Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Rambling in Green Ajloun
Photos by Tala & Rakan
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By Ahmad Hallak
 
It was 9pm on a cold Thursday night and I was at my sister's house about to be served dinner when my phone rang. It was Tala, suggesting...no...ordering me to go home and pack my things because we were going to the green hills of 'Anjara - Ajloun to stay at an Eco-Lodge for the night and go hiking the next morning. She wanted us to check it out along with the local hiking trails for especially during this time of year when the weather would be wonderful! To make a long story short, Rakan, Tala and couple of friends and I arrived at the Ajloun Eco-Lodge at 11pm that night and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised.

The Eco-Lodge was designed to blend in with the natural environment and it did that perfectly. There were several wood and canvas cabins facing each other on a plain in a heavily wooded area and what added to the allure was that no landscaping whatsoever had been done. It was like walking through a forest and stumbling upon a long ago forgotten settlement reclaimed by nature. Every cabin had four comfortable beds and the Lodge staff supplied us with warm blankets.

The next morning we got up bright and early, washed up in the communal bathrooms and trooped of to get something to eat. Breakfast was a very Spartan affair with Labneh (a kind of yoghurt spread), jam, boiled eggs and lots of tea!

Then we went hiking which was wonderful! Walking along well-trodden trails we walked through past densely packed trees, bushes and boulders on the hillside just below the Lodge. The weather was perfect, the scenery beautiful and the local wildlife fascinating. All kinds of strange little insects and birds flew about busy at work while I saw flowers and plants I had never before seen sporting magnificent colours. It was an exhilarating experience and I was now truly glad that Tala had called me when she had!

Posted by Terhaal, @ 4:15 PM, in Adventure, Ajloun, Ecotourism, Hiking, Jordan, Middle East, Nature, Travel, Trekking, Wadi Rum

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Thursday, May 18, 2006
Wadi Himara / Beauty Under Threat
Photos by Emyr & Yamaan
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By Rakan Mehyar
 
In July last year, along with a Jordanian adventure tour guide we went to visit Wadi Himara (Valley of the Donkey in Arabic). We had heard that a highway bridge had been built over the valley; so we decided to go check it out and assess the damage to the valley if any... then try to raise the issue through our network of friends and contacts in the environmental activist community.

Wadi Himara is located between Ma'in and the Dead Sea. It is a 15 km trek going down from 400 meters above sea level to 340 meters below sea level.

I've hiked some valleys in that region before, but this was my first to Wadi Himara (quite off the beaten track) and quite honestly I was amazed... I guess the photos speak louder than any words.

This bridge they built (funded by the Japanese Government) is part of a road that goes all the way down to the Dead Sea. In my opinion this road is useless; there are at least two or three other roads not far away; on top of that this road has been closed since then and has never been used.

The problem is that these valleys are one of a kind in the world for one obvious reason; they go down to the lowest point on earth and there is only one "lowest point on earth" so the biodiversity in such valleys is also one of a kind. On top of that, the local water supply is under threat and after the construction of the bridge almost half of the water that comes out from a local spring has been cut off, which is a great danger to the fragile ecosystem present in such a valley.
 
 
Posted by Terhaal, @ 5:27 PM, in Adventure, Dead Sea, Ecotourism, Hiking, Jordan, Madaba, Middle East, Nature, Responsible Tourism, Travel, Trekking, Wadi Himara

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Tuesday, May 16, 2006
The Magnificance of Wadi Rum II
Photos by Takan           
By Ahmad Hallak
 
Day 2
I awoke the next day to the sound of clapping. Surfacing into consciousness from the depths of my weary slumber I uncovered the blanket from my face and looked out. One of the Bedouin hosts was walking around the campsite and waking all the campers up for breakfast. I slowly stood up and realized that I was absolutely starving! I strode over to the still smoldering fire and pouring myself a cup of tea; a miraculous elixir for all the troubles and ailments of the world! A fantastic cup of tea at the very least, others who are less inclined to wax lyrical would suggest. Disregarding to wait for the others, I helped myself to an assortment of jams and Labneh (an Arabic starter specific to the Levant; it is basically strained yoghurt with a bit of salt) spooned over flat Arabic pita bread. Together with an inexhaustible supply of tea I munched away and looked upon the rest of the group slowly appearing from inside tents, over sand dunes and making their way towards the camp fire like moths to a glorious flame (this is how I get when the subject of food comes up!).
 
Shortly after the breakfast and a little friendly banter, the group-split up and headed into different directions.The Dutch couple on a camel ride, the Slovaks back to Amman and the Belgian group I honestly can’t remember! Rakan, Tala and I, along with our two friends, got into the truck and followed Salem and a colleague in their own pickup truck who was driving a French couple to a popular hiking spot. After a 20 minute drive we arrived at a flat space beside a small mountain where we parked.Salem led the way up towards a mountain plain that dominated the landscape before us whilst his companion stayed behind to prepare our lunch. We walked for 20 minutes before I realized that my headache, which was pounding away in my brain like an army of sledge-hammer wielding rock crushers, would only get worse with the climb. I asked Rakan if he had any headache medicine in his First Aid kit and he said he did but that it was in the truck. He suggested I go back and get it along with the truck while he and Tala waited at the mountain face. I jogged back quickly and was panting only slightly when I reached the truck 10 minutes later (it was all downhill). I rummaged through the truck's supply bin and found the Ibuprofen and swallowed a pill with some water. I then got behind the wheel and started the truck. Driving up the sandy incline I noticed a track leading through a low-rise gorge on my right while straight ahead the path split into two other tracks that also veered to the right and towards the face of the mountain. I hadn’t realized there was more than one path when I was walking up and I was unsure which one the rest of the group had taken. Instinctively I chose the first path to the right and drove into the gorge. Driving along, the sides of the gorge began to rise and the pass began to narrow considerably barely allowing the truck to pass. The gorge also started winding left and right which made me begin to doubt I was on the right path; and then I suddenly turned into a dead end! Crap!! The gorge was to narrow me for me to turn the truck around and I was forced to reverse all the way back, a feat which threatened to undo the effects of the Ibuprofen. Sweating and cursing under my breath, I drove backwards slowly and eventually reached my starting point. I drove upwards past the opening I had just exited and decided that I would take the last path at the top of the inline feeling confidently that this was the path Salem's group had taken. To make a long story short I got stuck in the sand, took the wrong path and decided that I was going back to help with lunch before Rakan and another of our friends appeared just above me. Rakan signaled for me to drive up a steep incline towards him and we eventually drove up to the mountain face together.
 

Salem and the rest of the group were so far ahead of us by now that we could not even see them. Rakan, our friend and I began to climb up the jagged face of the mountain which was a lot of fun as you could choose to climb up the difficult way or clamber up rocky paths which were easier to navigate. I enjoyed the challenge of climbing up the harder routes although it was physically tiring.
 

Fast forward a couple of hours and we had almost approached the top of the mountain when we spied Salem and the group halfway down the mountain on their way to lunch. Feeling that we'd climbed enough we turned and headed back down; at this stage I had wrapped my t-shirt around my head like a turban and my upper body was cooked to about medium rare under the glaring desert sun.
 

Arriving back to the rendezvous point, Salem's companion had arranged a large sheet on the ground against the side of the rock face and under the shade. The rest of the group was lounging against the mountain and Salem & Co were placing dishes of tuna salad, hummus and other appetizers on the sheet before us whilst we began pouring ourselves cups of the ubiquitous Bedouin tea. After a delicious lunch and lots of laughs as we exchanged funny stories we packed up and headed towards Aqaba for some sun, sea and sand (without Salem, his buddy and the French couple). For those of you who aren’t familiar with Aqaba, it is a small city located on the southernmost tip of Jordan overlooking the Red Sea and about an hour's drive from Wadi Rum. It was refreshing to swim in the cool waters of the Red Sea after that time spent in the heat of Wadi Rum's desert and I felt cleansed and re-energized. Returning back to our campsite later that evening we found another group of European travelers who had decided to spend a brief part of their stay in Jordan exploring the mysterious Wadi Rum. Sitting around the campfire and chatting with the Austrian girl and a French couple, I couldn’t help but think that the desert camp fire had a habit of bringing people together and lowering cultural barriers more than any international conference could ever manage. And after a charming conversation with my European friends, each of us once again stood up and wandered off to dream away another wonderful Arabian night.

Posted by Terhaal, @ 11:58 AM, in Adventure, Desert, Ecotourism, Hiking, Jordan, Middle East, Nature, Responsible Tourism, Tourism, Travel, Trekking, Wadi Rum

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Friday, May 12, 2006
The Magnificence of Wadi Rum
Photos by Tala & Rakan
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By Ahmad Hallak
 
Believe it or not, this will have been my first trip to Wadi Rum ever! Quite honestly, as much as I've heard people enthuse about it and extol its wondrous proportions, I can’t say that I've ever been tempted to visit it. What an awesome mistake!

Day 1
Having spent the better part of three hours traveling along the winding up-and-down road that leads to Wadi Rum from Amman (the capital), my friend and I finally reached the tiny village of preceding the vast expanse of Wadi Rum. It was pitch-black dark except for the lights of the local tourist rest house and we met up with the rest of the group (Rakan, Tala and another friend) in an empty parking lot. We then transferred into Rakan's pick-up truck for the rest of the journey to our desert camp. The drive through the tiny village took less than a minute and suddenly the paved road ended and the limitless expanse of desert began.

Driving in total darkness but with the jagged silhouettes of the surrounding mountains rising up ominously around us, thus began the bumpiest ride of my entire life. It seemed that we twisted left and right relentlessly whilst frequently dipping down sand dunes and rising up small hills on a trajectory that would seemingly lead us straight for the stars. I marveled at how Rakan could navigate through a landscape that seemed to repeat itself endlessly and I must confess that I doubted if it was even humanly possible for us to find our way in the dark. After 40 minutes of this unpredictable roller coaster of a ride we seemed to enter a narrow gorge which was highlighted by the lights of our pick-up. The gorge twisted to the right then to the left before abruptly rising into a flat pain and depositing us miraculously at the doorstep of our campsite!

Opening my door I climbed down weakly and sank my feet into soft desert sand. As the blood began to circulate into sore and stiff muscles, a man stood up from the fireplace next to the huge Bedouin tent before us and strode over. After exchanging "As-Salamu Alaikum's" [which means Peace Be Upon You and is a formal greeting in Arabic] we walked over to the fireplace where a number of European tourists had been lounging and who now had sat up politely. The small fire that was being tended by our Bedouin hosts was enclosed by several rocks and had two candles either side. On one side of the fire was a huge teapot which Salem (the gentleman that welcomed us) was using to pour us strong sweet tea. I seated myself on one of the thin mattresses beside the fire and accepted a small cup of tea gratefully. Sitting back and sipping on the delicious tea in the cool fresh desert air I instinctively looked up above me. Surrounding the bright crescent-shaped moon was a sprinkling of the brightest and most beautiful stars I had ever seen; a veritable feast for the eyes which gave a feeling of both wonderment and insignificance to the gazer.

Looking back down at those around me I began to listen to my friends, fellow European visitors and Bedouin hosts chat. Our Bedouin friends turned out to be amongst the most generous, good natured and friendly souls I have ever had the good fortune to meet; and our fellow Europeans made for delightful company in the flickering light of our fire. Amongst the Europeans were Slovaks, a Dutch couple and a small group of Belgians which made for some very interesting conversation. It seemed the most natural setting for a friendly discourse between different cultures and I sensed an eagerness from the Europeans to learn more of Arabic culture.

After several cups of tea and a hearty dinner of chicken, rice and salad we each decided to bed down for the night. While some members of the group chose to sleep in the tent, others walked a short distance to discover and choose their own sleeping quarters. Grabbing my small mattress and a thick blanket I chose a spot in front of our truck and dozed away, dreaming of shimmering deserts, unassailable mountain peaks and Bedouin warriors poets astride the 'ships of the desert'.
 
Posted by Terhaal, @ 2:51 PM, in Adventure, Desert, Ecotourism, Hiking, Jordan, Middle East, Nature, Responsible Tourism, Tourism, Travel, Trekking, Wadi Rum

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