Jordan -Ā All colors of sand
Wadi Rum | Petra
March 2018
At first you know nothing and see nothing. Everything has the pinky color of sand. Sand, sand everywhere. Even the air is full of tiny grains of it, so for most of the day it's quiteĀ boring place for photographer. And unwelcoming, too. All those lizards, scorpions and snakes. We fear of what we don't know. I am happy for that, becauseĀ this common human feature often makes the places I visit empty.
On the pictures you can see most popular destinations of Jordan - Wadi Rum dessert and Petera, one of world's new 7 wonders. I tend to escape beaten tracks (well you won't find them in martian-like landscape of Wadi Rum anyway) and seek solitude. You don't have to stay in Bedouin camp in the desert. Although it's great experience itself, Bedouins love freedom and they let you be free. Set your own camp, if you want. Sleeping under the rocks and mighty skies was one of the most memorable experiences.Ā No matter viper, who my friend scared in the morning, no matterĀ scorpion, whose sleep we disturbed while playing stupid game of throwing rocks. Don't do that on the desert. Don't even try.
Petra - city carved in rock, is so crowded during the day that you just want to sit and drink coffee with locals. But hey, after three days on place you discoverĀ tiny, but no less interesting trails.Ā If you try hard, you can even sleep in one of the "caves" (they used to be toms, btw). I loveĀ the smell of coffee straight from the tomb, with morning view over 3000-years old city, when you can actually feel being a part of it.
Tourism in Jordan has dropped almost 80% after 2010 and rising of ISIS. Why? Because people don't really know the difference between Jordan and Syria? Or because they just don't care about the region? Was Hungary dangerous in the times of Yugoslavian war? Now, when the situation has calmed down, tourists are coming back to Petra and Wadi Rum, most spectacular destinations in Jordan. Their number reached 700k in 2017, still far from the record of 1 mln in 2010.
