Gulf of Aqaba Submersible Expedition 2011

We arrived in Amman, Jordan safely on the evening of Easter Sunday. Our driver met us at the airport and transferred us to the Four Seasons Hotel where we stayed the night. The next day our driver and guide took us to Madaba to see the famous  6th century A.D. mosaic map of the Middle East on the floor of the Church of St. George. Madaba is a large Christian community and the church is still actively used today. The entire town is noted for its ancient mosaics, many of which are in private homes. There are schools to train people in the art of mosaics. After that, we went to Mount Nebo where Moses was allowed, by God, to see the Promised Land before he died. Then, we went to our next hotel, the Ma'In Hot Springs. They have natural hot waterfalls and a world class spa.
Unfortunately, we did not have time to check out the spa. The next day we were taken to the Wadi Mujib Nature Reserve at the Dead Sea. Okay, here is an abridged description of the hike in our tour itinerary:

"Today, enjoy a full day hiking activity to the Mujib Valley. (It) is one of Jordan's largest protected nature reserves. ...after passing through these hills you descend to the Mujib River. The hike continues upstream along the river. Here you can linger, eat a picnic lunch and enjoy this wild paradise. You can enjoy swimming in natural pools and decend a waterfall, using ropes."

The reality:

We ascended a mountain at about a 40 degree climb for an hour going from 400 meters below sea level to 500 meters above sea level (about 3,000 feet). This took an hour at a fast pace. Then we headed downstream through a Siq (a narrow canyon with 100' sheer walls) and no banks. Depths ranged from a few inches to 3-4 feet. We slipped and fell over submerged rocks, slid down waterfalls as high as 8-10 feet and were soaked head to toe within the first few minutes. Early on, I fell and barely managed to save my camera which promptly went into the guide's dry bag for the duration; hence, no pictures. After 3 hours of this, we arrived at a 20+ meter (60+ feet) waterfall. The only way down was to repel down a shear cliff in the waterfall. Then we had a 30 minute further hike in the river to our final destination. Needless to say, we were not properly dressed for this. Don't get me wrong, we loved it and would do it again. The water was warm, probably 80 degrees F. The waterfall was amazingly beautiful. I had repelled down a building when I was in college, so I knew what to expect. Judy did very well for a first time. We were the oldest people in our group of 17; most were in their 20s. Oh, there was no possibility of a picnic. The whole thing took about 4 1/2 hours.
Afterwards, our guide took us to a very beautiful upscale restaurant with a pool along the banks of the Dead Sea where Judy and I had lunch and tested the waters of the Sea. I'm sure we were a sight at that point! (We did not have a change of clothes). Then, back to our hotel.
The next day, we travelled to Petra. On the way, we stopped at a small and very informative museum dedicated to the Dead Sea. This was very good. We learned a lot. I had no idea that the Dead Sea is part of the Great Rift Valley extending from Ethiopia, through the Red Sea, Dead Sea and up into Turkey. We continued on to Petra. Since we had been to Petra before, our guide suggested a change in itinerary. First, we went to see Little Petra. This is where the ancient Nabateans actually conducted their trading business. Then we hiked to another place we had never seen before, the "Monastery." This was carved into the rocky cliff by the Nabateans. It is usually accessed from Petra itself by a trail and steps that lead to it. We went the back way. It took us 3 1/2 hours to get there from Little Petra. It was almost entirely an uphill climb. There was no path. Our guide had done this many times before and knew the way. It started out as just a lot of uphill climbing. Then, it became steeper and steeper. We were just pulling ourselves up rocks. Again, no path.
Once we were up on the mountain, were walked along narrow ledges that became progressively narrower. The cliff was a sheer 1,000 feet to the canyon below. This went on for at least an hour. First 3 feet wide; then, 2 feet wide. Once the ledge became 1 foot wide I had to say something to our guide. Ever since I was a child I have been fighting a fear of heights. I am over it for the most part, but still have some fear within me. When I told him, our guide seemed surprised and re-assured me that it wouldn't get much worse. Then, we reached a spot where the ledge was about 10 inches wide and had a gap of about 3 feet that we had to step over while leaning into the mountain. Again, a sheer 1,000 foot drop. Judy and I were ready to freak out. We accomplished this with much angst. Soon, we reached a spot where the ledge disappeared. I am not kidding!!! For about 15 feet, there was no ledge. There was just a horizontal crack in the rock strata about 3-4 inches deep and just tall enough to wedge your shoe into it. Half way across it I began to lose my concentration due to fear. I looked down to see where to plant my foot and could not see it. I only saw the sheer 1,000 foot drop. I realized that if I fell I would not even hit anything until I reached the bottom. At one point, only my toes were holding me up. I had no hand-hold and the ball of my feet were hanging over the edge. Oh, I didn't mention that I was doing this while wearing a photo vest, backpack and 25 pounds of camera gear with the camera dangling from my neck!!! For those of you who are not aware, I have skippered a sailboat during a category 1 cyclone in the South Pacific; I have sailed in gail-force winds with seas in the 10-12 foot range. I would do each of those 100 times before doing this again. I have never been so scared in my life. Judy would agree. I will let her convey her thoughts about the experience. Once I crossed this "crack" I rested on a spacious 18 inch wide ledge while trying to talk Judy through it. I could not physically help her. Fortunately, our guide was amazing and helped both of us through the experience.
During the 3 1/2 hours of this ordeal we did not see a single person. That was wonderful, because Petra as seen by most tourists is crowded and noisy. At the "Monastery", there was a little shop selling refreshments. We relaxed there for 20 minutes before beginning our descent into Petra which took about 1 1/2 hours. This was easy. There is a trail and even some steps to help with the passage. By the time we reached Petra, it was night and there was nobody there. As we were hiking through the ancient city and up the Siq a few workers were lighting candles in paper bags for "Petra at night". They do this a couple of days per week and charge a separate entrance fee, allowing visitors in at 8:30 p.m. There was nobody there yet. We were able to experience the magical night with no tourists, no music. We rested on a bench for 20 minutes and talked while enjoying this special experience. As we were exiting the Siq to our hotel, which is at the entrance, they began letting the throngs of tourists in. Fortunately, it was too late for them to ruin our experience. Our guide took us to our hotel where we were already checked-in and our bags were in our room (our driver took care of this). We went directly to their beautiful bar (we had stayed here before) and polished-off a bottle of Jordanian wine (not to mention a Remy-Martin XO).

TBC.....