Hiking the Jordan Trail

The Jordan Trail

The Jordan Trail is a newly designated official trail that traverses Jordan from North to South. It’s gaining popularity since National Geographic featured an article on it a few years ago, saying "the hike sets you up to enter Petra in a receptive frame of mind, ready to absorb the mystical qualities of the Rose Red City."

I joined two work friends to hike a small portion of the trail, from Dana to Petra, and kick off my sabbatical. We went through a Jordanian travel company named "Experience Jordan" and booked a 5 day trek, plus a couple extra days for Wadi Rum and the Dead Sea. 

We started in Amman, Jordan, the capital of Jordan and a large city. We met our guides, Mahmood and Taz, and our group of 14, which varied in age from 24 to 66. Just like Istanbul, Amman was unseasonably cold, and I was worried I didn’t have warm enough clothes especially for tent camping in the desert. Luckily, I was able to pop into a shopping mall and buy a (cute) winter jacket on clearance from a shop called the American Store. We departed early the next morning to Dana to begin our hike.

View of the trail from the Dana Reserve 

Those First Few Steps

We descended into the misty valley from the Dana Reserve. It’s a poignant moment to take the first few steps of what you know is going to be a journey of many, many steps. We walked all day, slowly getting to know each other and our own legs. That first night we set up our first camp, and by “we”, I mean we walked into camp where the team supporting us had already pitched our Coleman tents and transported our big, overnight bags. I was assigned a roomie, an awesome nurse anesthetist originally from Philly but living in Hawaii. We had a our first Bedouin-style dinner, sitting on cushions in a tent, enjoying a family-style meal prepared by our cook. The food on the trip was simple, fresh, full of herbs, delicious and satisfying. I’m sure our enjoyment of the meals was also amplified by 7-8 hours of walking a day. I’m not sure if I’ve ever eaten with such gusto.

Home Sweet Trail Home

Life with the Bedouins

The food in Jordan is what I’d describe as a mix of Mediterranean and Arabic. We ate a lot of rice with vegetables and meat, and mezzas - hummus, lebenah (a creamy, rich yogurt), baba ganoush (smokey eggplant dip) and cucumber, tomato, and parsley salads with pita bread. The first night we had lamb meatballs with peppers and onions in a curry over rice. Again, it might be the exhaustion, but it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

Dinner Time

The second day, we had two Bedouin guides and their donkeys join us, because despite how many times our Jordanian guides had walked the trail, they still didn’t know the terrain well enough to navigate through the mountains. I should mention that the Jordan trail is not marked like the long, through-trails in the U.S, and I think it would be impossible to navigate without the help of local guides.

Bedouin Guides on the Jordan Trail

A Bedouin and his donkey

Group Dynamics

Walking for many hours a day left plenty of time for both silent contemplation and getting to know our group. Personal opinion here, but it takes a generally interesting person to want to visit the Middle East and do a wilderness hike. In our group, there was a guy from Vegas who had spent four years in his twenties traveling the U.S. in a train with the Ringling Brother’s Circus. A lawyer who had converted away from Mormonism and retired at 55. A trio from Australia who were all in their mid-60s and could keep up and/or beat the youngest of us. The young geologists also from Australia who worked in mining. It was a diverse group and made for many hours of interesting conversation. Our Jordanian guides were also very good and very involved. They made such a funny duo, Mahmood a young, energetic guy recently out of school, and Mutaz (Taz for short), a serious and thoughtful man in his early 30s with a passion for the outdoors. They were willing to share so much of themselves and their lives, our friendship with them added a lot of substance to our trip and to our understanding of their country.

Group photo on the trail

Views from the trail

The second night we camped on a cliff with a brilliant view of the mountains. It was reminiscent for me of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, they way they gently folded into the distance. The wind was so strong that night, we thought we might blow away.

Unique Desert Terrain

The trail itself was very beautiful and different then other terrain I’ve walked through. It was desert, but not the flat or sand dune covered walk I might have expected. We climbed up and down, through and around the dessert mountains, frequently pausing in awe of the long views over the land. We were close enough to see the West Bank.

Also as an aside, we drank a lot of tea on the trail - usually black tea steeped with fresh herbs such as mint, sage, or wormwood, giving the tea a deep, strong flavor. I had tea break withdrawal when our trek was finished.

My favorite campsite was nestled among strange rocky formations that looked like skulls. Next to our site were structures that had been carved into the rocks that our guides estimated to be 2,000 years old and had been likely used for crushing grapes and making wine. It was also warm enough that I was finally brave enough to take a camp shower consisting of a cup and bucket of water. Again because of the warmth, we stayed up “late” that night, lounging on our cushions in the Bedouin tent, talking about topics ranging from religion to tax law. We were so exhausted every day, staying up past 9 pm felt extreme.

Camping among ancient archeological sites

Relaxing in the Bedouin tent

Part 2 of my Jordan Adventure is next - Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea!

Turkish Delites

I'm taking a three month sabbatical from work. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, and I was finally able to make it happen. I'm spending the first couple of months traveling and the remaining time with my mother. She finally scheduled some much needed surgery, so I'll be helping her R&R. In the next two months, I'll be visiting seven countries, six of which I've never been to before. It's a little bit shocking that I'm already three weeks in and have visited four countries. 

FIRST UP - 48 HOURS IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY

I'm doing most of this trip solo but started with friends, my travel buddies from work. In 2017 we hiked the Salkantay Trail to Machu Picchu together, and this year we decided to do the Jordan Trail to Petra. On the way to Jordan, we stoped in Istanbul for a couple of nights. Because we only had one full day, we arranged a private guide to show us around. It was worth every penny to get the most out of our short time. He not only added a lot of knowledge, but was able to save us time getting into the most popular sites because of the expedited, separate "guide" entrance lanes. 

We started our morning in the drizzly cold but eventually the sun came out. The same places we had been in the morning were nearly unrecognizable, the sunshine transformed the city so vibrantly.

Hagia Sofia (Morning)

Hagia Sofia (Afternoon)

Hagia Sofia is a fascinating place. It was a church for 916 years and a mosque for 482 years. It's also super old, making it's construction and existence even more impressive. At the time of it's creation, it was such an achievement that it became a blueprint for many grand places of worship that followed.

When Hagia Sofia was converted into a mosque, they built the minarets, covered up Christian mosaics and paintings, and added verses from the Koran. Plaster was used to cover up the bright gold Christian mosaics, accidentally preserving them quite well. Today Hagia Sofia is not used for religious services and is under restoration. In some parts, they're restoring the original Christian images, in others the Islamic additions. The coexistence of Christian and Muslim symbolism is quite beautiful. 

Inside of Hagia Sofia

These use to be candles

Out a window of Hagia Sofia

Uncovered mosaic from the Christian period in Hagia Sofia

We also visited the Blue Mosque, which is still an active mosque today. It was also under construction.

Inside the Blue Mosque

Blue Mosque

The Blue Mosque and Hagia Sofia are practically next to each other, as is the cistern - and underground aquifer. I recognized it immediately from a scene in Dan Browns' Angels & Demons. It was quite spooky and dark. Unfortunately the water was drained for cleaning while we were there, as I'm sure the reflections in the water would have made it even cooler and spookier. Hagia Sofia was built reusing many materials such as columns from earlier pagan temples, and the underground cistern was built using columns they didn't use for Hagia Sofia. It was very odd to see these beautiful, ornately carved, marble columns that were covered with water for hundreds of years for a purely functional purpose. 

The Cistern

The Medusa Column

We then headed to another, less crowded mosque that was not under construction. Afterwards, we sat at a rooftop cafe, sipping tea while the call to prayer started. There are many mosques in the city, and each do their own call to prayer which starts when the sun reaches a certain point. It was as if we were listening to a chorus - it started with one call, then the next joined, and the next, and so on, until we were surrounded by an echoing symphony. 

We walked through Istanbul's famous bazaars and spice market, which are truly overwhelming in the people and smells, but also very beautiful in the colors and textures. We bought some Turkish delights, which I had never seen in the "log" form before. They are much fresher and tastier than the cube version. My favorite was a rose flavored one covered in rose petals and pistachios. 

Istanbul Bazaar

Spice Market

We finished the day by taking a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul. The city is split between two continents, Europe and Asia.

Shoreline of Istanbul

Of course while in Turkey, I had to try Turkish coffee. It is very thickly brewed and strong with cardamon, and served in a small cup. The first time I had coffee with cardamon, I wasn't a fan, but it's grown on me tremendously. 

Turkish coffee with a Turkish delight

Istanbul street at night

I'm very glad we stopped in Istanbul and saw as much as we did in such a short time, but I'd definitely love to come back and see more of the city and more of Turkey.