Heading into the Eastern Desert where the Sun Rises

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 11:47:00 GMT

Photos by Tala & Rakan

By Tala Bassam Momani

Restless and finding it impossible to sleep I sent him an SMS at 5:30am "awake ?!!"; the last thing I expected was a reply but he did , before the sun had risen we were on our way, driving east of Amman not knowing where we were going. For that reason we named our journey 'Heading into the Eastern Desert where the Sun Rises'; it sounded poetic at the time!

The road was empty but for trucks with Saudi and Iraqi license plates, flanked on either side by the endless expanse of hot sandy desert. It comes as a complete surprise that within this arid landscape resides the green expanse that is the Azraq Wetlands Reserve. We arrived after a one and half hour drive at around 8am to find the main gate closed. Without hesitation we walked around trying to find a place in the fence to climb over; I couldn't accept that after getting out of bed before sunrise we wouldn't be able to get into the reserve. We eventually managed to clamber over after getting entangled in the barbed wire and managing to tear most of our clothes. To reach the Wetlands we had to climb again, this time over a granite wall. After jumping down off the wall, we finally reached the Wetlands! Wooden bridges cross over linking the freshwaterpools that make up the Azraq Wetlands. We walked the trails to the sound of birds singing and the crunching of deadwood beneath our feet. I related to my friend how I had seen a Water Buffalo the last time I had been there. We spent most of our time in a mud hut bird-watching; I was hoping that we would see a stork fly by. Azraq is a great place for bird-watching; thousands of bird species can be seen milling about as it is on the bird migratory route.

Before we left, I insisted that we have a traditional Azraq breakfast in one of the local restaurants. On the main street there are a number of restaurants that mostly cater to people heading to Jordan from Saudi Arabia or Iraq and serve meat and only meat! The place we chose was unique in that it had private dining rooms with mattresses for snoozing after a heavy meal.

Heading back after a glorious day, Rakan found it difficult to remain coherent after his meat-only breakfast.

Treks and Trails of Jordan: Eastern Desert

Heading into the Eastern Desert where the Sun Rises