Muddy Archaeologist
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CHARITY TREK DIARY on behalf of The Muddy Archaeologist definitely became a Dusty Archaeologist!
£3,308 (+£208 gift aid) has been raised so far THANK YOU EVERYONE! We can make it more though. My trek is over, but the music therapy work continues: please continue to donate. Thank you.
Day 1: We fly to Amman, check into hotel at 1am. Up at 6am to breakfast and drive out to Dana Village & National Park to start trekking. We begin at Dana Village (a heritage site) with a zig-zagging descent of a vertical 1,000m... then along the incredible rocky valley until we break out into the far distant desert itself. Refreshed by 'hot sweet tea' brewed en route, we keep going. 'Just around the corner', says our local guide but 1 1/2 hours later we reach our campsite, as the sun begins to fade - among the hardest first days of a trek that our Discover Adventure guide, Darren (of 20+ years' experience), can remember. Feet are soaked in a small stream and the toilet facilities (a hole in the ground behind a hanging blanket) are experienced. A stunning dinner is devoured before crashing into our tents under the stars. By now, we've learned that 3 litres of water a day are essential, as are energy snacks throughout the day, a large packed lunch (supplied) and the meat and umpteen fresh salads provided for dinner. And walking poles make walking up inclines and over stony tracks much easier.
Day 2: We head out across the hamada, the stony desert where all the sand has been blown away from it, and we eventually camp by a wide, scarily deep dried wadi. Woken by loud donkey-bray at 6.30am (this will become a habit!), our morning wash is by wipes and we breakfast on what will become the usual pitta bread and jam, boiled eggs, ham, cheese triangles and orange juice (and sweet hot tea, of course). Some of us wrap ourselves in desert scarves to prepare to trek back out from the stream to rejoin our trail. Huge piles of slag from the biggest prehistoric copper mines in the world at Feinan Ruins strew our way (and I get utterly over-excited by this!) and then we trek out across the undulating stone-dunes. Shadeless hours are relieved by a welcome breeze and the cooling scarves. Sheltering under an almost solitary tree for lunchtime shade, we find that even here there are goat herders. Some hours later, we reach camp which has been set up by our advance team on a high cliff edge by a wide dried-up wadi - sleepwalking would not be wise ... To our astonishment, two portaloos have appeared - with their bases smashed out so they perch over the hole in the ground! Well, it's privacy, I suppose! We relish a little time to relax, play Rummikub and Bananagram (!) before dinner around the fire and then we watch the sun go down over the tents (which had to be repaired due to the early evening howling wind). Another early night - 8pm, ready for another early start.
Day 3: Up, up, and up a ragged saw-edged mountain . Then up some more before winding across the scenery to a far distant camp. We immediately start climbing high above the hamada - our reward is stunning views. A long steep gully requires deft footwork but the two water-carrying donkeys trot up without effort. At the top the scene opens out to reveal a mini Grand Canyon before us. The steep, long descent spreads out the group and some of us experience a brief detour having been lost and found, but after lunch we paddle along a leafy-edged river bed and then down a rocky dried river bed and then slowly on and up, and on and up yet further. This is now a truly tough day - energy levels pack up for a couple of us on the long haul up to the campsite. We drag ourselves into camp. Revived by more sweet tea, some of us explore the local area with its amazing rock scenery before another stunning meal. It's a cold night though with wind whipping through the tent walls but at least that deafens the sounds of snoring!
Day 4: Ridge Walk par excellence, history and nature A cold front and rain has been forecast so the planned canyon walk is 'off' due to a real risk of flash floods, but the day dawns with a brilliant blue sky and heat and sun - and the daily foot clinic. A superb ridge walk gives fine views of the desert far below and we trot past Nabatean ruins (linked with Petra's peoples) - see top image. Ancient terraces follow our route across rocky plateaux, full of rock formations, and an ancient petrified forest lies shattered at our feet. It's a wonderful afternoon trek across rocky tracks and great views in glorious sunshine - no sign of that cold front (thank goodness!). We turn a corner and find our camp (easily identified by the bright tents and two accompanying portaloos!) tucked into an amazing sculptured rock hideaway. It's a wonderful place to rest a while, despite the scorpion nests nearby.
Day 5: The Rocky trail to Little Petra Up at 6.30am 'donkey bray' as usual and we're ready to head out along the valley at 8am. Soon we're heading uphill once again and then through rocks banded with magnificent colour. A little further we head onto easier walking and then pass through unexpected greenery around a water treatment area. Then ever upwards in the hot sun - no breeze today. High walking is hot work and a tea stop is much appreciated. The long descent includes rock faces with the barest of tracks - even the donkeys hesitate at one point - until we reach a huge sand dune and then it's level along the base of the valley populated by goats. As the valley opens out, there's a road - a culture shock in itself - and then on our right is Little Petra: lunch is combined with buying goodies to take home in the stalls at the entrance way but then we head through the narrow gap in the rocks and we're in a new world. Guest houses and tombs punctuate the coloured rock, a large lizard watches us lazily, and the carved entrance ways remain crisp despite being two thousand years old. We explore the ruins like small children, clambering up to view vibrant art on the ceiling and to peer in smoke-blackened carved-out rooms. We still have a campsite to reach though, so it's ever onwards. The heat is greater now and we cross open scenery at a steady pace, glad to find our tents waiting for us, even if they are on a ploughed field! Our cook, Mohammed surpasses himself this evening: a great oven, buried in the ground over burning embers and covered with another fire, stews our meat and vegetables for two hours - it's a feast! From our camp, we can see the lights of the town above Petra. This is our destination tomorrow ...
Day 6: Down a multi-coloured rock-hewn, monument-laden crevasse of a trek to Petra itself. Having bid a grateful farewell and thank you to our cook and the team, we stride out, in the company of a young Tourist Police Officer, towards Petra. The rocks are full of every hue from yellow and orange to purple. As we pick our way down the slabs of rock and over the boulders, dark entrances start to peer at us from the high sides of the gully. Monuments multiply. It's awesome as well as a privilege to approach Petra from this direction. Now we must leave Jack and Skyjuice, our faithful donkeys, too (they're not allowed into Petra). Once down, we turn and head uphill: 800 steps uphill. It's strange to encounter proper steps, although they seem made for small giants. Slowly, slowly, we work our way up to the 'Monastery', a prime site in Petra. We're glad it's early and quiet, and also that we're not climbing this in the baking midday sun. Suddenly we turn a corner and there it is - the magnificent 'Monastery'. It's vast, colourful, awesome. The front door sill is over five feet high but teamwork gets us over it and into the single cell of a room inside. The architecture sours over us. We rest, buy drinks, recuperate and admire the site. Some of us climb to the high viewpoint (as if we hadn't climbed enough!). Then down the 800 steps, pausing for lunch en route at one of the viewpoint shops - we pass crowds and donkeys bearing tourists who are now pouring into the site. After reloading with fresh water, Nader, our wonderful local guide gives us the background of the Nabateans and Petra and then leaves us to explore. There isn't enough time (there never is) but sites include the Roman paved road, the columns, the temples, the tombs, the Byzantine Church, the stalls, the water courses, the amphitheatre ... even these don't prepare us for The Treasury, the great 'Indiana Jones' monument. It towers over us, beautiful, classical but strikingly independent, and breathtaking. Nader treats us to more fascinating information but then it is time to go - out through the narrow gorge, fluid in its shape and colours. Much paved still from ancient times, and edged by carved water courses, it continues uphill for ages - half a mile perhaps. When we surface, there are more monuments lining the road and, joy of joys, ice creams at the end! We indulge and buy souvenirs too. Then I find I've just dropped my camera lens cap yet again: the trekking team have heroically found it several times a day in the wilderness but here it was lost for ever, just hundred of yards from the coach that whisked us away. No doubt some enterprising local will have sold it on a stall by now ...!
Day 7: The Dead Sea Our coach had taken us to a hotel on the north coast of the Dead Sea - a day of rest, refreshment and hotel-shop hopping gives us a chance to clean up (I take a shower to wash away the desert dust and then a bath immediately after to ease the muscles). The World Rally Championship is celebrating its last day just down the road and we're treated to an acrobatic air display overhead. But the main attraction has to be floating in the remarkable ten-times-the-density-of-seawater Dead Sea and smothering ourselves hysterically in the black Dead Sea mud before washing it off in the salty sea and then showering in fresh water. It really does seem to do the skin good - and we feel genuinely cleansed of the desert dust. The sunset over the opaque Dead Sea is just magical and then we spruce up for our final dinner and evening gathers together to celebrate a very successful and enjoyable - and challenging - Charity Trek. Our High Court Judge, Rob, leads a hilarious mock trial of Darren, our leader and, with drinks to follow, it is a perfect way to wind up the shared experience of a trek to remember. My thanks to everyone. It's been a trek to remember - and it's raised thousands of pounds for so many charities - well done to trekkers and sponsors alike.
If you'd like an illustrated
talk on the trek and the charity, please Flora, fauna, local customs, scenery, history, geology, stories ... and the truth about trekking in a dessert!
All Donations
still welcome!
Safe and secure payments by credit card or PayPal.
Gillian Hovell, The Muddy Archaeologist, 18 Nidd Rise, Birstwith, North Yorkshire, HG3 3AP.
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Improving lives through the power of music
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Date this site was last edited: 29 June 2011 |
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