The latest update

Oh the miles I have travelled.
Iceland was truley a land of contrasts. Volcanic lava and igneious if thats the right word, rock, then within a few ks there was picturesque farmland, or a small village or another fjord. Oh so beautiful and green. One of the highlights was walking on a glacier that was covered with volcanic ash from the latest eruption. The glaciers were sooo close with bits in fact HUGE chunks of glacial ice breaking away and floating right passed to the sea.

Have spent ten days in Scotland and that too very special. Spending time with my cousins and travelling to the highlands. Equally as beautiful as Scotland in a very different way.

Now off to Fance before returning to the UK once more. Will be home soon to deal with the photos and life in the sand of the UAE

London

I'm loving being back here again after all those years... and I can still get around with ease. We have grabbed a few shows while where are in the vacinity....
Jersey Boys, Ab Fab and the character playing Frankie was terific
Sister Act. Good
Stomp. OMG. those guys could make music on anything.Loved the tins composition
Hair. Very 60's knew lots of the songs
Tonight is Avenue Q

Tomorrow we leave for Iceland. A long held desire. Can't put much more distance between there and my family.

Spent the day at Windsor which was fab. The whole trip so far is fab.
Nothing much has changed about London, except the prices. Hyde Park is still great to wander in, St Pauls just as welcoming... walked around on the roof top of the cathedrial.. out side right under the cross, some 184 m from the ground. The people just as wonderful and so much more cosmopolitan.

Loving it all.

Roman and religious times

Our last 4 days were spent in the Amman area heavily influenced by Roman architecture. Amman is a very busy city, tactfully built around the ruins. Amphitheaters, columns, bath houses, the Citadel, all carefully restored and preserved. More of the ancient city of Jerash is being discovered each year through all the archaeological digs. I found this city so exciting to walk around entering through Hadrain's gate and walking down the streets to the market place. It reminded me very much of Rome, seeing the chariot wheel marks in the stones. The technology used to build the amphitheaters with fabulous acoustics was mind blowing.
leaving Amman we moved to the Dead sea area which had all the religious significance. Moses monument over looking the desert he spent 40 years wandering around, and of course Jesus's baptisim site on the bank of the Jordan River. As I dipped my toes in the water, 3 meters across the water was Israeli and their tribute to the baptism site, and a guard with gun watching over us. last but not least nothing beats the tranquility of floating in the Dead Sea at 6:30 am because you can!

Driving Aqaba to Amman.

We drove from Aqaba the port and southern most point of Jordan to Amman 368 ks. Standing on the beach in Aqaba I could see 3 neighbouring countries. The white ferries were leaving for Egypt and a city in Egypt with huge white hotels about 40 mins away, Saudi Arabian desert, now that's a surprise, and across the water was Israel. Security was ever present with many checkpoints as we drove towards Amman. The road runs parallel to Israel, the hills beyond the green strip, and I could visibaly see the traffic moving along the roads. Iraqis are not permitted in this area as they have been known to launch rocket attacks from here to Israel. Moving a little further north we drove through a very fertile area that produces most of the fruit and vegies for Jordam, some of which are exported to the UAE. Along the way you pass Bedouin camps, tents erected in the desert with a herd of goats and a few sheep. This road led us passed the Dead Sea and the salt formations on the rocks. The evening in Amman was spent walking a few streets exploring. Summer is wedding time therefore, because of the popularity of the season and limited venues, couples wed any day of the week. Marriage is different here. An engagement decrees the signing of the legal marriage contract, and an opportunity to then set the date. The wedding day is the day the groom gives his wife gold jewelery. Essam our driver spent 15,000 Jordain Dinar on his wife's jewelery, equivalent 15,000 British Pounds....... and that doesn't include the house, the furniture, the reception for many many guests, and all the other weddings regalia. Our time on the streets allowed us to see 3 weddings at various venues, and the guests dressed oh so beautifully. The bridal cars are decorated with huge bouquets of flowers "glued"??? onto the boot and bonnet. And lastly the lonely barbers shop.

Wadi Rum

We moved from Petra to Wadi Rum, the red sand dessert for day 3, our day / night camp in the desert. The camps are found around an overhang in the rock, set up ready for the tourist. Living is mostly in the open under the over hang with mats and large cushions placed on the sand for seating and in our case sleeping. They do have erected tents available for privacy, but the outdoors and fresh air won hands down over a stuffy tent. We arrived around lunch time and waited until 4:30 when the temperatures had decreased, ever so slightly to about 40. Part of the desert experience includes a trip around the desert in a 4 x 4 vehicle and a bit of dune bashing, careering up and down the sand dunes, bloke style. Wadi Rum was the home of Lawrence of Arabia so we visited the remains of his house, minus Peter O'Toole of course. The rock formations are so huge, and vast. Note the white ute parked at the base of pic 2. It looks like a wee dot on the bottom left hand coner. As evening closed in there were a number of camel caravans returning home. This one had father and his two small sons. A Yemeni man came by and allowed us an opportunity to have a small ride on his camel who had attitude, before he too disappeared between one of the many rock formations. That night I joined our hosts and a few Bedoiun from neighbouring camps, watching the football final. Coverage was from a jury rigged satellite dish to a TV in the middle of the sand. It would only ever happen in the desert.

The ancient city of Petra

We walked down the dusty road and passed between the giant rocks and suddenly we were walking through the cavernous rocks towards the ancient city of Petra. Petra city existed as a market, meeting place, hidden city from Romans and marauding tribes on the route of the camel caravans from the port of Aqaba in the Sth to Mecca in Saudi in the east. I loved the treasury building which was also the calendar. 12 columns, 31 flowers, 7 animals all carved into the rock. I also climbed the 1000 steps, up and up to the Monastery right at the top with spectacular views of the surrounding area and the valley of Wadi Arabia. Petra too is the home of the Bedouin people, who wander, tend their flock of animals, make and sell jewelery in Petra and are so apt at hiding between rocks and in the caves. We met Essam's best friend Tazarn who is Bedouin, born in a cave in Petra. He took us out onto a rocky hill top by his tent were we enjoyed billy tea Bedouin style and his stories. For a man who can't read and write, his English was spectacular. There are lots of kids making a dinar or two offering camel and donkey rides to the tourists. School is not a priority for this group, instead they prefer to learn the language of the tourist and gather what un-taxable revenue they can. Hash was also evident and available. I watched this old lady make herself this cigarette as she sold her jewelery. Somewhere in and around these hills and caves lives the NZ lady who wrote the book Married to a Bedouin, which is for sale from her shop in the newer town of Petra. So old, so fabulous and so hidden away.