Friday Cacophony

I'm just waking up from an afternoon nap in Aqaba – right down on the Red Sea nestled between the Israeli and Saudi Coast lines. The muzzerin is calling us to prayer yet again and the noise coming into the window from which we can see the sea Is chaotic.

After a candle lit walk back down the Siq to the Treasury on Wednesday night we sat in relative quiet and listened to rabble and flute – the flute in particular was beautiful at first sounding as if it was coming from the top of the Treasury. Sitting on the ground being served more sage tea, at first I was disappointed that there wasn't more music but the ground does get hard – esp after all the walking that had happened that day. At various times as we walked down the Siq you could look up through the overbending cavern tops to see stars twinkling – a reminder that we were far from civilization as we knew it – but perhaps closer to what was once known here.

Thursday was another desert day – this time just out into the vast almost moonscape landscape of the Wadi Rum. In Arabic this means disconnected mountains and they surely are – a bit reminisce of central Australia in parts the old sandstand thrusting from the desert floor in eroded and windswept formations. We took a four hour 4 wheel drive bounce into the desert to watch the sun do her magic on the sandstone and to see the marvels of erosion close up. IN a loose cotton shirt and with a scarf around each of us Allison and I had fun pretending to be travelling ladies from another era! Mind you the very large bruise I've acquired from bouncing a little high over a sand dune teether me fairly here.

Panoramic ever changing but incredibly permanent – this is the homeland of the indigenous peoples of Jordan – the Bedouin which made going to stay at their camp a bit worrying for me at first – wondering if we were being insensitive tourists – however the big difference here is that these people are respected and valued by the rest of the population – it is a thing of honour to be a Jordanian with Bedouin connections. And when the King wants to make important national decisions he first comes here to take tea in the desert around the open fires that seem to be conjured from nowhere. He talks and listens with these people learning from their wisdom for you have to be smart to survive in the desert with no water etc for so long. Only after this consultation is a decision made. Much to learn from I think.

To complete the full tourist experience we got up at 4.45 to prepare to ride camels into the desert to see the sunrise – camel riding is not a comfortable experience – they begrudgingly kneel down for you to climb on board – with much grunting and at times spitting but then they have get up – it reminded me of Dave playing rough games and horsey with the boys – that lurching forward and hoping not to fall as the camel arises. My camel keep wanting to trot – not a good look and it took what we've dubbed adventure photography to a new level – some shots were duds because it was risky enough taking one hand from the saddle. Anyways we saw the sun creep its way into the eastern sky – nothing nothing nothing and then the pink golden orbs bursts over the horizon throwing colour across the entire 180 desgree landscape. Beautiful

Hence the sense of cacophony this afternoon – less then 12 hours since that silence to Friday afternoon in a city – sigh.