|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| nuthatch | profile | all galleries >> Jordan >> Aqaba and Wadi Rum | tree view | thumbnails | slideshow |
 Aqaba presents a classic Middle Eastern image |
 but history is everywhere: the ruins of a Roman church from ca. 300CE |
 nearby, relics of the 7th~11th c. Islamic city of Ayla |
 |
 Marla considers another nearby relic |
 the oceanfront park is much brighter today |
 the historic Aqaba fortress is an open-air museum |
 |
 |
 much of the original fort still survives... |
 ...plus there are spare parts galore |
 apparently foreign tourists are rare here |
 at the city museum next door, we see information about the archeology of Ayla... |
 ...and of the ancient settlement of Humayma we had passed yesterday |
 out at the Red Sea waterfront, it's still a pleasant weekend |
 the water across the Gulf of Aqaba is especially blue today |
 walking back thru town, we pass sites both religious... |
 ...and secular |
 the people here have been very friendly |
 we return to our hotel to prepare for our afternoon in Wadi Rum |
 at the edge of the valley, there is a visitor center and several research buildings |
 we climb into a 4x4 to visit several of the side valleys |
 first stop is the unmistakable Seven Pillars rock formation |
 but everywhere we go we are surrounded by unusual hills rising from the desert |
 we round the Seven Pillars to head east |
 |
 this rock looks like a good vantage point to survey the landscape |
 |
 climbing the slope |
 |
 the view from the top is spectacular |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 what to do in an ocean of sand? |
 how about discovering water just a few centimeters below the surface! |
 |
 elsewhere, our guide Naif shows us how the plant called 'ataram'... |
 ...can be crushed and ground... |
 ...to create a very pleasant soap |
 there is evidence all through this area of the recent heavy rains |
 |
 as the afternoon turns to evening, shadows take over the canyons |
 |
 |
 we meet some residents heading home |
 a semi-permanent bedouin camp |
 nearby, there are Nabataean petroglyphs |
 the camels have been taking advantage of the collected rainwater |
 now we are off again... |
 ...heading to a canyon named for T. E. Lawrence |
 this notch carries water into the far valley during heavy rain |
 a vein in the local red stone... |
 ...is used to make rouge |
 Naif and Marla in Lawrence's Canyon |
 off we go again |
 here is a camp where Lawrence stayed during WWI |
 his portrait from 1917 |
 inside a bedouin merchant's tent, an Italian tour group bargains... |
 ...while Marla enjoys tea and the company of a friendly cat |
 we're off again, looking for a view of the sunset |
 |
 on a rocky ridge (that's our silhouette at the shadow line) |
 |
 |
 |
 near sundown, shadows stretch |
 |
 and finally the sun drops over the ridge |
 with direct light gone, colors become more subtle... |
 ...and the moon will guide us... |
 ...back to Aqaba |