Aqaba

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  Aqaba, Jordan
Saturday, April 4, 2009

Com que tinc el cos ple de sorra del desert, he decidit que el millor per treure-me-la de sobre es passar un dia a la platja, aixi que de bon mati faig ruta cap a Aqaba. La ciutat en si no te res d'interessant, l'arquitectura es moderna i el transit caotic, les platges no son gaire maques, pero sota el reflex daurat del sol sobre el Mar Roig s'amaguen un munt d'esculls de coralls per descobrir. Aquest es el tresor mes ben guardat de la ciutat, i tal vegada, la unica rao per visitar-la. Aixi que arribo a l'hotel on m'allotjo, contacto amb una companyia i em donen hora per les 2pm per fer un altre bateig de submarinisme (ja en van 3, aixi que caldra comencar a pensar en treure's el curset de submarinisme quan torni a Barcelona).

Abans de la inmersio, faig temps i visito la ciutat. Confirmo el que diu la guia. No hi ha gaire cosa per visitar ni per fer. Malgrat tot, esta ple de turistes alemanys i anglesos que busquen fugir ni que sigui per una setmana de la metereologia del seu pais. Quan arribo al centre de buceig em trobo amb dues o tres persones amb qui ja havia coincidit a Petra i a Wadi Rum. Es el que te Jordania, tothom segueix si fa o no fa la mateixa ruta i es bastant comu retrobar-te a les mateixes persones cada dos o tres dies.

El buceig pel Mar Roig no es tan espectacular com a Egipte. Els coralls estan a tocar de les platges on es banya la gent i es veuen masses bosses de plastic i d'altres residus humans al fons del mar. Malgrat tot, ni que sigui per treure's la sorra i veure peixets i coralls de tots colors haura valgut la pena. Al final, el monitor em duu a veure un vaixell enfonsat. Aixo si que es espectacular!!! Quan ens hi acostavem, em pensava que era una cova ja que es veia tot fosc, pero a mesura que ens hi hem anat atansant i hi havia mes llum s'ha anat distingint la forma i els detalls del vaixell. M'he quedat impressionat, realment ha valgut la pena baixar a Aqaba.

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As my body is full of desert sand, I have decided that the best way to remove it is to go and spend some hours swimming at the sea. Thus, early in the morning I head to Aqaba. As the guide says, there is not much to see in this town. It is rather modern from an architectural point of view and the traffic is just chaotic (like in any other Middle East city). On top of that, the beaches are not exactly beautiful. But beneath the golden waves of the Red Sea, lies a wonderful amount of coral reefs, Aqaba's best kept secret and may be the only reason to stop here. As soon as I book a hotel room, I make a couple of phone calls and arrange for a try-dive at 2pm (It is already my third one, so I should be seriously thinking on getting licensed as soon as I am back in Barcelona).

Before the dive, I wander around the city. I can confirm what the guide says about it. There is not much to visit nor to do. Nevertheless, the city is full of german and english tourists that com here for a week to escape from their country's meteorology. When I get to the diving center, I meet a couple of people I have already met in Petra and Wadi Rum. Jordania is a rather big country but most tourists follow the same route, and it is quite common to meet the same people every other day.

Diving in Aqaba is not as spectacular as the dive I did in Egypt years ago. The coral reefs are too close to the beaches and it is quite common to find during the dive plastic bags and other human debris. Nevertheless, it is worth comming here to relax and remove the sant and staring at the very colourful fishes. Near the end of the dive, the monitor takes me to see a ship wreck. That's what I call spectacular!! When we were getting close I thought he was taking me to a cave, but as we were coming closer I could start distinguishing the shape and the details of the ship. That was really stunning, and made the visit to Aqaba worth it.

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