Aqaba - the Desert and the Sea

At the coast it was humid and hot, yet suddenly there was life again!

Aqaba sits at the tiny coastal tip of Jordan, a holiday town at the doorstep of the Levant. After months of deserts, mountains, rice and chicken, the change was straight away physical: colourful salads, fresh fruit and vegetables, good coffee, spices, people sitting outside and actually themselves. A touch of the Mediterranean vibe or more accurately 'Levantine'. Even in the humid heat, the streets were alive.

So we roamed around the promenade, had coffee and ice cream, and enjoyed the simple pleasure of being somewhere where people live and move. A sharp contrast from the Gulf countries where people hide from the heat in the day and go out, if they have to, at night.

Meanwhile, we were in contact with the shipping guys, arranging the handover of our iron horses - strange feeling, we must admit.
We knew this was coming, but still, the thought of actually handing them over felt weird. These two old girls had carried us across half a continent, through quite some adventures in the dust, heat, mountains, deserts... Giving them away was going to suck.

But before that happened, there was one more ride. We headed out into the desert towards the majestic Wadi Rum, one of those places you simply have to see when you're around here. It was also heavily featured in the 60s movie: Lawrence of Arabia. At the entrance we found Awad, our guide, who took us out in his pickup to roam between the enormous sandstone formations - a last desert ride, just without the bikes. At least IronChris was allowed to sit at the wheel!
The rocks changed colour as the sun went down, from dusty yellow to orange and finally deep red, while the sand slowly swallowed the last light of the day.

Soon, we would bring the bikes to the port and take an airplane....Read more