The plan

After a tough decision-making phase. After changing the sense of the trip, the emotions, getting mixed between North and South. After dealing with ourselves and our shadows, our strengths, imposed by our fears. After staring at each other's eyes and throw the dice to destiny, and loose, and risk everything at once, at a one last opportunity, and win.

After all this. Now.

We have a plan.

I'm not showing the plan because it's just a draft. I don't want to feel like following a line, a model, a established guide. I want to have the frames within the limits of what can be done, but that's it. Nothing else.

We are two, this time. Two comrades. One destination. One goal.

Zizo, a.k.a. el-Shahat, and me, Liam, a.k.a. el-Basha.

Destiny met us together for the same trip. We met before in life, even before that, probably, somewhere in the Sea of China in the 18th Century of probably sailing on expeditions centuries before that.

But we only remember the last 20 something years. And this is what we really care about.

Everything is almost ready. And this is how we like it.

The journey starts.

The Route

Step 1. Cairo airport

Cairo airport, where we received help from Umberto and Alberto, from the Berto's family. Little cute italian bastards!

Amman, Jordan

The journey starts. And we are two privileged guys since we have Ms. Farah Haji to show us part of her  country.

Our hostel, The Farah, is in Downtown as it has all what is needed for a 2-day stay.
Farah, always smiling, took us to dinner and to some places to hang out with his friend. Here, if you don't share 2 or more nationalities, you are special.
It's funny seeing Zizo using Jordanian words in the conversation. And it's amazing how many Egyptians live and work in the country.

On our second 'journée', we went to the North: Jerash (and its Roman

temples and theatre) and Oum Quays, from where we could appreciate Israel, Syria, the Lake Tiberian and the Heights of Golan. It was incredible!

It's also true that the weather here is not the Egyptian one. It's cold. Well, during the day is ok (even if it rained so hard for a while on the road) but after the sunset...brrr!
We will see how it goes in Wadi Rum.
Our meals are nice. Foul, Falafel, Fatoush, Sambusek, Hummus...food is good, in general. Similar to the Egyptian one. And it's cheap compared to the rest of the economy.

We planned to share a home made meal at the Haji's, which made us bring all the program one day in advanced.
It seems that everything is going to be fine though.
We have our transportation tomorrow at 4:30 am. It's going to be hard.

The real journey starts.

Wadi Rum

We did it to get a transportation. 80 JD was actually a price for tourists, far more expensive than what we dealed: 50JD.
We departed at 5am (hell yeah!) so we could arrive to Rum on time to catch a desert trip. We did and, what is usual, we had to wait a bit. Salem has a nice business. Everything is well organized while we one can visit all the spots: Lawrence's spring, Lawrence's house and the canyons. I got some red sand with me (Jojo, I told you I would). Also in my shoes, jeans, socks...

I thought a lot of Gandalf (because of the very restricted fireworks prohibition in Jordan) and the rest of the hobbits. I wonder how they are, alone in the wild sands of Siwa Oasis. Poor little ones.
Time is just a senseless thing that happens when you are in the Desert. It makes you think of people, places and feelings you think you forgot. But you didn't.

We are on our way to Amman  Petra now. 25JD for a taxi. We were waiting for the bus, but it crashed in the morning so it was unlikely that it could make it.
I always find funny the people you meet while traveling and the coincidences. The coincidences.
A Canadian family (with 2 little girls) traveling around the world for 8 months (yes, you read well). Two Spanish doctors, working in Jericho and Gaza (Palestine). And so others.

Wadi Rum is a must even if you the Egyptian Deserts. It's Sinai style but wider. It's spectacular and very touristic. But it keeps its charm.

We are approaching Petra. Our 3rd step. Indiana, watch out! Here we come!

Petra. The match

Petra is difficult to explain.

After being there, our ideas are that it's amazing, too touristic, very big, very cool, exhausting, expensive, dusty, cold, hot, 1JD for Arab nationals and 55JD for the rest, crowded, Indiana Jones (of course), unbelievable.

After a nice dinner with local food (so many different ways of cooking aubergine) and GREAT live Arab music (oud, tabla -darbuque- and voice), Zizo remember 'la partita' (the match).

And yes, they show the Egyptian league in Jordan, and yes, he found a local bar where the
match is being shown, so I'm eventually 'alone' (Zizo is addicted to Ahly -please note that I used the adjective 'addicted'), enjoying a shisha while writing this post.
At least Ahly is winning 3-2!
Jordan nights are very cold this time of the year. And Petra is not the exception.
After our visit to Petra, we met Ali Hasanat to finish planning our next step from tomorrow. We extended our original plan... and it seems to be a great plan!
G! This is one of the best shishas ever!

Questions?

The top 3 questions in the trip till now:
1- Where are you from?
2- you too?
3- why do speak Italian to each other?!

Wadi eh?

Again. Up at 6:15am.

Breakfast and arrive to Petra.

This time was a bit different because, after trekking the 'hard way' we could enjoy a great panorama view of Petra from above.

We trekked pretty fast and we took many time-out's [pray time in Petra right now -Adhan al-Asr] It amazed me to find the oldest bedouine woman after a hard down way through a canyon. We asked her if she lived there... and the answer was no. She treks there everyday (con 2 cojones).

We continued off track after that and we reached a nice part of Petra, off the touristic way, where we enjoyed excavated houses, tombs and wild valleys just before going back to the track that led us to the

monastery.

I could say that trip's main characteristic is one: human relations.

We crossed with people who we met at the hostel (which is pretty normal) and also with people from Wadi Rum and so many bedous.

And bedous are bedous everywhere -wink, wink.

Oops! I just found a hair in my kebab. But hey, if it doesn't kill you, it makes you... exactly: sick!

We just left Petra to Wadi Araba.

Nights in the desert

'This is the story of a bedouin guy who went to live in the city. 
One day, the bedouines went visit him. 
There was a beautiful woman with them.
The guy fell in love with her and started visiting the bedouin village every now and then.
He wanted to marry her.
But one day, when he arrived to the village, the bedouines had gone for good. 
And he just found the fire of the camp. 
Alone.
He became a poet and walked the land singing this story until he found her and married her'

This song was sing by the bedouine father/sheikh with the help of a 'rababa' played by himself.
We are all sat around the fire, in a tent in a village, in the middle of nowhere.
It's the most bedouine night of our lives.

PS: at the end of the story, the couple became zombies. Sorry.

Wadi Araba to Wadi el-Ghweyr

The point of sleeping in the restaurant-tent of the camp is: you are the last one going to bed, and the first one waking up.

The night went on through stories, music and silences.
I reflected how this and a few songs can be the whole fun that bedouines can have and enjoy it.
A place where 'to have' is reduced to the things you need to live:
fire, tent, food, animals, water and a 'rababa' (not the German fruit). And that's it. No HTC phones, iPods, plasma TV's, A/C...not even a door for the tent.

A place where receiving visitors (like us) is the event of the month (probably twice a month).
In the middle of nothing. A place known for its tomatoes plantation.

The bad thing? Dogs barking the whole night. Full moon is almost ready.

We just said bye to Stephanie and Esther, two nice Deutsche with who we shared those nice moments at the bedou family.

And now, we are the ready for the first step into the wild: Wadi el-Ghweyr.

Yalla ba2a!

Family

When we arrived back to the tent, we had time to see a great sunset over Isralestine. And, swearing on the East, a 99% full yellow moon, right over the red mountains. I could use all my imagination, but still I'd be missing words to describe this landscape.

We are tired and a bit hungry. While they cook dinner, we sit at the fire and ask Mohamed about his family. He said he has other 8 brothers.
Then Zizo asked him naturally if they all are from the same mother.
And he replied naturally as well: Yes.
They take care of the sheeps and goats, of the house and of each other. Some go to the school to study Arabic. Others just to study a bit. Little Ammar just mentioned the words he knows in English and
their meaning. It was so funny!
We are receiving new people all the 5 minutes. Friends of friends, neighbors. They act like a big family, a whole community. Our guide, Musa, is 26 years old and has one girl of 2 and a half. He wants a boy
but Allah will decide if he comes or not. I wondered what if tourists stop coming or it doesn't rain for the tomatoes. I guess the community will take care of him and his family.
This is not communism. It's being human.

We do have so many things to learn and install in 'our' ways of life from this humble people.
Wadi el-Ghweyr was great. Nature at its best. Water, canyons, palm trees, snakes, frogs (just random unkissable frogs).

I don't know what time we are going to bed tonight but the rythm of the trip is starting to affect us a bit.
The dog is still barking and echoing in the valley. They didn't let me go for it to cook it for dinner (we are not in Korea)


Anyway, we are departing tomorrow at 6am. We'd better sleeping soon.

Dhana

Man! The trekking in Wadi Dhana is barely done way up. And now we know why.
After arriving, we discovered the real meaning of being exhausted and also the benefits of a warm shower.

The view of the valley is breathtaking. It took 6 fair hours with 5 stops including one for tea and another for lunch. The worst, the last part, under the town.
Dhana is small. Houses are spared in the mountain, a bit concentrated in what should be Downtown. All made of stone walls and mud roofs. We have views of the whole valley from the terrace of the place we are
staying.

It's so beautiful, guys.
Musa warned us that Mahmoud would pick us up tomorrow at 7am to go to Wadi Mujib to climb a bit just before enjoy the warmth of the Dead Sea. I believe we are going early to bed, after dinner and surely after a nice speech with our friend from Tenesse, Jack.
I can't see any zombies around, what makes me feel safe up here. The hobbits would be happy in this town since it reminds a bit of 'The shire' (but with taller people).
We see tourist kids everywhere (meaning the touristic places). I wouldn't write this unless it were funny to us. It's a good thing, I think. And Zizo falls in love with kids as usual. Don't think bad!

I want to make a point over the fact that Zizo owes me 10 beers (also true that I decided to share 5 with him). Why? Because I was right when I told him that if the words in arabic start with T, D, L, R, Z, N, S, R, DH, SH, TH, the 'Lam' (L) in the article turns into the first letter of the word (like making it double). E.g. al-Sayara (the car) would be pronounced [as-sayara].

10 beers at Horreya, Zi!

Finally Blogging

Yes it's me, Zizo, aka AbdelAziz el masry in Jordan!
This is actually the first time i blog, but after watching one of the most beautiful sunsets i've ever seen i felt like writing.
We are currently very tired and waiting for dinner so let me introduce you to Abu Ibrahim's family (the bedouin family who hosted us for the last couple of days) Abu Ibrahim himself is 59 and has 9 sons and daughters. He was very welcoming and served us at least 6 glasses of tea in less than an hour. After dinner he spent 2 hours playing with his handmade Rababa (musical instrument, similar to violin) for us. Very nice guy.
The oldest son, who we barely met, is a chef at the hotel close to the area. His brothers respect him to an extent that shocked us.
Mousa is the second oldest, he was our guide and his wife cooked for us great food on both nights. I am sure William, Guillermo's name here, has already said a lot about him.
Then comes Yasser, in his early twenties. Yasser was convinced that William got drunk after one drink of our number 7 friend, Jack. On the first night he wouldn't sleep until he made sure we went to sleep, he
was really enjoying having us.
Aly, my second favourite. Aly emptied his phone's battery making me watch football clips. He doesn't support a specific team, he rather loves good football in general! I watched at least ten clips.
Mohamed spent two days practicing his English. He doesn't speak very well but he is very passionate about it and is doing his best to improve it. He also has a book to study from. He served each of us tea
at least 35 times, really!
Omar is very shy and quiet. I tried to speak to him a few times but he wouldnt say a word. He seemed very nice though but i can't be sure.
Finally Ammar, my favourite. Ammar is 9 years old and is very intelligent. He smiles all day long and is always willing to help.
Being the youngest brother, he was always asked to do stuff like getting light from the other tent, getting tea, etc..he always did those things very happily and still keeping the smile. On the second night, after he got more comfortable around us, he started saying the abc in English as well as other words and what they mean. Shockingly, he knows a lot. If i could, i would have taken Ammar with me to Egypt.
Abu Ibrahim has two daughters but we never saw them, that's how the bedouins do things. I will explain all about this in my next post, if it ever gets written. I will definitely be posting photos of this great family!

Time and Km.

The amount of time you have in a trip changes completely its nature.
If you take a map and a guide (please avoid Lonely Planet) you can
hardly find 'things to see/do' in Jordan for more than 10 days. I mean
interesting things, I don't mean to visit the last little town near
the border with Irak.
Well, so then, why did we find people in Jordan for 3-4 weeks?
I'm sure their budget is less than ours, even for the triple of time.
If we had had 3 weeks we'd have gone to the South by hitch hiking, as
we planned first. Same for the trip from Dhana to Wadi Mujib.
Camera's battery lost its first stripe (of three) yesterday. It's a
shame I forgot the charger in Cairo and my 18-55mm zoom in Seville.
From 55mm is not good for landscapes, but I don't think I could take
all of it in one only picture, so...
We are approaching Tafilah through the mountains road. Isralestine is
hard to see due to the fog and the curves while writing in the back
seat are making the best of my stomach. At least I can listen to my
music after recharging the devices (finally electricity!)

[UNKLE - Lonely Souls]

We stayed at Dana Tower, a backpackers managed by Nabil, who looks
like Muammar Ghazzafi. I couldn't take a pic but you can ask Zizo. It
was great last night at the common room where we all stayed killing
time, when suddenly some friends brought a cake to a girl singing
Happy Birthday and stuff. We were from everywhere, mostly Dutch. And
even from Israel, what, to say the truth, was a bit shocking. Anyway.

[Oasis - Talk tonight]

I miss in some way the family of Abu Ibrahim. It's hard to explain.
And I'm dreaming a lot. I did of my father last night.
I can't wait to do the trekking in Wadi Mujib. I've been told about
it. And then, Dead Sea (Bahr el-Mayet), deepest place on Earth, 10
degrees more than in the surface, salty water, sun...relax! It was a
good idea to leave it for the last step.

[John Lee Hooker - Baby please don't go]

I'm sad the trip is about to end. It seems like weeks since we
started. But I have to admit that I miss Cairo a bit (I never thought
I could write that) and would like to take a rest for a few days. But
I already have ideas for the next trip. And I realized that thinking
in relative terms is a dangerous thing.
I remember the looks of the people here when we explain that what we
spend in one week in Jordan would be enough for almost two months in
Egypt. Of course, we are on a spending duty because we are traveling,
but still the truth is not far.

[Pearl Jam - Just Breathe]

Dead Sea

Other than expected. I see no zombies, vampires nor any other kind of undeads. So I guess they call it 'Dead' because there are no fish.
We are staying at Amman Tourist Beach (the one for tourist), which is plenty of local families spending a nice Friday holiday.
It's warm. Very nice. And we do float. Even me! This was a surprise. I took some pics to show to the hobbits. Maybe he'll stop me 'fatty' (ciccio). Anyway, I doubt we (Zizo included) could properly float now, after such a meal we just had.
Our mistake when we arrived was diving into the sea. I'm sure that any guide (I would not risk saying that even Lonely Planet) has a warning like 'avoid to put the water in contact with eyes, lips and wounds'.
Yes. So much pain in eyes and lips. We can say it. And you can't scratch either because your hands are cover with the salty water as well. Ouch! But this happened just once. We learn from our mistakes.
Yeah!
I forgot to mention that we sadly had to skip Wadi Mujib today. We arrived already a bit late and the tour was supposed to last around 3 hours. Zizo was too tired and I didn't feel like to do it alone and in a hurry to reach Dead Sea later. Just want to say that Wadi Mujib seems like a family adventure park pretty much. We decided on the spot to leave and enjoy the Dead Sea.

We feel relaxed now and much less tired so I believe it was the right choice.

Now that I see my arms (or Zizo's face), I can't say if we are tanned, burnt or dirty.

We'll know after the shower.

11/11/11

Just realized that today is 11/11/11.
It's a weird date and I never thought to be in one of the weirdest
places on Earth.
Zizo told me a few days ago: 'if you had asked me 5 or 3 years ago
that I'd be here today, I'd have said it was impossible'. This was
also valid for me.
More than weird, it's funny how life can change. And what is really
funny is how we don't want to realize that this changing is the normal
thing.
All our dreams are made of strawberry lemonade...

Football. Kora!

Without asking, the guy at the reception told us why the streets are so empty. We thought it was because it was the Friday after Eid el-Adha. We couldn't be more wrong.
It wasn't for that.
The new opium of the people today is back into action: football.
Jordan is playing tonight in one of those games that we hardly hear about in the news.
Against who?
Against Singapur.
I'm not kidding.
And yes, Singapur has a football national team.
Now, keep it easy, guys. We are watching the game drinking an frozen beer and I can tell that any of the teams will be a menace in the World Cup 2014.
Spain, Egypt, Italy, USA, Holland and the others have nothing to be scared about.
The stadium is full of people, apparently because Prince Aly, king's brother, is there supporting the team.
And this is something remarkable. These guys are so patriotics. Really.
If there'd be something in common in the whole country, this is flags and pictures of the king Abdallah, his father Hussein (who looks like Sean Connery, by the way) and sometimes the here prince (wait, Zizo is
asking the name)... ... Hussein (very original).
Well, these things/symbols are everywhere. If they had just set a big flag/picture hanging from the Treasure in Petra, I wouldn't had felt weird.
But back to our situation, in this creepy bar, with 8 other people, watching the game, I can say that I am extremely happy and satisfied with the trip.
And I think Zizo is as well.

Jordan is winning 1-0.
And it was a nice goal!

The End

Good morning, Amman!
Today is our last day in Jordan. It feels like a day off.
Jordan won the match last night and we celebrated as if it were the World Cup (well, I'm exagerating a bit).
Farah invited us to an engagement party and we accepted. I'm not an expert in Jordanian society, but the villa was very nice and the people, chic and happy.
The party was cool but we didn't stay long. We were tired.
We were two when we went to bed, but three when we woke up.
I have named my headache as Manolito.
I wondered why Manolito is torturing me today and maybe the 5 beers and the half liter of 'Ara' have something to do with it.
Or maybe it was the ice of the drinks.

As in all stories, there is always a sad part: we had a funeral in the morning. Jack passed away.
I'm sure that the people from Tennesse can easily understand this, but it's a sad event anyway.
He was a good friend who make our nights better. He traveled all around Jordan like one of us. A friend, a comrade.
We will never forget you, Jack.
See you in the oceans.
Taking advantage of a calmed day, we are remembering the people and places we met. Also wondering and asking each other about passed facts or comments we heard. The time, once again, plays tricks. It's just a
week and it seems like a month.

Farah is supposed to meet us in a while to say 'see you in a few days'. She's coming to Cairo in three weeks for a few days. Holidays.

It will be great to see her again.

The adventure is almost finished, guys. I feel funny being back in a city after so many days in a different world, kind of.

And tonight, the city of the cities, the megalopolis, the continuous beating heart of 20 million souls, 24/7, traffic, dust, Nile and Pyramids.

Cairo.

One-way trips

'The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page'
-St. Augustine.

We have our boarding tickets, handbags, music and book. Just waiting, waiting and waiting.
One more hour and we will be on the plane.
I don't have the feeling that the trip is over. It is like if we had just started a long trip and next step is Cairo.
I wanted to use this trip, in part, to meditate and reflect about the upcoming future. And I have learnt that questions and answers are two different things that come in different moments, normally when we believe we need them most, moments we can't schedule.
It's impossible to control it even if we try hard. I think that the sooner we understand this, the happier we will enjoy life.
I found lots of unexpected things, not just about the country and its people, but also about human beings like Zizo (for example) and about myself too.

Alright! Time to stop writing.

Now, get ready to change 'Welcome to Jordan' for 'Welcome to Egypt'...or 'Egybt'

Have a great life!
We enjoy it just once...