Jordan

We spent just one night in the sprawling hills of Amman before chartering a taxi to take us to Wadi Musa, the town next to the magnificent ancient Nabatean capital of Petra.  We spent two days exploring the ruins of tombs, roads, temples (including the later Roman additions and roadways) and gorges, whilst humming the Indiana Jones theme.  Caitlin saved her legs from some of the walking by taking horses to and from the start of the Siq, the narrow gorge that leads to the first impressive sighting of the grand tomb carved out of the rock known as the Treasury, which featured in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  She was particularly thrilled to be allowed to ride once without being led, and once with the guide leaping on the horse and galloping off into the sunset with her (well, almost).  A candlelight (1,500 or so) trip to hear local music was also very enjoyable - where we also met up with Serena's former colleague Kate.  

After all this walking we spent the next few nights relaxing by the Re

d Sea in Aqaba, enjoying resort pools.  Our attempt at snorkeling was scuppered by high winds and currents, but we still enjoyed our time here. 

The next two nights were rather less luxurious - camping out in the desert in a Bedouin tent amongst the stunning landscapes of Wadi Rum.  This is where most of Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, and we enjoyed traversing the desert both by 4WD and more fun, but more painfully, by camel.  We enjoyed Bedouin food in the evening - we

especially liked a large dish of mensaf (rice topped with meat) shared with our guides in the traditional manner of by-hand only.  The skies at night were the most star-filled we've ever seen.  

After two days of getting very dusty we treated ourselves to two last nights of luxury in a resort by the Dead Sea.  It was fun to bob about cork like in the high-saline water of the Dead Sea at the lowest point on earth, but we spent more of the time relaxing in the many resort pools.

The short overnight flight from Amman to Delhi has left us fairly exhausted, but we're now enjoying the generous hospitality of my cousin Alison and family Dan, Ollie and Sia in the High Commission compound - so it almost feels like we're back in Britain!  Hoping to go off exploring real India shortly...