Shepherd on the Jordan Trail, north Jordan
Whilst pitching my tent I was bitten by a
scorpion. “What colour was it?” Mahmoud,
our Bedouin guide said. “Yellow,” I replied.
“They are the worst,” he said, followed by,
“What size?” “Only small,” I said. “They are
the worst,” he said again with a grin. You have
to like their sense of humour! I felt lethargic
all the next day but it was a beautiful trek
along a high escarpment with a warm breeze
rising from the depths before we descended
to a tourist camp near Petra which we entered
the next day via ‘the back door’. This old
Nabataean trail had been a narrow path across
cliffs when we first walked it in the mid 1990s
but had since been ‘manicured’ by the Petra
Park Authority into a wide, safe, wall-edged
trail, losing its history but enabling it to be
promoted as an alternative entrance to the
famous Petra Siq.
The first glimpse of the mountain top
Monastery is as surprising as the first famous
view of The Treasury from The Siq. The
latter is avoided on the way out by exiting
Petra through a tunnel carved through the
mountains by the Nabataeans to divert
floodwater away from the canyon of The Siq,
the main thoroughfare in ancient times as
well as today. Flash floods are dangerous!
The Siq is savoured early the next day
before continuing past Petra’s Roman theatre
then south beneath Jebel Harun, reputed
burial place of Aaron, brother of Moses. The
descent of wild and lonely Wadi Sabra follows
past the remains of yet another Roman
theatre. Then on deeper into the remote
mountains of Masuda before climbing back
onto the high desert plateau four days later
14 Outdoor focus | autumn 2018
through the impressive Aheimir Canyon. On
our exploratory trek we had to wade a deep
pool and climb a tricky boulder-jam at its
head. A year later all had been swept away by a
flash flood and Aheimir was obstacle free, but
beware, its no place to be on a rainy day!
Now visible across the desert to the east,
the mountains of Wadi Rum are reached by
a two day trek across the sands. Lawrence
called it “Rum the magnificent... vast, echoing
and God-like”. He was right! The trek then
continues still in superlative desert mountain
scenery for another day before entering the
basalt and granite hills that border the Red
Sea. Its distant waters are first glimpsed from
the crest of a hill beneath which the final
camp is made.
A long descent and climb then lead to
the final pass beyond which the Red Sea
beckons temptingly. Descending a valley of
pink granite boulders on the Thru-walk in
early May it was hot, too hot at around forty
degrees. We sought every possible shade
before descending the final sandy wadi to the
sea. A welcoming band were there to greet us
as we ran past and plunged jubilantly into the
welcoming waves.
In 2018 the Jordan Trail was listed
among the top 21 destinations by National
Geographic. The Jordan Trail Association
also received an award from His Majesty
King Abdullah for its contribution to tourism
development and putting Jordan on the global
tourism map as well as providing jobs and
improving income for communities along its
route.
Sometimes dreams come true.