Jordan Journal Day 3

We were up early for showers before breakfast. These are communal, so we got in before the rush. We sat on the veranda and watched the bulbuls waking up. There were also rock sparrows, rock doves, chukar, cragswifts, swallows and a blue bird that one of the guides thought could be a blue rock thrush - one to look up. Breakfast was a weird mixture for us - olives, cream, salad, salty curd cheese, fig jam, boiled eggs, flat bread and then came the chips! Luckily there was some tasty herb tea (Thyme) as well as Nescafe with powdered milk. We soon met our guide Malek who took us on a tour around the area around the village of Dana including the gardens where they grow many good food plants. We also saw a flock of grackles swooping over. Malek pointed out walnut trees, pomegranate, pistachios with tiny berry-like nuts, figs. All is irrigated with a falaj system using water from a spring high up the rock walls of the canyon. Malek pointed out the basaltic columns topping the high cliff, proof that the sedimentary rock of the early geological periods was later covered by volcanic rock - in the Cambrian (?). The village is now inhabited by a few older couples, but most people have moved to the new village a little up the hill, or to the towns where they can get work. There is a plan to make the village into a sort of theme hotel, with people staying in renovated traditional houses as their room with other buildings being cafes, restaurants, shops. The villagers could borrow money for the necessary change, needing to pay back half when they started making profit. It would be the Swiss lending the money for this.

When we had completed our circuit Malek took us into the Dana Hotel for tea and several men who were staying there came through to our covered terrace and gave us a recital of Jordanian music. The 'top' man was head of Radio in Jordan and was holding a workshop over the hill, but staying in Dana. With him were a singer and a lute player from the Jordanian Army music school. Another two men tagged along with them, too. It was great fun and we had a special welcome from the top guy while we drank sweet tea and listened to the Jordanian songs being played. They even played 'Happy Birthday' for Mick who is 42 tomorrow. But at last everyone had to leave, and we walked back to the Guest house for more tea and a 'plan' talk from Mo. We should get ready to leave and then come back to the terrace for a picnic lunch; more binos on birds in the meantime with all the usual suspects. After lunch we had to drive to Petra. We went via Shawbak Castle - a ruin on a stand alone hill in a very sandy desert area. It is also known as Montreal and was constructed by Baldwin I in 115. It was eventually taken over by the Mamlukes. We stopped first on one side and then on the other, to look across the valley at the castle. At our second stop we had a little search for fossils in the roadside bank - not much to be seen but then A looked up over the rocky wall and saw some Autumn Crocus. Climbing up to their level we found a whole load more. 

 

 Then we were back in the bus heading for Petra with the rest of the film to see. This didn't quite end before we arrived at Movenpick Hotel much to the watchers frustration as they had seen most of what was shown today, the day before! We checked in and went up to our room - very pleasant. After showers and changing we went down to the lobby for postcards, then coffee and cake; but we found that the cappuccino place didn't serve cake and the cake café didn't serve cappuccino, so we had to buy the cake and carry it on plastic plates with plastic forks in to the other café for coffee. This is a 5 star hotel!! After writing PCs we went right to the top where there is a roof garden where we met up with the others and sat with a beer watching the sunset. The day was rounded off with salads and pizza in the Red Cave Pizza restaurant. Very relaxing - even a donkey strolled by as we sat outside by the road - there were some very 'fumy' moments. We are to have breakfast early again and be ready for the off by 6.45 to try and beat the crowds walking the Siq into the Petra site.