Tuesday, January 29, 2008

To where it all began

The night in the desert was freezing.

We had been given the wonderful opportunity of staying the Bedouin, but the downside of this was that the tent we slept provided us with almost no warmth.

Getting to sleep was no problem. The tiredness and bottle of arak made sure of that... it was the getting back to sleep after being woken by cold that was the problem.

When we woke up, we were bundled back into the car and we headed southwards once again.

Our destination was Aqaba.

This port city was the first place Lawrence of Arabia took with the Howeitat he had gathered in Wadi Rum! It was only a short distance away and we were there in no time at all really. A few more games of cards, a few more short banters and before we realised it we could see the sea again.
"Aqaba!? Was it really Aqaba!?" screamed Omar Sharif's character Sharif Ali.

Well it really was for us!
This was the end of the line for my trip with the boys. We were separating at this point. Guy, Chris and Oliee were heading further south and into Egypt, while I was heading back north for different adventures.

We said our goodbyes and I watched as they slowly walked off towards the ferry. It had been fun while it lasted.

However, now I was relishing the opportunity to travel by myself again! I was excited and a little bit nervous at the thought of doing things by myself again.

Before leaving Aqaba, my driver asked me if he minded if he bought some clothes for his children whilst we were in the town. This was fine by me, so while he shopped, I sat in the shade of some nice trees and drank some mint tea.

It was calming and relaxing. What more could I really want?
After we hit the road again, we decided that it was food that we wanted.

So a few hours into the drive up north, we pulled into a small restaurant. There he introduced me to what he said was the staple of the region "mansif". Buttered rice, bread, yoghurt soup and meat.

It didn't look too appetising but it tasted fine. Very much the type of food I had been hungry for!
My adventures were beginning all over again!

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