for the next 4 hours I sat in his car eating Arabic sugar crackers and watching The Da Vinci Code on his DVD player. Every 30 min. he'd drive over to the port to see if the new launch had arrived. Nothing. After being 3 hours late it finally arrived. He lined up his car but apparently "walk ons" follow a "different" procedure. I was waiting in the wrong place for the last 5 hrs. He carried my bags and we ran to the hell-hole now referred to as "The Werehouse"- this 100 ' sauna of a port station with benches, dirty bottles, crying kids, no windows, and as many Muslims as you can imagine packed into the smallest possible space. I also didn't have an exit stamp (brilliant Sheryl..). I ran to the border dude, who immediately took a liking to me and asked me to write his son an invitation to study in the United States. After agreeing without really caring at that point, I left the booth w/ an Egyptian exit stamp and his son's email address. I thanked Elat and then waited for hours in what can only be described as my own personal version of Dantes Inferno. Border crossings are bad enough, but throw a ferry, absolute chaos, 100 degree temps, a solo Asian American backpacker in an Islamic setting into the mix and you have absolute hell. I waited for hours. Kids kept kicking trash at me, staring at me, Muslim woman giving me the dirtiest looks you've ever seen.. I wanted to cry. I quickly befriended a Libyian med student who was also crossing to Aqaba, Jordan
sleeping under stars
. Once he left to pray again I was alone again.. I then got chatty with 3 awesomely cool guys from Palestine who were traveling w/ a giant shisha. Hah They were cool as hell. They adopted me with open arms and showed me the ropes.. but since I'm a woman I got to go to the front of the mad dash once these giant cellar doors opened, 10 hrs later. I lost sight of the Palestinians but then saw another traveler! A german girl was on the bus from the Werehouse to the ferry dock. We just looked at eachother, drenched in sweat, shaking our heads in disbelief. Once at the ferry dock there was another mad dash to get on the ferry. I waited in line around a bunch of men, a Muslim woman looked at me and motioned to go ahead, it was sweet and all the men gladly parted away to let me go passed. I got a seat on this dirty ass ferry and actually tried to breathe for once... I saw Elat looking for a seat but of course there were no more. He convinced the upholstry guys in the front who were making the seat cushions to let him sit down, he motioned to me that he not only had an extra, but two! We played some chess on his laptop and he gave me tips for Damascus, Syria for when I go. Then I bumped into the Palestinians in all the mayhem and the 4 of us ran like kids around the deck of the ferry. I think it was at that moment when I realized that I finally felt free, and that all the hell endured on that day (and the days before.. I hadn't slept in two) was going to pass. I loved those dudes. Once we arrived in Jordan I was literally the first one off the ferry. I waited for the German girl at the bottom, since I saw the "Arrivals" area was absolutely packed with shouting Jordianians.. I saw a group of 5 backpackers also get off, we all went the same way and all tackled this together. I got lucky, they're pretty awesome people. Andrew and Nick, Americans from NY, along with Shawne and Ken from the UK, and Joe from UK. Shared a taxi to 'downtown' Aqaba, crashed at the Petra Hotel for 4 Jordianian Dinars a night. At that point I realized that the real fun part of traveling was just starting, and it only got better. Lasting thoughts on Egypt... the sights themselves are mindboggling and nothing in the world can compare. For what they are - from the pyramids to Alexandria to Karnak to the Red Sea - the firsthand experience was a thrill that cannot be replicated by watching NatGeo. Unfortunately for me, I cannot lie when I say that I don't take away fond memories of Egypt. By hiring a guide I hoped to experience "real" Egypt from a local perspective, but in all actuality, "real" Egypt treated me with disrespect and alienated me like never before. I am talking about the men. I thought I could trust my tour guides, they were the ones that were making me "safe" from everyone else, but in reality, Egyptian men are all the same. They do not respect women by Western standards - I don't know if this should have even been expected on my part - but it is what it is. My interactions with primarily Egyptian men throughout the trip made me feel utterly uncomfortable and constantly on guard once I realized that the ones there to help me where the ones that made me feel the worst.
After arriving in Jordan, the next day we all shared a bus to Wadi Rum, the most amazing desert landscapes in southwestern Jordan you've ever seen (in Jordan, or anywhere else.). Charlotte and Ken were a tad rushed for time, so they decided to do an overnight in the desert and then haul out of there the next day. Andrew, Joe, and Nick wanted 3 days in the desert.. and I was undecided. For day one all 6 of us crammed in a 4x4 and drove through breathtaking desert bush (and lack thereof). Absolutely incredible. We set up camp at a Bedouin village in the middle of the Wadi, hauled the mattresses outside and slept under the stars. Unfortunately I had another issue with the Jordianian cook, who thought it appropriate to sleep on my bed in the middle of the night. In my horror I yelled "WILL YOU PLEASE GET OUT OF MY BED!!" and he just said "sorry sorry" and backed off, but just kept getting closer 15 minutes later. I got up and slept the rest of the night alone in the tent. While this definitely brought down my mood, I still wasn't ready to leave the desert, nor Joe, Nick and Andrew. The Brits were ready to leave the next morning and at the absolute last minute - even after my bag was packed and in the jeep - I decided to stay. The boys were organizing a hike through the desert, no guide, just a map (without contour lines mind you), water, an abundance of pitas, along with canned hummus, corned beef, canned tuna, and cheese wedges. I couldn't say no to such an adventure!! Nick is also just as into photography as I am, so it was almost like an amateurs photography trip. :) The 4 of us grabbed 3 liters of water each and set off. The guides had all left, we were literally left to fend for ourselves. We started heading west, climbed over a mountain and through the boulders of Mohammad's 12 Pillars. The landscape looked like Arches, the cliffs and caves looked like the Grand Canyon. It's hard to describe how stunning this all was. The climbing was probably the most difficult I've ever done, especially in the heat of the desert. I was relying on my Keens like I never imagined! The water went quick, the sweat wouldn't stop and we just kept on trucking. We learned one important lesson - the desert is not forgiving and it is relentless. The afternoon heat was too much and we napped from 1:30-3pm. The desert is also immensely expansive, and I can understand how one can hike just 10 km from camp and become completely disoriented. We walked ourselves into the heart of a mountain range and became lost. Andrew took the reigns as leader, and while we used shadow techniques and old fashioned survival skills, the water rationing had already begun. But we weren't stupid - 2 engineers, 1 chemist, and one hell of a Les Stroud buff, just like myself. :) While completely exhausted, just as planned we spotted camp around 6pm. We were probably around 2-3 hours away from experiencing a situation. There was a definite sense of accomplishment for having tackled the Sahara with just our physical and mental strengths. That night we talked about Islam, ate A LOT, and once more we slept under the brightest Milky Way I've ever seen. I slept between the guys this time and no problems that night. The next morning we hitched a ride back to Wadi Rum on some camels. Nick got the small sad camel, Andrew's was just giant and hungary, mine was definitely feminine. ;) And Joe's was just slow, haha. It was a 2 hr ride and quite the jolly end to probably the most extreme experience of my life in the realm of Sheryl vs. nature. But the high acheived from just these 3 days was exhilarating and unlike anything else. It really makes it all worth it.
Nick and Andrew wanted to head back to Aqaba to "dangle feet" while smoking shisha, overlooking Eilat, Israel. So it was done. While I had already spent longer than planned in the desert, I didn't want to part from this amusing group just yet. Joe felt the same; we both wanted to get to Petra but ah, what's one more day. We arrived back into Aqaba and are sleeping on the roof of the hostel tonight. It's only 2 Jordianian Dinars!! And I've never slept on a roof so we'll see how it goes. ;) We went to our fave falafel joint, bought some salted nuts (Jordan is "nuts for nuts"), some "bum wad", and water galore and now we're set.
Tomorrow Joe and I are going to Petra, while Andrew and Nick are heading up to Amman. I'm extremely happy right now, I've met some amazing amazing people and I'm having such a great time. I love the challenges of backpacking and while I've definitely encountered challenging circumstances so far, I'd rather go through the miserable lows in order to experience the great highs. This feels like a different trip has started and now I know why I travel. I want to go down by my own hand, and alternately, I want to earn my joys. There's a sense of personal accomplishment, accountability, and responsibility in both that leaves nothing but memorable experiences and times to grow from.
