The Desert of Wadi Rum in Jordan

I've already posted several stories of Wadi Rum already:

https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/fun-in-the-jordan-desert

https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/epic-dinner-in-the-desert-at-wadi-rum-jordan

Those posts were about specific events that occurred on this adventure. This post will focus on the desert itself.

I had a rental Vehicle to drive to the desert but it was unfit for driving on desert sand, so I parked it in a lot nearby and grabbed a driver and a Jeep to take me to my tent and through the desert. The driver was also my tour guide and photographer for this adventure.

Each day we spent about 4-5 hours exploring different areas of the desert. This is not an area you could self-explore, as I normally prefer, because iPhone GPS was not available and there are no roads or maps to aid. You are reliant on local guide's knowledge of the desert.

Wadi Rum lies about 180 miles south of the capital of Amman. The country of Jordan is not that large and any point in the country can easily be driven in a day. There are few major roads so it is difficult to get lost even without GPS.

The desert is huge. It is over 180,000 acres. Although it does get some rain, it's still pretty dry as you can see.

Looks like a this could be on another planet, doesn't it? Actually the several movies with a Mars setting were filmed here.

It can get cold in this desert, as you can see by my heavy jacket. I was there in January, the coldest month in Jordan. It was quite cold even under the daytime sun.

Jordan is not far from Egypt. As a result it is not surprising to see the same rock type formations as found in the Sinai peninsula as I documented here:

https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/sinai-peninsula

These bridge rocks were very popular photo stops. It's a bit of a climb up the rock face to access, but great views are offered at the top. Too bad I couldn't take any pictures from up there as I gave my camera phone to my guide to photo me at the top!

Looks like I'm lost? I would have been if my guide took off. I had no idea where to go on this 180,000 acre wasteland.

A picture of Lawrence if Arabia carved in the rock. He was stationed in this desert and was a big proponent for the Arabian struggles at the time. He survived the war only to die later in a motorcycle accident.

There are even caves in the rock formations of this desert. These are not limestone caves so don’t expect to see stalactites or stalagmites, but they are rather cool. A nice place to escape the desert sun which can be quite blinding at times.

There is more I can say about this place but the words will just get in the way of the natural beauty. I’ll leave you with a typical desert sunset I took at different time intervals:

I hope you enjoyed your virtual walk through the Wadi Rum desert!

Driving in the Philippines

It's crazy. But so is most of Asia. At first when I started driving in these lesser developed countries I worried because I didn't know the laws. But now I realize that no laws apply! Now that's not true for all of Asia as I already posted here:

https://www.kirkstravelstories.com/post/stop-mean-stop-driving-incident-in-hokkaido-japan

But for the lesser developed countries anything pretty much goes. You need to watch those who pass on the right of you, as well as those who do not give the right of way. It's the law of the jungle and often the larger vehicles win!

On a trip to the Philippines I rented a small 125 cc bike in the city of Dumaguette. It is not a large city, but large enough to get traffic congestion in the rush hours. But even during non-rush-hour times, there's still a steady flow of traffic.

I had a small Honda click motorbike, which is a normal sized bike for the Philippines. Most can't afford big bikes, nor can they afford the petrol, so small bikes will do for transportation. Besides, there really is no point in having a big bike because you can't go that fast with the traffic anyway.

Above, you can see me on my Honda on a more deserted street. I tried to take the more rural roads as much as I could to avoid the traffic. Because it is just mayhem in the traffic jams.

The main issue for me anyway, is the lack of stop signs at four-way intersections. All you trite to do is to make it to the other side of the street without hitting anybody. Just like a figure 8 race, you're trying to avoid the collision at the intersection. But thankfully most people go at a crawl through here so it's not as difficult as it may sound. It's just difficult for me because there are no rules in the situation. There are no right of ways. And there are a lot of these type of intersections with no stop signs .

I would estimate about 80% of the traffic in the city is motorbike. You can see the massive amount of motorbikes on the side of the road in this video.

I couldn't imagine driving a car in this traffic. Bikes provide much more maneuverability to go through. Also, it's not unusual to see the motorbikes go on the sidewalk and use that as a road as well.

I only hit rush hour traffic once during my stay with my bike. I was smart enough to avoid after that. I can blend in well enough with the other bikes and move through it slowly, but the issue is trying to use my iPhone map to find my hotel. I can't drive a bike with one hand and hold my phone to look. As a result, I continually have to pull off to the side of the street if I can find a place to get my bearings.

Add it to all, many are one-way streets. If you miss your stop, which I often did, you have to go down a side street and go all the way around the block to get there. Also, Google maps doesn't always tell you which side of the road you should be looking for your stop. If you're not aligned with the traffic pattern to be on the correct side of the road, you'll miss it.

The only time I hit rush-hour it took me four times circling through traffic before I actually got to my hotel. Yeah I know I'm not the best at doing this, that's why I made sure I avoided rush-hour from then on.

But, I wouldn't miss the experience! It can be nerve-wracking at times, but I can't think of a better way to see the beautiful countryside of this particular island.

Hot Springs China Style

After I finished working as an engineer at the chemical plant, I was offered a short stint to work as a contractor in China. The hotel I stayed was in a beautiful remote mountain setting. However, the hotel was popular for the hot springs that was natural to the setting.

The hotel did a great job capitalizing on this wonder of nature by enclosing it for the hotel and other paying guests. You did not need to stay at the hotel to purchase entry, but it was remote enough I doubt they received many local day visitors

The hot spring was located a short walk from the hotel.

Hot springs are thermally heated by the volcanic activity underground. As a result, it is rich in natural chemicals that are excellent for the skin.

I have a bad case of rosacea at times. When my facial skin flares up I can get large postules on my face. It can get bad enough I can resemble the elephant man! Ok, slight exaggeration.

When visiting a Japanese hot springs once (they're called onsens in Japan) I was in the middle of one of those flare ups. The next morning my rosacea completely cleared up! Later, when I spoke to my dermatologist about it he told me sulfur was a great natural Anti-inflammatory and the waters were likely rich in sulfates. Since then I've used elemental sulfur on my face at night and no more issues! Great lesson learned from these type of waters.

Preparing for my experience in hotel robe.

I was happy I was allowed to wear a bathing suit here. In the Japanese onsen no clothing was allowed. I probably would not have entered that one except it was off season and the hotel nearly empty. I was fortunate to be the only one in Hokkaido, Japan at that time .

Ok! It's go time!

Although these hot springs looked pretty empty of people, at times they could be quite crowded, usually on the weekends. I enjoyed these more private moments better as I did not have to worry about bumping into people.

The springs is enclosed and a changing room provided with lockers. The admission is free for hotel guests but a small charge for visitors.

I was accompanied by one of the people at the plant where I was working. He was a very courteous host during my stay. I was never alone except to sleep. He would show up for breakfast in the morning and stay with me until about 9 pm each night.

That's a big difference from how we treat foreign guests at the US plant I worked. At the end of the work day here the visitors were left to fend for themselves. We (or at least I) have a lot to learn about courtesy from the Chinese,