Monday 25th March

The sun is already climbing in the sky as Smiling Bob collects us from our hotel at 6am. It is too early for breakfast but the hotel has promised to provide a breakfast box to accompany us. Today we leave Sharm El Sheikh for St Catherine's Monastery and Nuweiba, up the Red Sea to the port of Aqaba, our first introduction to Jordan.

With only the two of us aboard the twelve-seater vehicle we become immersed in conversation with our driver and tour guide, too distracted to notice the breakfast box has not arrived? It is a three-hour drive to St Catherine's which sits in a beautiful valley under the shadow of Mt. Sinai (the Mountain of Moses). By this stage we have collected another two passengers, two elderly Scottish ladies who had started their travels from Jordan in the north. They had planned to climb Mt Sinai in the sunrise but were thwarted by bad weather. They had spent a very uncomfortable night on a rocking boat out in the Red Sea - the waves too high to come ashore.

The photographic possibilities excite us as we approach this walled monastery but our guide is keen to dispatch his duties and urges us on. He assures us we will have plenty of time for photography before we leave. This monastery is amazing and we are guided through the ancient stone buildings and old wooden gates, past the original burning bush and then through a room full of skulls and bones belonging to long deceased monks.

"Now," says our guide, "ten minutes for video!"

Our guide had ordered lunch boxes for the four of us and throws them into the back of the vehicle as we take off. The reason for his hurry is becoming apparent. Our ferry boat ride from the port of Nuweiba to Aqaba is in serious doubt due to the continuing conditions that had affected our Scottish friends. The alternative is a long drive up the Sinai Peninsular to the tip of the Red Sea where Egypt, Israel and Jordan all meet. We have hours of travelling ahead and the wafting smell of the food drifting up from the rear smells pretty good to four starving travellers. On requesting a stop we are told to wait a little longer when we will come to a cafe and be able to purchase a drink to accompany the food. After a further haIf an hour our patience is wearing very thin and Brian goes to the back and drags the boxes out, only to find that what was once hot beef stroganoff and rice has now turned stone cold. Brian is normally a very placid fellow, however, with his blood sugar dropping we now have a tiger by the tail!. FOOD NOW! And we pull over to the roadside!

Our exit from Nuweiba is out of the question so we head north for Taba and the Egyptian-Israeli border. Our guide told us this would be tricky but not to worry. We would go through four customs in the next two hours, first of all departing through Egyptian customs and then entering through Israeli customs. Israel is only two miles wide at this point but there was no available transport. We therefore negotiate with a local shop owner to drive us to the Israeli Jordan border at Elat This takes about ten minutes and costs twenty US$ On arrival at Elat it costs a further seventeen dollars each to exit Israel. Pat and I estimate that our brief visit to Israel has cost us about three US$ a minute! And finally we go through Jordanian customs. On the other side we are met by our Petra tours representative and transported to our hotel at Aqaba. In our tour itinerary they had suggested that we didn't forget to pack a sense of humour but today's events have worn this very thin. Had we sighted a bus heading for Auckland we would have very happily hopped aboard!

Tuesday 26th

After a wonderful breakfast we meet Kamal, our tour guide and personal driver for the next four days. Within minutes we are humming along the highway in our own Mercedes Benz on our way to Wadi Rum and Petra.

Kamal, our driver/guide is a wonderful congenial fellow who takes the time to find out what our priorities are and does everything in his power to make sure we meet our goals. In no time we are chatting away and the problems of the previous day have dissolved. On arrival at Wadi Rum we are transferred to a four-wheel drive vehicle with a Bedouin driver called Mohammed Zalabia. This is the land of Lawrence of Arabia where he spent so much of his life. There is even a water spring named after him.

The scenery is very similar to the Arizona desert with tall buttes and deep red sand. Any-one from the South West USA would feel very much at home here. Our driver Mohammed is a most amusing Bedouin. Aged about twenty-six and locally born and bred he claimed to be very successful. He owned a four-wheel drive vehicle (dilapidated as it was), three camels, two wives and a computer! He also had an eight year old son and had just recently married his second wife. Apparently his first wife was continually complaining, making demands and bossing him around so he married a much younger and prettier second wife and since then Wife #1 has been very nice and caring towards him. Our laughter echoed off the canons and buttes as our Land Rover rumbled along. Should any of you wish to visit Wadi Rum we have included Mohammed Zalabia's business card for your future reference.

We arrive at our Petra hotel at 6pm. The altitude is high enough and cold enough for snow. The hotel is the most magnificent that we have stayed in, in our entire lives.

Wednesday 27th March

0ur hotel, the Panorama, certainly lives up to its name. The hotel reception is situated at road level while the rooms drape down the mountainside in tiers. This magnificent spacious hotel has million dollar views from every room. Across the valley atop the distant peaks we can see a tiny dome glinting in the morning sunlight. This is a monument marking the burial spot of Aaron the brother of Moses.

Our day begins with a horseback ride to the entrance of the Siq, which is a narrow, high walled canyon leading to the ancient city of Petra. We walk the entire length of the Siq, which is about a mile, with just a narrow slit of sunlight high above our heads. As we emerge we stand in awe at the sight that greets as, a massive stone structure hewn directly from the solid cliff face. El Khazneh (the Treasury) glows deep red in the morning sunlight and stands in brilliant contrast framed between the dark walls of the canyon. We step out into this brilliant pool of sunlight wondering at the skills and ingenuity of its builders.

We eventually convince ourselves to move on only to discover that El Khazneh is only the tip of the iceberg. Petra is huge, filling the entire valley. We spend this whole day wandering through temples, palaces, barracks and even a huge amphitheatre all carved into the rose pink rock face. There are also hundreds of caves that served as homes and to our amazement huge water systems big enough to supply a modern city. The history books describe Petra as being half as old as time. A long forgotten race of people called the Nabateans built Petra and occupied it from around 600BC to 100AD. Situated on the main camel routes it became very wealthy levying taxes on the passing caravans. This came to an end with Roman occupation around 100AD.

There is some speculation that the three wise men passed through Petra purchasing incense and myrrh for the newly born messiah. We covered almost all of Petra even to the extent of climbing 800 steps to the high place of sacrifice, which overlooks the entire Petra valley. Then we descended down the other side and back to the entrance of the Siq. We estimated that we had walked at least ten miles this day.

Thursday 28th March

Today we drive north on one of the oldest highways in the world - the Kings Highway. We eventually come to the small town of Kerak. We take time out to visit the crusader castle situated atop the mountain with a commanding view of the surrounding district. It is bitterly cold but we fail to notice, transfixed as we are by the fabulous views in all directions. It is easy to see why this spot was chosen, a surprise attack would be impossible from any direction. An approaching army would easily be spotted up to twenty kilometres away.

We leave Kerak heading east descending rapidly into the Jordan valley, very soon passing a sign indicating the point of sea level. Yet ahead and far below, we see the Dead Sea. Our journey heads north along the banks and we are now 400 meters below normal sea level, we are now at the lowest point on earth.

In reality the Dead Sea is little more than a big lake and the temperature down here is considerably warmer than the little town we have just left. Our driver stops while Brian goes down to the water's edge to examine the thick white layers of salt crystals that stretch up the rocky foreshore for about 15 meters. Kamal informs us that the level of the Dead Sea is falling by one meter per year therefore rendering the remaining water saltier. Jokingly we ask Brian why he didn't take a dip and he said he refused to go swimming in anything heavier than he was. Our attention is drawn to the sun glinting on the tips of spires and of minarets high in the hills on the other side. "That's Jerusalem!" exclaims Kamal and we stand aghast. Are we really so close?

We press on, heading north then east, back into the hills climbing rapidly. Soon we are on the summit of Mt Nebo, the biblical resting-place of Moses. From here the view of the Jordan valley is uninterrupted for many miles. Looking due west, we can clearly see the northern tip of the Dead Sea and the river Jordan. To the North-west in a purple haze we can just make out the city of Jericho, the oldest city on earth. Pat and I don't speak much at this point and when we do it is in hushed tones for there is an air of reverence about this place that is commanding. After forty years surviving the rigours of the wilderness and caring for the welfare of the seven tribes of Israel, Moses was to hand over the batten of leadership to Joshua and die on this mountaintop, himself not permitted to enter the promised land.

We continue north along the King's Highway through dramatic changes of country-side. First through a cold barren high country where only the Bedouin will go. Then down onto flat desert plains where nothing grows, not because the soil is infertile, quite the opposite, it is due simply to the lack of water. Kamal says that if you plant it, then water it, the desert will bloom. As we proceed further north we see what a difference a little water can make, everything is green and fertile. We also notice that the Jordanians obviously have a deep love and respect for their King and Queen for their pictures are everywhere along the road-side.

Coming  soon we go on to the last stage of the journey and a note on making the video of it all.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 5 | Behind the camera