Photo: Art afloat in the Red Sea

To get to Jordan, we took a minibus from Daha, a low-key snorkeling and diving paradise and one-time hippy hangout on the eastern coast of Egypt's Sinai peninsula where we'd spent a very relaxed week doing a whole lot of nothing. We drove up the western side of the Gulf of Aqaba to Taba at the top of the gulf. From there, we had to cross the southernmost point of Israel at Eilat. Immigration formalities took forever as we ended up in line behind two busloads of Nigerian and Japanese visitors, and then our luggage was pulled aside for inspection. In the process we got our passports stamped with an Israeli visa, which means we can't go to most Arab countries, including Lebanon, unless we get new passports.

Once in Israel, it was just a short taxi ride to the Jordanian border (during which the Palestinian taxi driver refused to use his meter, insisting that the 5-mile ride cost a flat rate of $50!). By contrast, the Jordanian border crossing was easy, then we took another taxi to nearby Aqaba to pick up our Thrifty rental car. Fortunately the taxi organizer at the border knew that we should pick up the car in town and not at the airport (despite what our online voucher said).

We noticed immediately that Jordan appeared to be quite prosperous, with lots of fancy cars on the city streets. Jordan also has a very high (over 90%) literacy rate. Its government is a constitutional monarchy ruled by King Abdullah II. Although Jordan is considered to be one of the most westernized of all Arab states, many men and women, especially in the rural areas, dress very modestly in traditional Arab clothing: the men in long-sleeved, ankle-length robes and head scarf (usually red/white or black/white checkered) with a rope band to hold it in place, while the women wear an abaya, a cloak worn over their other clothing, and hijab, a headscarf tied under the chin so that not a strand of hair shows.

Wadi Rum
We ended up staying the first night in Aqaba, and driving the next day the short distance to Wadi Rum, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, en route to Petra. Wadi Rum ("wadi" means "valley") is a spectacular moonscape-like valley in the desert with dramatic rock outcroppings. Apart from its haunting beauty, this area has become a tourist magnet since the movie "Lawrence of Arabia" was shot on location here (where T.E. Lawrence based his operations). Local Bedouin tribesmen offer guided daytrips, trekking and climbing expeditions, and overnight safaris by jeep, horse, or camel. But since we were eager to get to Petra, we planned to spend only a few hours here.

At the visitor center, we watched a short movie with panoramic photographs of the area that explained the geology and history of the region, which has been inhabited since prehistoric times. From the visitor center we hiked to the nearby Seven Pillars of Wisdom (named after Lawrence of Arabia's book of that name), one of the few treks that didn't require a guide. After tromping through loose sand at the base of this huge rock formation, we decided we'd try to climb over it rather than walk all the way around it. This turned out to be quite an adventure since we were never quite sure whether we'd end up atop a sheer precipice and have to retrace our steps (and climb back up all the boulders and rock faces that we'd just descended with considerable difficulty). Fortunately, after a couple of hours we found our way out and were able to exit the "seven pillars" amongst a small cluster of Bedouin tents, camels, and goats - once again within sight of the visitor center.

Petra
From Wadi Rum we drove the 30 or so miles to the ancient city of Petra, which has recently been voted one of the "new" Seven Wonders of the World, a well-deserved designation. We spent two days there ambling and hiking around and exploring the magnificent sights. What's so incredible is both the natural beauty of the huge many-hued rock outcroppings (pink, purple, orange, blue, green!) and the siqs (natural fissures in the earth creating long, deep, narrow canyons), combined with the grand structures - streets, houses, temples, Treasury, theatre, palace, baths, and hundreds of tombs -- carved into the rocks by the Nabataeans between 200 BC and 200 AD. Petra is absolutely stunning, and should be added to your list of "places to visit before I die," if it's not already there!

Dana Nature Reserve
From Petra we drove north up the ancient King's Highway to the vast Dana Nature Reserve, recently featured in the Washington Post travel section (click here for a nice write-up accompanied by beautiful photographs) http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/travel/dana-biosphere-reserve-in-jordan-is-an-eco-tourism-oasis-in-the-desert/2011/12/27/gIQACzonJR_story.html. Rather than stay at the institutional-looking guest house run by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN), we opted to spend the night at the nearby Bedouin-owned Dana Tower Hotel, situated on the edge of a sandstone cliff overlooking the red rock valley far below. Here we paid the equivalent in Jordanian dinars of just a few dollars for a room bedecked with a medley of Bedouin-style fabrics and heated with a quirky kerosene stove. There were four other guests the night we were there, including a Swiss couple vacationing with their son, a medical school student who was about to start an internship at a teaching hospital in Mississippi; they had just come from Wadi Rum, where they had spent the night at a Bedouin encampment, and said it was the coldest night of their lives. We hiked into the canyon for a couple of hours the afternoon we arrived, joined by the other guest, a German backpacker.

Because snow was being forecast for the following day, we abandoned our plan to do an all-day hike through the majestic Wadi Dana canyon, after which we would have spent the night at an RSCN lodge at the bottom of the 14-km trail. Instead, we decided to head to the Dead Sea (which would, hopefully, be warmer) via the town of Madaba.

Our travel guide, Lonely Planet Jordan, suggests that it's rather rude to drive past people standing along the highway without offering them a ride since distances between towns are considerable, and public transportation minimal. Over the course of several days, we stopped and picked up a number of Jordanian men. Generally the conversation didn't get much past "hello" and "thank you" and "stop." But this day a man, dressed like all the others in traditional robe, invited us to his home for tea, so we had the privilege of experiencing Jordanian hospitality and meeting his wife (a physician who spoke English fairly well) and their three kids, who were home from school and watching cartoons on TV.

Madaba
From Dana we drove north on the King's Highway through the vast Wadi Mujib, known as the Grand Canyon of Jordan. The road winds its way into the deep canyon with switchback after switchback, across the dam at the bottom, and finally back up the other side. We stopped for the night in the town of Madaba, known for its mosaics and for having one of the largest Christian populations in Jordan. Here we visited St. George's Church, a Greek Orthodox church that houses a mosaic map of Palestine crafted in AD 560, which depicts all the major Biblical sites of the Middle East (including places we'd recently visited, such as Mt. Sinai in Egypt). It's the oldest map of Palestine in existence, and although much of it has been destroyed it once contained more than two million pieces! We also visited the nearby archaeological park with more remarkable mosaics.

My favorite meal of the entire trip was here in Madaba, at Haret Jdoudna, a restaurant recommended by the friendly owner of the family-run Black Iris Hotel where we stayed. The restaurant was in a beautifully restored old house, where we were seated near a roaring wood-burning fireplace that was ever-so-welcome on a chilly evening. But I'm sure it would be lovely to have a meal here while seated in the shaded courtyard in summer as well. Great food and romantic atmosphere!

The Dead Sea
The next day we drove the 15 or so miles to the Dead Sea, again on steep, serpentine roads alongside cliffs offering beautiful views of the valley below, and passing scattered Bedouin villages of tattered tents and camels. We'd envisioned a day lolling on the beach and floating for hours in the uber-salty sea, but the day turned out to be cloudy and cool.

So we drove along the Dead Sea Highway past luxurious resort spa-hotels, then high up into the hills to the Dead Sea Museum and Panorama Restaurant with its dramatic vista and cliff walk overlooking the sea and across to Judea. The small museum, which is another RSCN undertaking, explains the history, ecology, geology, and biology (flora and fauna) of the region. Here we learned that the Dead Sea, actually a freshwater lake, is the lowest place on earth, roughly 1,300 feet below sea level, and is called the Dead Sea because marine life can't survive in such salty water (it's 10 times saltier than the Mediterranean and three times saltier than Utah's Great Salt Lake). One exhibit shows the dramatic shrinkage of the Dead Sea in recent years as water is increasingly being diverted from the Jordan River, its major feeder. With the water level dropping about 3 feet per year, it asks the seemingly absurd question of whether the Dead Sea will die.

Just before sunset, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, so we hightailed our way back down to the sea, intent on at least taking a dip before dark. At the one public beach along the coast, we hurried into our swimwear and made our way gingerly over the deposits of white salt crystals that cake the shore like snowdrifts. Compared to the chilly air, the water felt warm. We still can't truthfully say that we swam in the Dead Sea, but we did float on our backs (we'd been warned not to put our faces in the water) and discovered that it's quite literally true that you couldn't sink even if you tried! Just tasting the water, it's so salty it burns your tongue!

Amman
The day before our flight back to Turkey, we drove the short distance to Amman, the capital of Jordan, then spent ages trying to find the place where we were supposed to return the rental car. There was no address and the Thrifty map was unclear. After several phone calls to Thrifty by strangers on the street who called on our behalf and got directions for us, we were still unable to find "the street with all the car rental agencies." I finally got so frustrated driving around and around the same streets that I refused to go on and instead pulled up to the doorway of the grand Four Seasons Hotel. I must have looked mighty frazzled because the uniformed doorman immediately took pity, invited us to make ourselves comfortable in the hotel lobby, and called Thrifty and told them to come get their car!

Amman was the only place on our entire trip that we were turned away from a hotel because it was fully booked. We were surprised because January is the coldest month of the year and not at all the height of the tourist season here. Moreover Jordan, like the rest of the Middle East, is suffering from a dramatic downturn in tourism. The hotel clerk explained that they had many Libyan families as guests because Libyans who had been wounded in the "Arab Spring" conflict that ousted Gadaffi were now being sent at government expense for treatment at foreign hospitals, including a hospital near this hotel.

The next morning we flew back to Antalya, Turkey (this time taking the normal route, through Istanbul, not via Cyprus). I somewhat regretted our decision not to visit Israel but after a month of traveling in the Mideast we were tired of being tourists and very ready to get back to the boat. Jerusalem will have to wait 'til next time. And we'd love to return to Jordan as well, but next time perhaps in the spring or fall.