Our Round-the-World adventure

[tacototheworld]

@tacototheworld

I am just now accidentally stumbling upon this thread while doing other research for something completely unrelated. It has taken a while, but I am reading through every page and every post. Thank you so much for posting up pictures and descriptions about your travels. I have only gotten so far into the thread where you guys just got finished in Albania, and it appears I have a lot more reading to do to catch up to where you are now. Much appreciation for this, you are doing exactly what I would love to do someday.

Please also keep in mind that there are likely many who read these type of posts without commenting themselves. That is typically also me, although this time I had to at least comment and say thank you. Your words are not falling on deaf ears, or being lost to the ether. Thank you for taking the time to post here.

Thank you for the super kind words. At times I wonder how large of an audience we're reaching out to. Some of what we do is just to remind ourselves where we have been, haha.

 

[tacototheworld]

Amazing journal. Would you mind sharing average monthly or yearly cost on each continent? With so many different countries explored over such a long duration it would provide a good idea to people with similar aspirations.

Trip Costs

Sure thing! So far we are 3 1/2 years into our five year driving around the world adventure where we have put on 125,000 miles so far.

We spent our first year and a half on the road traveling the US and Baja, Mexico (our eventual goal is to visit every US national park, right now we are at about 45 out of 63) It started out as a way to kill time as the global pandemic had sidetracked our plans a little. Turns out the truck was the perfect isolation vehicle and visiting lesser known national parks was great fun. We also got to work out all the kinks of life on the road, getting our systems organized, in a country where we spoke the language and knew how to find things. As soon as the post COVID world opened up in 2021, we drove across the US and put the truck on a ship to Liverpool, England.

Our 32,000 mile, 370 day route around Europe

We spent over a year traveling Europe. We decided to add in a month in Iceland which was not on our original route and we are so glad we did! it was a travel highlight for us). We had visited Italy Spain and Switzerland fairly recently so mostly skipped them this time round.

Daily costs for the two of us in Europe averaged $101 a day with gas being the highest expense at $46 per day followed by groceries at $19. We could save by buying cheaper groceries but at this point in our lives we do like our luxuries (beer, wine, chocolate, meat) so we eat well. The next biggest budget items were restaurants at $9 a day average (which really meant one meal out every few days or visiting a bakery, our favorite European treat) and hotels at $4 a day - which really means a big city hotel a couple times a month. This line item is also supplemented by using the points from our Chase Sapphire Visa card to book hotels at no cost.

Other costs:
Camping - 5
Other - 9

Please realize this is for two people driving in a Toyota Tacoma that averages 14 or 15 miles per gallon and we travel about 100-150 miles a day. We tend to drive a lot, our restlessness combined with a constant eagerness to see the next thing means we usually move on daily (although we try to drive less than 2-3 hours a day).
We also mostly cook our own meals.

Our final Africa route 31,000 miles in 377 days

In December 2022, we ferried from Spain to Morocco and began our year in Africa. The main change in our planned-to Africa route was due to the war in Sudan. Knowing that we could not travel north through Sudan as planned, we decided to ship from Kenya to Oman. Unfortunately this meant we would not be driving through Ethiopia and Egypt, two countries we had really been looking forward to. But they are also two countries that are extremely difficult to bring your own vehicle into so we saved ourselves significant bureaucratic hassles and expense by avoiding them. It also allowed us to add in the Arabian Peninsula which we were excited to explore.

In Africa the average cost for the two of us was $117 a day. Once again, gas was the biggest line item although the cost was much less than Europe, at $26 per day. The biggest surprise for us was the second largest budget item - an average of $22 a day for travel documents for 30 different countries. This includes visas for the two of us, and vehicle permitting (we don’t use a Carnet de Passage).

Other costs:
Groceries - $16
Hotels - 10
Camping - 10
Restaurant - 6
Other - 5


Hopefully this is informative

 

[tacototheworld]

Qatar​

Al Zubara fort, Qatar

Qatar and Bahrain are similar in that they are both two small Arabian Gulf countries with economies based on oil and gas. For both of them, their main connection to the rest of Arabia is through Saudi Arabia. Qatar is a small peninsula land locked by Saudi Arabia. Bahrain is an archipelago of islands off the coast with the main island connected by a bridge to Saudi Arabia. But despite their similarities they still each have unique personalities.

Our route through Qatar and Bahrain, accessing each through Saudi Arabia

Qatar​

Qatar’s capital city and cultural and financial hub is Doha, home to 80% of the nation’s 2.7 million people. The city was great to explore. Similar to other Arabian Peninsula cities it was clean, well laid out, easy to navigate by car yet also very walkable.

Traditional boats (now used more for tourist sightseeing than fishing) in front of the modern Doha skyline

Waterfront sculpture of a oyster with a pearl

The oil and gas boom of the 1960’s led to economic prosperity for the Qataris. The Qatari citizens make up only about 11% of the total population while the remaining 2.3 million people are immigrants living on work visas.
The tiny gas rich emirate has focused on economic independence and investment in infrastructure. Tourists are welcomed and appreciated. Alcohol is not illegal as it is in nearby Saudi Arabia, but is only available at licensed restaurants and bars for a premium price. (Beers run $6-$8, a cheap brand glass of wine $8-$10, we opted to go dry while we were there.) The country is run by a monarchy and the current Emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is the 8th Emir to rule from the same royal family. The country’s leadership has taken a strong role in peace keeping between the Middle East and the West and the largest US military base in the Middle East is in Qatar. The country felt friendly, safe and prosperous.

View of the skyline of Doha, Qatar

We were still adjusting to the absolute safety we were experiencing on the Arabian Peninsula. We were able to let go of the idea that the truck had to be in “secure” parking if we left it. Walking after dark was not only safe but the cultural norm - children and families were out walking way into the night. The trade off to the strong authoritarian governments which removed some personal freedom was a strict adherence to rules, and crime was almost non existent. There were no pick pockets and no people asking for money. We were switching currencies frequently and shop keepers would politely correct us when we accidentally tried to overpay. The vast majority of the country’s people are working immigrants who need their jobs and know that any transgression would result in being sent home so they obey the rules. We did have some heightened awareness of the possibility of terrorist attacks, especially as US citizens, but we never felt threatened. Everywhere we went people seemed glad that we were visiting. There was a police and military presence throughout the peninsula, but check points were very brief and not frequent.

Museum of Islamic Art on the waterfront in Qatar

In addition to the massive rebuild of the modern city of Doha, Qatar has invested in cultural infrastructure and art.

Large golden thumb sculpture in Souq Waqif, representing a national soccer victory in 2019

Despite a modern architectural feel, the country retains its traditional Muslim roots with Islam as the primary religion. Most of the Qataris are traditionally dressed and the call to prayer sounds five times a day. Souq Waqif in the downtown area blends elements of the traditional souq with contemporary cafes and restaurants and is a pleasant place to walk and people watch.

Visiting the falcon souq - where birds are trained for the traditional art of hunting in addition to being bought and sold and cared for in a dedicated hospital

Our favorite shop in Souq Waqif - amazing baclava

Pedestrian traffic in the souq

Wild camping was a little more difficult in Qatar, it did not have the same huge empty landscapes as its neighboring countries. Much of the sandy peninsula was fenced off for the oil and gas industry. We spent one challenging night camped in a beach parking lot, not realizing how close we were to the minaret speakers for the nearby mosque. The 4:30am call to prayer vibrating the canvas sides of our pop up camper was a bit of a shock.

Beach camping spot close to a mosque

We appreciated the regional focus and re-shaping of this old family favorite

Visit to Al Zubara fort

Al Zubara fort, Qatar’s Unesco site was a beautifully restored shell. But our favorite part of the visit was learning about the pearl diving industry and seeing the ruins of the nearby ancient village. Exhibits and the on site tour guide brought to life the reality of the divers jumping into the water with heavy weights to plummet them to the bottom, baskets around their necks, retrieving thousands of oysters a day with likely only one pearl to be found per 5,000. It was a difficult life but the mainstay of the local economy until the 1960’s when gas was found.

Spiral stair case inside the fort

Remains of ancient fishing village, slowly being restored

Maintenance time - Andy changing the oil

And then our last night in Qater, we found a remote desert spot by the coast - our favorite.

The sun goes down on our time in Qatar

 

[ITTOG]

Trip Costs

Sure thing! So far we are 3 1/2 years into our five year driving around the world adventure where we have put on 125,000 miles so far.

We spent our first year and a half on the road traveling the US and Baja, Mexico (our eventual goal is to visit every US national park, right now we are at about 45 out of 63) It started out as a way to kill time as the global pandemic had sidetracked our plans a little. Turns out the truck was the perfect isolation vehicle and visiting lesser known national parks was great fun. We also got to work out all the kinks of life on the road, getting our systems organized, in a country where we spoke the language and knew how to find things. As soon as the post COVID world opened up in 2021, we drove across the US and put the truck on a ship to Liverpool, England.

Our 32,000 mile, 370 day route around Europe

We spent over a year traveling Europe. We decided to add in a month in Iceland which was not on our original route and we are so glad we did! it was a travel highlight for us). We had visited Italy Spain and Switzerland fairly recently so mostly skipped them this time round.

Daily costs for the two of us in Europe averaged $101 a day with gas being the highest expense at $46 per day followed by groceries at $19. We could save by buying cheaper groceries but at this point in our lives we do like our luxuries (beer, wine, chocolate, meat) so we eat well. The next biggest budget items were restaurants at $9 a day average (which really meant one meal out every few days or visiting a bakery, our favorite European treat) and hotels at $4 a day - which really means a big city hotel a couple times a month. This line item is also supplemented by using the points from our Chase Sapphire Visa card to book hotels at no cost.

Other costs:
Camping - 5
Other - 9

Please realize this is for two people driving in a Toyota Tacoma that averages 14 or 15 miles per gallon and we travel about 100-150 miles a day. We tend to drive a lot, our restlessness combined with a constant eagerness to see the next thing means we usually move on daily (although we try to drive less than 2-3 hours a day).
We also mostly cook our own meals.

Our final Africa route 31,000 miles in 377 days

In December 2022, we ferried from Spain to Morocco and began our year in Africa. The main change in our planned-to Africa route was due to the war in Sudan. Knowing that we could not travel north through Sudan as planned, we decided to ship from Kenya to Oman. Unfortunately this meant we would not be driving through Ethiopia and Egypt, two countries we had really been looking forward to. But they are also two countries that are extremely difficult to bring your own vehicle into so we saved ourselves significant bureaucratic hassles and expense by avoiding them. It also allowed us to add in the Arabian Peninsula which we were excited to explore.

In Africa the average cost for the two of us was $117 a day. Once again, gas was the biggest line item although the cost was much less than Europe, at $26 per day. The biggest surprise for us was the second largest budget item - an average of $22 a day for travel documents for 30 different countries. This includes visas for the two of us, and vehicle permitting (we don’t use a Carnet de Passage).

Other costs:
Groceries - $16
Hotels - 10
Camping - 10
Restaurant - 6
Other - 5


Hopefully this is informative

Very informative. A bit cheaper than I would have thought. I also would have guessed Africa to be cheaper than Europe. I guess the bureaucratic policies are very costly.

thanks for sharing

 

[BajaSurfRig]

Thank you for the super kind words. At times I wonder how large of an audience we're reaching out to. Some of what we do is just to remind ourselves where we have been, haha.

Please keep posting as reading about your adventures and mishaps in far flung locales is incredibly inspiring! Hope to do something similar someday!

 

[tacototheworld]

Very informative. A bit cheaper than I would have thought. I also would have guessed Africa to be cheaper than Europe. I guess the bureaucratic policies are very costly.

thanks for sharing

We also thought Africa was going to be cheaper. But what was interesting is West Africa and East/Southern Africa were roughly the same cost. West Africa had much higher visa costs whle South/E. Africa had much higher national park/camping fees. Visiting almost any African national park is very expensive. National park campgrounds are typically $50 a day and daily entry fees can be even higher.

 

[jaywo]

Trip Costs

Sure thing! So far we are 3 1/2 years into our five year driving around the world adventure where we have put on 125,000 miles so far.

We spent our first year and a half on the road traveling the US and Baja, Mexico (our eventual goal is to visit every US national park, right now we are at about 45 out of 63) It started out as a way to kill time as the global pandemic had sidetracked our plans a little. Turns out the truck was the perfect isolation vehicle and visiting lesser known national parks was great fun. We also got to work out all the kinks of life on the road, getting our systems organized, in a country where we spoke the language and knew how to find things. As soon as the post COVID world opened up in 2021, we drove across the US and put the truck on a ship to Liverpool, England.

Our 32,000 mile, 370 day route around Europe

We spent over a year traveling Europe. We decided to add in a month in Iceland which was not on our original route and we are so glad we did! it was a travel highlight for us). We had visited Italy Spain and Switzerland fairly recently so mostly skipped them this time round.

Daily costs for the two of us in Europe averaged $101 a day with gas being the highest expense at $46 per day followed by groceries at $19. We could save by buying cheaper groceries but at this point in our lives we do like our luxuries (beer, wine, chocolate, meat) so we eat well. The next biggest budget items were restaurants at $9 a day average (which really meant one meal out every few days or visiting a bakery, our favorite European treat) and hotels at $4 a day - which really means a big city hotel a couple times a month. This line item is also supplemented by using the points from our Chase Sapphire Visa card to book hotels at no cost.

Other costs:
Camping - 5
Other - 9

Please realize this is for two people driving in a Toyota Tacoma that averages 14 or 15 miles per gallon and we travel about 100-150 miles a day. We tend to drive a lot, our restlessness combined with a constant eagerness to see the next thing means we usually move on daily (although we try to drive less than 2-3 hours a day).
We also mostly cook our own meals.

Our final Africa route 31,000 miles in 377 days

In December 2022, we ferried from Spain to Morocco and began our year in Africa. The main change in our planned-to Africa route was due to the war in Sudan. Knowing that we could not travel north through Sudan as planned, we decided to ship from Kenya to Oman. Unfortunately this meant we would not be driving through Ethiopia and Egypt, two countries we had really been looking forward to. But they are also two countries that are extremely difficult to bring your own vehicle into so we saved ourselves significant bureaucratic hassles and expense by avoiding them. It also allowed us to add in the Arabian Peninsula which we were excited to explore.

In Africa the average cost for the two of us was $117 a day. Once again, gas was the biggest line item although the cost was much less than Europe, at $26 per day. The biggest surprise for us was the second largest budget item - an average of $22 a day for travel documents for 30 different countries. This includes visas for the two of us, and vehicle permitting (we don’t use a Carnet de Passage).

Other costs:
Groceries - $16
Hotels - 10
Camping - 10
Restaurant - 6
Other - 5


Hopefully this is informative

Very informative, especially the Africa bit. Thank you

 

[tacototheworld]

Bahrain

Bahrain is slightly less prosperous than Qatar and also more socially relaxed. It has half the population of Qatar with 50% of its residents living in the capital of Manama. Although not as shiny and new as Doha, Manama had a charm of its own. The country is really a collection of islands with those surrounding Manama connected by modern bridges.

Visiting the National Museum of Bahrain

Like most of the cultural attractions in both Qatar and Bahrain, the National Museum was free to enter and interesting to wander around. The museum blended historical exhibits about the country with contemporary art shows featuring some of the most renowned artists. Dawn had fun with the art and Andy had fun with the history.

“Father and Son” by artist Nader AlAbbasi

“untitled” by Bahrain artist Balqees Fakhro

After a comprehensive morning at the museum food was in order so we made our way to local institution Haji’s Cafe and filled up on traditional machboos (savory chicken and rice), dining on the street.

Lunch time at Haji’s

And wandered the souq - more modern than many other we had been to, the souq in Manama was comprehensive - selling everything from luggage to clothing to food

We find traditional Islamic architecture to be beautiful and enjoyed wandering the street of Manama to see what we could find.

Gorgeous mosaic work

We especially enjoyed exploring the old quarter on Muharraq Island. Splendid doors, intricately carved facades and quiet streets, it was a peaceful ramble.

And random public art along the way

We found this beautiful wood working studio highlighting the art of boat building

Our final stop outside of Manama was the old fort, Qal’at al-Bahrain. Originally the site of the capital of the ancient city of Dilmun, the Portuguese built a fort on the site which still contains layers of archeological remains from it’s first occupation in 2300 BC.

Ongoing excavations of the ancient capital of Dilmun

Restored 16th century Portuguese fort

Two more countries and cultures to explore! We know it was a surface level visit, but we still came away feeling like we learned something new. On our way to Saudi Arabia now, a much vaster place to explore. As always, thank you for reading and coming along with us

 

[tacototheworld]

Saudi Arabia - part 1

Wild camping at “Judah’s Thumb”

Saudi Arabia is enormous, with vast rocky and desert flat stretches. There were areas of exquisite beauty, and also a lot of empty space to cover. It was not our favorite Arabian Peninsula country. The culture felt less welcoming to us, and the main cities did not have the sparkling charm and cultural attractions that we found in UAE or Qatar.

The country is a stricter Muslim country than some of its neighbors, women and men seemed to live more separate lives. Cafes and wilderness spots are filled with groups of men enjoying camaraderie and social time but the women are more out of sight. Saudi Arabian women commonly wore both the abaya (floor length black robe) hijab (head covering) and the niqab (the veil which covers all of her face but the eyes). The men wore mostly white robes with an arafat artistically wrapped on their heads.

Saudi Arabia only officially opened to tourism in 2019, fairly recently. Under the leadership of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country is pursuing economic diversity which includes hopes for tourism revenue. Similar to the rest of the peninsula much of the population is foreign workers but in Saudi Arabia it is lower at 41% non-Saudis. The strict society meant that we always felt safe even as non-Muslims.

Our 2400 mile route through Saudi Arabia

Our time in the country was probably colored by an uncomfortable situation the first night in the country. After crossing the border, we set up for the night in an empty public beach in the eastern town of Al Batha. Two off duty Naval Captains stopped by and all seemed friendly, they offered us fresh fish and we made them coffee. But over the course of a couple of hours it got weird, one of them cornered Dawn in the camper when Andy was outside and started asking inappropriate questions - all through Google translate in Arabic which adds another strange layer. He was asking “why aren’t you wearing shorts? do you have any pictures of yourself wearing shorts? “-as we were passing phones back and forth to translate he even started looking through her pictures. There was a lot more awkwardness and when she realized it was definitely crossing the line from friendly curiosity to inappropriate (he asked for a kiss) she called out to Andy outside and he backed off. She asked him to leave and he did.

The whole incident was an eye opener for us in terms of how we may appear to the local culture, how women are treated, and where we might be vulnerable. For Dawn, she felt somehow sullied, hard to describe but definitely disrespected. Very different from the automatic “hello mami” she experienced in Africa which always felt like a positive recognition of her as a woman and a mother figure.

First night in Saudi Arabia, empty beach parking area

Despite being mostly desert, free clean water was always easy to find in the Arabian Peninsula, we always ran it through our filter anyway just in case

Another beach camping spot. It was typical for military or police patrols on duty to stop by in even remote beach locations, after that first night always very professional, asking to see our passports and saying it was fine to spend the night.
After a few days in to Saudi Arabia, Andy was feeling sick, Dawn had been sick a few days before in Bahrain. We headed into the desert for him to sleep us off. Thankfully, we had COVID test kits in our first aid bag and decided to test him. He was positive so we quarantined ourselves.

Driving across the desert to Juda’s Thumb to stay away from people

Andy’s position in the camper for a few days

Then once we were recovered and safe to be around people we headed to the capital, Riyadh.

Masmak Fort, built 1865 as the main base to defend Riyadh

And on the other end of the architectural spectrum, Skybridge, the modern landmark on the Riyadh skyline

We hit a few tourist highlights, but mostly spent our time in the city re-supplying after our desert quarantine. Riyadh was difficult to navigate and we were learning about the peculiarities of Saudi Arabian road design. We came to know the country as U-turn central. Roads were divided with concrete meridians and the most common way of changing direction was by making U-turns. On the one hand, opportunities for U-turns were frequent and sign posted. On the other hand, everyone had to make U-turns to get to their destination, from motorbikes to semi trucks so U-turn lanes backed up and impeded traffic flow. We have never seen so many U-Turn signs. Google and Open Street Maps had the worst navigation interfaces in Saudi Arabian cities of anywhere we had ever been.

Exploring “The Edge of the World” outside Riyadh

Our journey to “the Edge of the World” was one of our favorite experiences in Saudi Arabia- dramatic cliffs, panoramic views and the ability to camp wherever you were brave enough to.

Also some great hiking!

We enjoyed the setting, the sunset, the hiking and, initially our camp. But we made the rookie mistake of setting up too close to the cliff’s edge and by 10pm our camper was rocking in 30mph winds. We have learned that the short term pain of popping down and moving camp is usually the better option over the slow agony of a sleepless night. So we moved inland, tucked behind a dune and had blissful quiet. Sometimes we learn our lessons over time.

The next stop for us was the 15th century Unesco site At-Turaif, also outside of Riyadh. The capital of the first Saudi dynasty, we received a fantastic history lesson about the early rulers from the house of Saud and toured their palaces, mosques and ancient streets.

Palace at At-Turaif

Exploring the ruins of At-Turaif

Typical Saudi Arabian male headwear, beautifully wrapped

We left At-Turait filled with new knowledge and headed west to see what else we could find to explore.

Wild camp in the rocky desert (hiding behind a hill to escape the wind)

Our next urban stop was Jeddah, the second largest city in Saudi Arabia. A port city on the Red Sea, it feels industrial and commercial but also has a charming old quarter. Jeddah is also a major gateway to pilgrims visiting Mecca (Makkah) and Medina. The holy city of Mecca, birthplace to Islam is not open to non-Muslims, there is even a separate highway skirting the city for non-Muslims.

Wandering the cobbled streets of the old city in Jeddah

We were fascinated by the beautiful “mashrabiya” or wooden screened boxes, designed for a way for women to be able to view activity on the street without being seen by outsiders.

And we always love the old doors

 

[ITTOG]

You two are braver than me. That is definitely one country I would forego. Glad you didn't have anymore trouble.

 

[tacototheworld]

You two are braver than me. That is definitely one country I would forego. Glad you didn't have anymore trouble.

I would not go out of my way to go back there again. However, it was interesting to see. We like to talk about our top 10% countries which include Iceland, Norway, Albania, Romania, Morocco, Benin, Tanzania and Oman but haven’t put together a list of our bottom 10%, but Saudi Arabia would probably qualify.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

If you do a bottom 10% I would be pretty interested in that.

 

[tacototheworld]

Saudi Arabia - part 2

More of the wooden screened boxes

And then we were on our way again - more beach and desert camping!

We learned to keep an eye out for these guys - mostly they hid under rocks

Next we visited Al Ula, an ancient oasis city in the desert and the surrounding desert with its unique and gorgeous rock formations, canyons and panoramas. It was an area with a lot to explore and another one of our favorites.

Ruins of ancient Al Ula

View over the top of ancient Al Ula

Renovated area of Al Ula with shops and cafes

After roaming the town for a day, we headed into the desert to find a camping spot.

Elephant Rock

We saw a ledge with a keyhole arch above Elephant Rock and found our way up there to a private camp with an extraordinary view.

Camp in view of Elephant Rock

Hiking around camp

Our final stop in Saudi Arabia was Hegra (or Mada'in Saleh). Known as the “second Petra", Hegra was also built by the Nabataean kingdom and was a thriving international trading hub in its day. The 1st century BC tombs carved into the rock cliffs throughout the valley are an incredible sight. Well organized and informative tours with guides and buses take you through to key sites, self driving or walking is not allowed. We could have spent a lot more time there, but our 2 hour tour was still a highlight of our time in Saudi Arabia.

2,000 year old tomb facades, intricately carved, stairs at the top replicate the stairway to heaven. (Maybe Robert Plant visited here in the past?)

The largest facade at Hegra

Dawn posing with “Face Rock”

Our last few days in Saudi Arabia were a collage of more desert camping and exploring enjoying rock formations along the way. We were appreciating the temperate weather, open spaces and the occasional camel.

Picnic lunch stop in the desert

Our last Saudi Arabian wild camp, before crossing the border into Jordan.

As always we admit that our less favorable impressions of the country could be due to a series of unfortunate incidents - the creepy guys the first night, sickness, driving frustrations and constant u-turns . . . But in the end we are certainly glad to have had the experience and seen what we did. Thank you for reading and coming along with us!

 

[tacototheworld]

Jordan - Part 1

Jordan quickly became one of our top travel destinations. Exploring beautiful deserts, wadis, and majestic ruins of ancient civilizations made for a delightful blend of experiences.

For us, being from the western United States, entering Jordan also brought a welcome sense of relaxation and comfort. The strict cultural mores of Saudi Arabia that we had been highly aware of and affected our interactions with people, evaporated. Still a Muslim country, Jordan wrote religious freedom into their constitution in 1952. This plus a long standing pursuit of international tourism made the country feel more relaxed for non-Muslim visitors. We had not realized how much background stress we had been carrying in Saudi Arabia until it disappeared. There was a mix in how people dressed, some women in traditional abayas, others in jeans. We kept to our modest dress code and felt completely comfortable.

Our two week, 700 mile route through Jordan and into Israel

As with other countries in the Middle East, we felt safe and basic necessities were easy to find. People embrace, understand and welcome the desire to be outdoors and camp. Tourism was down when we were there, visitors were avoiding the area because of the war with Israel and Hamas. This meant we stuck out, but were warmly greeted with teenagers running up to us on the street asking where we were from and looking for opportunities to practice English.

Beautiful Sharif Hussein Bin Ali Mosque

Onto the Wadi Rum Reserve which encompasses 280 square miles of colorful, varied and fascinating desert landscapes. With rock formations, narrow gorges, sand dunes it was a natural wonderland to explore. And of course, in a country so steeped in ancient human history, it also had cultural sites.

One of our first stops was the “Lawrence of Arabia” house used by TE Lawrence as a hideout when he was fighting alongside Arabians in their war with the Ottomans in 1917. The site itself predates Lawrence’s stay with evidence of 2000 years of occupation.

The whole Lawrence of Arabia story was a fascinating study in how ethnocentric our education can be. Our hazy memory of him was that we was a famous and heroic fighter. In fact he was a British archeologist who became enamored of all things Arabian and was instrumental in introducing the culture to the British world through his writing. He fought alongside Arab forces in the Arab Revolt. But your average Jordanian has never heard of him, he did not figure at all in their hero stories of the war.

Stopped by Lawrence of Arabia’s hideout

Camped against the cliffs at Wadi Rum

Roads were inaccurately mapped and rough, but that made the adventure even better. We saw few other people but were surprised by the number of empty camps set up Bedouin style for tourists. We guessed that when it is busy the area is hopping with people coming to experience the desert Bedouin style.

Exploring narrow canyons with rock carvings

Then from Wadi Rum, we made our way to Petra, an iconic bucket list place for us to visit. We pulled into the free parking lot adjacent to the visitor center and set our alarm to get up at the crack of dawn for an early entry.


Petra is one of the most amazing archeological sites in the world. The whole experience was magical. With our one day of admission, we made the most of it, walking 12 miles, climbing 1000 steps up to and back down from The Monastery and wending our way among and over cliffs to find “hidden” carvings (with the lack of people we had the incredible experience of being the only ones at many of the more remote sites).

Built by the Nabataeans, an ancient Arabian people, most of the carvings in the rock faces date back to the 1st century AD and were intended as decoration for tombs for their kings.

Entrance to Petra is a 1.2 km narrow canyon walk (called the Siq)

“The Treasury” carved out of the rock cliff

Not being early morning people, the 6am start was a push for us. But standing before the glory of these monuments as one of few visitors made it all worthwhile. There were more staff than visitors when we were there. It was a difficult time for tourism in Jordan and small business owners were suffering. We had empathy for them but were also enormously grateful to be at Petra at a time no one else was.

Carvings in the rock everywhere we looked

Camels available for hire for tired walkers

“The Theatre”

“The Palace Tomb”

Photos may be worth a 1000 words, but we still felt like even the photos cannot capture the scale and artistry of Petra. It was also extraordinary to be able to explore freely, climbing up to examine the carvings, being able to see the actual chisel marks and even the hand holds made for the talented climbers to get to the top to complete their work. We felt strangely honored and respected for the trust put in us not to harm or damage any of these ancient monuments (which of course we would never do).

Mosaic floor of a Byzantine Church

The Great Temple of Petra

So little is known about these ancient Nabataean Arabian people, but that allows for your imagination to go wild as you wander their ancient city.

Climbing the 1000 steps to the Monastery

As the day wore on we did see more visitors. It was a little disconcerting to pop out at the top by the Monastery and see van loads of tourists. There is a secondary entrance at this side of Petra and you can opt to enter here and walk your way down the steps, through the valley and out past the Treasury to the visitor’s center. This is a great option if you do not want to end your day completely worn out and exhausted as we did (but we were also happy and satiated).

After leaving the Monastery we returned on one last trail which took us off on our own again and felt mystical. The Wadi Farasah Trail winds you among intricately carved cliffs and eventually up to the HIgh Place of Sacrifice.

Petra is not flat!

View from the “High Place of Sacrifice” a name which heightens curiosity and imagination

There are many ways to tackle Petra, in retrospect, maybe we should have taken a taxi to the entrance by the Monastery and walked one way back through the whole valley to the main entrance. Or we could have purchased the two day pass and split up sections. But in the end we were thrilled with our long and tiring day and loved all our side ventures on trails that led out of the main valley floor. Somehow taking it all in at once made the experience huger and even more impressive. We left feeling awestruck and not sure what else Jordan could offer up to compare. But of course the dramatic scenery and history continued.

 

[tacototheworld]

Jordan - part 2

There are many ways to tackle Petra, in retrospect, maybe we should have taken a taxi to the entrance by the Monastery and walked one way back through the whole valley to the main entrance. Or we could have purchased the two day pass and split up sections. But in the end we were thrilled with our long and tiring day and loved all our side ventures on trails that led out of the main valley floor. Somehow taking it all in at once made the experience huger and even more impressive. We left feeling awestruck and not sure what else Jordan could offer up to compare. But of course the dramatic scenery and history continued.

Wild camp along the way at Wadi Ghwayr

Similar to surrounding countries, Jordan had abundant scenic wild camping, we could always find a remote and beautiful spot.


Continuing our cultural exploration, our next stop was Shobak Castle, a crusader castle built in 1115. It was a fascinating ruin, but there was very little information to give us cultural context so we wandered around ignorantly for a bit then continued on our journey.

We learned to find and appreciate architectural details like this Arabic writing on the tower at Shobat Castle

The scenery was spectacular in Jordan, even when we were not expecting it we would turn a corner, and see great beauty.

Exploring wadis continued to be one of our favorite experiences and we found this next one on our way to the Dead Sea. There was a Bedouin camp near the entrance so we decided to see if we could camp inside the canyon, away from people. After investigating on foot and checking the weather report for the whole watershed, (wadi camping is not recommended if rain is expected due to flash floods) we decided to venture in.

Pre-walking Wadi Numeira to see if we can drive in to camp

Driving the truck in, definitely not sleeping under that overhanging rock

Our next castle visit, Kerak Castle, was much more extensive and impressive than Shobak, but also more visited. Another crusader castle, Kerak fell to Saladin and his Muslim armies in 1188 and later was taken over by the Ottomans - a varied and storied history.

Drawbridge to Kerak Castle

View over the vast Kerak Castle and surrounding city

And then, finally the Dead Sea! Another bucket list moment.

Posting the truck at our first view of the Dead Sea

Beautiful colors and patterns along the coast

Beach access along the Dead Sea can be difficult - a lot of it is privately held so we opted to make it easy on ourselves and stay in a hotel which guaranteed access to a private beach.

Bobbing like corks, feet up in the Dead Sea


Next on our route, the ancient city of Madaba. Known for its mosaics from throughout the ages and religions (Hellenistic, Byzantine, Roman, Islamic) it was another journey through history.

Visiting ancient mosaic sites in Madaba

One of the most famous mosaics, a 6th century map


Despite not always loving big cities, we decided it was important to visit Amman and were pleasantly surprised. Not only was the food excellent (and cheap! but then we were basically eating street food) but the city was lively and interesting, a blend of cultures and histories with souqs side by side with Roman ruins.

Best falafal we have ever had and only $1

King Abdullah Mosque in Amman

We had some interesting conversations with Jordanians in Amman. We got the sense there is some concern over the growing number of immigrants (primarily from Syria and Palestine, combined percentage now up to about 30%) who are entering the country and becoming citizens. Although they are often successful in their careers, Jordanians who trace their roots back to Bedouin times worry that the country is losing the roots of their culture and also they are not being prioritized by the government for services and support. We only scratched at the surface of this interesting and international issue but it was fascinating to hear the different perspectives.

Hashemite Plaza in Amman - a gathering place for families with an old Roman theatre as a backdrop. Named after the Jordanian royal family. (The full official name of the country is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan)

Our next stop in Jordan was what is probably the second most famous cultural site - Jerash - with some of the best preserved Roman and Byzantine ruins in the world. A prosperous trading center, Jerash featured temples to the great gods Zeus, Hera, Apollo and Poseidon as well as stunning entrance gates, theatres and open market areas. It was another history rich day and once again we were selfishly grateful for the lack of fellow tourists.

South Gate entrance - Arch of Hadrian built to honor the visit of the emperor in 129.

Colonnaded street

Walking towards the North Gate

We left Jerash ready for some more wild camping and Andy always loves a forest so we headed for nearby Dibbeen Forest Reserve. We forgot to take into account that it was Saturday. We have never seen such a crowded forest in our lives. Every nook and cranny was filled with cars full of families having sunset picnics. The only downside to a culture that embraces the outdoors is sometimes it can get crowded. We checked a few more places in the area, started getting concerned but then at dark pulled into a beautiful site in the Aljoun forest - one of our favorite fall backs, camping at a trail head.

Wild camping at the edge of Aljoun Forest

Then with our time in Jordan coming to and end, we made one more castle stop at Aljoun castle - a fascinating and well preserved and renovated site dating back to the 12th century Muslim world.

And that was Jordan! As we explained on our shipping Israel to Greece blog, we made the decision to drive from the Jordanian border to Haifa and ship the truck to Greece to continue our journey east through Turkey, Georgia and eastwards. Our time in Israel was very brief as the country was under a lot of stress. We plan to return some day and really visit.

Enjoying the view in Jordan

The Arabian Peninsula was a fascinating journey for us, many more ups than downs and overall an enriching experience. We look forward to a brief return to Europe in Greece then exploring the Caucuses and the Stans as we head east. Thank you for travelling along with us and reading our blog!