I
nspired by the film Lawrence of Arabia
up to the south rim meeting the vestiges of a
at Christmas 1983, I organised a trip the
Roman road again.
following year to Wadi Rum with Di Taylor,
Ahead the great Crusader castle of Karak
Mick Shaw and Alan Baker, joined in
offers a choice of hotels before the trail enters
subsequent years by Wilf Colonna, a friend
the hotter and drier south. Crossing the 1000
from France. In 1987 my Cicerone book Treks
metre abyss of Wadi Hasa is the next obstacle
and Climbs in Wadi Rum, Jordan was published.
though its hot spring is tempting. An easier
This left Di and me free to explore the rest
walk then reaches the village of Ma’tan, its
of Jordan all of which was literally a blank
ancient but now renovated cliff-top guest
on the map. In 1999 our second Cicerone
houses offering a dramatic view into the next
guide, Jordan - Walks, Treks, Caves, Climbs and
day’s big canyon descent and ascent. Next,
Canyons, was published. By then it had became
the trail passes the village of Buseira with its
obvious that we had the basis of a country
Iron Age ruins before rising to yet another
length trail and we continued to add to it
impressive view: a deep arrow-straight valley
whenever an opportunity arose during our
cleaves its way down to the hot, sea level
annual springtime visits.
depths of Wadi Araba, the southern end of
We were later joined by Jordanians who
Jordan’s Rift Valley. At its head the cliff top
were also now discovering the wonderful
village of Dana perches on its eerie. When
variety of adventures that their country
we first trekked through in 1985 it was an
has, telling us, “Your guidebooks gave us
almost deserted ruin. Now it offers a choice of
the love of our country,” and you can’t say
accommodation i n renovated Ottoman period
better than that! Finally, in 2016 we linked
houses or a hotel run by Jordan’s Royal Society
the pieces of our jigsaw and reached the Red
for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN).
Sea. Next spring, the trail’s official Inaugural
Descending Dana valley the next day is a
Thru-Trek took place, a happy and optimistic
pleasure with wild scenery all around until
muliti-national group being waived off from
the spoil heaps of Roman copper mines can
Um Qais by official well-wishers including
be seen before reaching remote Finnan Eco-
Jordan’s Tourism Minister, Lina Annab,
Lodge. It’s tempting to stay overnight but
herself a keen trekker.
many continue across the hot black stone
In spring the green rolling hills, flower-
desert of Araba pitching their tents as the sun
filled meadows, orchards, olive groves, and
sets ready for an early start back up into the
forests of North Jordan are quite unlike
mountains. A time-worn Bedouin trail climbs
most people’s concept of Jordan as a ‘desert
up though dramatic scenery before plunging
country’. As elsewhere along the trail some
into the ravine of Wadi Feid where a waterfall
nights are camping, others are at village
and pool offer refreshing relief. Then up again
homestays, guest houses or hotels. Whatever
to a high camp.
the location, the mouth watering array of
local food is irresistible, perhaps too much so!
Jordan Trail guides accompany trekkers and
Um Qais
a support team ensures that camps and meals
are prepared wherever necessary along the
Pella
route.
Al Ayoun
Throughout its length the trail passes
through numerous antiquity sites dating
Ajloun
from as far back as the 11th millennium
BC through Neolithic, Greco-Roman and
AMMAN
Christian Byzantine periods to Early Islamic
Wadi
Zerqa Main
and Ottoman. From Madaba with it’s mosaic
Wadi Hidan
map, one of the oldest in the world depicting
Wadi Mujib
Palestine and other major Biblical sites in
Wadi
ibn Hammad
AD560 the trail descends to join an almost
forgotten Roman road on the hot barren
Kerak
plateau above the Dead Sea, the lowest point
on earth, 430m below sea level. The Three
Wadi Hasa
Canyons each around 800 metre deep
then have to be crossed. First Zerqa Main,
then the Hidan, crossing its river where a
waterfall and pool may prove irresistible
The Hashemite
before the big climb out. Finally the Mujib,
Dana
Kingdom of Jordan
Jordan’s answer to the Grand Canyon.
A good descent into the Mujib had
Petra
seemed unlikely until we were shown a
Bedouin trail. In its lower reaches, an
ancient path constructed across a cliff
provides the only way down. Below, the
Aqaba
river beckons temptingly. With fish
Wadi Rum
swimming between our legs we waded
through its cool knee-deep water, to
find a campsite and another tempting
pool. The trail then valiantly climbs
autumn 2018 | Outdoor focus 13