Wadi Rum, Petra
18.12.2003 | Petra, Jordan
Yesterday I visited Wadi Ram, desert area where TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) was attacking Turkish trains on Hejaz railway, connecting Damascus with Mecca. The movie was also in part shot here. I would have never entered the area without knowing that some two hours behind me Oliver, Sandra, Klaus and Barbara were coming. Namely, we didn't choose the normal road all the tourists do, but an access through a side valley, close to Saudi border, which is rarely used and under police control. First I was challenged with some kilometres of mud and then softer sand came. No major problems at all, but later I waited for the others at a beduin tent. I have almost no pictures from yesterday; I could rarely stop and driving needed my complete concentration.
Wadi Rum, off-road
17.12.2003 | Wadi Rum, Jordan
Tilen si fine but his car got in trouble. This is what he says: “OK, just that I foolishly made a mistake twice and Oliver had to pull out of the sand. On bumps everything flew from the car-roof, we fixed that. When we pulled with toyota, the thrust bent the hook of the car, the front frame is also slightly bent. No special crisis, but neither I’m jumping into the air from joy. Torque fenomenal.”
Aqaba – The blue Red Sea
16.12.2003 | Aqaba, Jordan
I was planning to stay in Petra with Barbara and Klaus yesterday, but as we arrived there after a rainy night and a very foggy morning (I couldn't drive faster than 70kph!) around noon, the weather there was also awful. So we continued on to Aqaba, but only after we all together repaired a tyre of Oliver's and Sandra's Toyota, they were namely in Petra as well. We were being extremely wise, but nobody has tried it before. We were reading German, English and Spanish instructions, watched the figures, being very smart, full of advices, everybody tried a bit, but surprisingly, the tyre is fixed and the air isn't escaping any more. Alhamdulillah!
Who's travelling around
15.12.2003 | Jordan
On my journey I've come across with many people, mostly locals, but also with some from ex-Yugoslavia, like Nina and Marija from Belgrade who are studying Arabic in Dimashq, Nidal from Zagreb that lives and works in Libanese Sidon, as well as a McDonald's manager in a small Lebanese town near Syrian border (OK, I had to spend the last Lebanese lira) who asks me upon my arrival: "Are you from Ljubljana?" and that in fluent Croatian! He was married in Bosnia, but those times are a matter of the past.
Live report tonight
14.12.2003 | Jordan
Tonight (the night of 14. to 15.dec.2003) at 2:15 AM Tilen will report live on the program of Radio Slovenija. (by Rok)