How Eddie Vedder's Song Led Me In An Unplanned Adventure
November 2021. It was a dark, cold, and wet night in Slovakia. It's as depressive as only Eastern Europe in winter can get. We were in a local bar, having a few pints, and getting philosophical about life. Suddenly, Eddie Vedder's album from Into The Wild started playing in the bar. Coming out of the pandemic lockdowns and curfews, we had around 100€ credit on Ryanair, dating back to March 2020 and our planned trip to Scotland. We had the last couple of days to use that. Hearing the music, we considered it a sign and opened the Ryanair app. We quickly checked all the nearby airports and found a fantastic deal from Krakow to Amman. To fly from Europe to the Middle East and back. We needed only one look into each other's eyes to know we were going to pull the trigger.
A week later I was flying out to Athens and stayed a night with my friend in Bratislava. As we are having a last ciggie together he asks me what am I up to in the next couple weeks. I briefly mentioned the Jordan trip. He started asking many questions and I told him to look up the flight prices. The next day he sent me a message telling me he bought the tickets. By sheer coincidence, I found 2 of the best travel buddies you can imagine. This trip was life-changing, transformative, emotional, fulfilling, adventurous, relaxing & eye-opening. All at the same time. I barely told people about it before, so please, enjoy.
The first adventure of the trip happened at the airport. Every cheap flight has a question in itself and this one's was takeoff time at 6 AM. Arriving at the airport early morning, I decided to nap and rest at the gate. While everyone else qued up, we chose to wait for the last spots. Lukas and Juraj went through and suddenly the attendant asked me for an XY permit. This was a COVID time so to leave a country you needed to be vaccinated, PCR tested and fill in numerous forms. I missed one form that was needed to depart. As I was the last one she said I had exactly 2 minutes to complete the form online and board the aircraft. To make things easier for me, she was so nice that she made sure to come every 10 seconds and decided to count down the time. My hands were shaking, cold sweat dripping down my spine & Lukas and Juro decided to board the flight already. I completed the form as she said it was too late, I just showed her the confirmation and ran through knowing the boarding is still ongoing. An exciting start to an exciting adventure.
We landed in Amman, the capital of Jordan. Decided to take it easy the first night, get to know the city, and see some monuments. Our road trip around the country was to start the day after. We checked it into a hostel and little did we know we found the best one in town. Listening to prayers on the rooftop looking over the entire Amman we befriended a couple. An Austrian & Australian and decided to go for a wee stroll through town. After the walk, we got some beers (a real work in Amman..) and returned to the hostel's terrace. After hours of talking more and more people would join. Todd, an Australian singer brought a guitar and performed some bangers to get the crowd going. Drinking Petra beers & whisky, we chatted until late, late at night. Surrounded by great people from all over the world, all having great stories to tell. Until today this feels like one of the least pretentious and the most genuine nights I've had on my travels. Yet I've never seen any of those people ever again.
The following morning I did not feel too fresh. After a quick breakfast and getting our rental car, we hit the road en route to the Dead Sea. The deepest lake in the world. As proper Slavs, we decided not to pay stupendous money for resorts but armed ourselves with local water bottles. Proper shower supply. Hearing all the stories about the Dead Sea, we came prepared. Swimming in the Dead Sea is special. Due to all its salt, you are floating on the top of the lake when swimming. One of a kind feeling. Make sure you have enough water to wash all the salt down. After a quick stop - we got back on the road.
We decided to take the road up to Petra through the mountains. The road itself was an experience. Passing through the mountain passes - it was rare to meet any fellow travellers or even locals. Empty roads with views towards endless mountains. The road was protected by hundreds of stray dogs, a sight often hard to see. As we reached the pass, there was a small cafe with a viewpoint. We walked in and 2 men, likely in charge of the place, offered us coffee. We couldn't resist as this place was asking for a nice coffee break. The coffee itself was super strong but tasted pretty good with the views we were served.
Driving through Jordanian mountains.
Petra, one of the 7th world wonders was our destination. The Nabataean city is one of the most famous archaeological & historical sites worldwide. We arrived in Wadi Musa pretty late, found a parking spot and ran to the counter to get our tickets sorted. The city closes around 6 PM and we just walked in after 5. Following a 20-minute hike, when most of the tourists were going in the opposite direction, we arrived at the canyon. The canyon slowly started revealing the beauty of the phenomenal Treasury of Petra. You could feel & sense the history all around.
Treasury of Petra.
As the time was getting close to the closing ours, there were not a lot of people in front. Mostly just Beduins trying to sell you souvenirs and or a camel ride. As we took the obligatory pictures, we knew we had a bit of time left so wanted to wander around the ancient town. As we walked further deep a woman with a baby in her hands walked down the stairs from one cave & invited us for tea. It turned out to be one of the most intense travel experiences I've had. More on that next week...
