Wadi Bin Hammad and meeting Margie's friends

Yesterday we set out to hike Wadi Bin Hammad - a river valley in the desert just north of Kerak. It was the first sunny day in a while, and the warmer weather (thanks in part to being in the desert near the lowest place on earth) paired with the beautiful scenery made for a fantastic day trip. As those of you who know me are aware, I'm a big fan of hiking. It was fun for the opportunity to hike down - into the wadi and toward the Dead Sea - for a change.

The road in was steep and winding. We began our hike at 60 K below sea level, which meant Margie's little Toyota Yaris had to bring us down some intimidating grades (with no guardrails. Guardrails are too wimpy for Jordanians, apparently).

After negotiating a bit with the manager of the hotsprings (who will play a part later), we began our hike down the wadi.

Soon, the wadi walls began to overhang us and create an impressive canyon and at times a full cave.


It's hard to see, but there's a ladder in the shadows of the last picture - this is the part where the manager (Abdulla) up top comes into play. We found ourselves on top of about a 10ft waterfall with no good way to get around it (apparently, in dryer seasons you can climb down the waterfall - which is more of a trickle then). While my new friend Nate attempted to fashion a rope out of webbing he had brought (well done, Nate, way to think ahead), Abdulla came hiking up behind us and offered to help us out. For a small fee and a promise of joining him for tea at his farm down the wadi, he took Nate back upstream a bit and then both returned carrying an impressively sturdy and large ladder. Problem solved. We continued down the wadi a ways, stopped for lunch where it opened up into a wider valley, and then joined Abdulla for tea at his lemon farm on a small plateau above the river (his only means of transporting his crop are his two donkeys; the only road - the wadi).

For more pictures, click here.

After hiking out and driving home, we showered, ate a small and unnecessary dinner, and headed to Margie's old apartment to visit her former neighbors, a beautiful Egyptian couple with three young children (9, 6, 1). They fed us a large quantity of delicious shawarma (thus making our earlier dinner unnecessary). After, we played Uno and folded various paper animals, planes, cootie catchers, etc. while Haron (the father) attempted to teach me lots of Arabic (apparently, he told Margie he would speak to me only in Arabic so I would learn). It was so fun and thankfully we get to go back on Tuesday for another visit.

Today, Amy, Nate, and I are headed to the citadel - more Roman ruins, although these are in Amman. I'm thankful for sunshine and slightly warmer weather. It is supposed to get up into the 70s this week!