Warm welcome. Wadi Rum desert, Jordan

Wadi Rum is a protected area covering 720 square kilometers of dramatic desert wilderness in the south of Jordan. In my opinion, the second biggest reason to go to Jordan. Huge mountains of sandstone and granite emerge, sheer-sided, from wide sandy valleys to reach heights of 1700 meters and more. Narrow canyons and fissures cut deep into the mountains and many conceal ancient rock drawings etched by the peoples of the desert over millennia. Bedouin tribes still live among the mountains of Rum and their large goat-hair tents are a special feature of the landscape. The notorious hospitality, make us feel comfortable and welcome. Virtually all the people living in and around Wadi Rum are of Bedouin origin and, until recently, led nomadic lives, relying on their goat herds. They belong to seven tribal groups, of which the three largest are the Zalabia tribe who make up the majority of people living in Rum Village, now, much more converted in a touristic bases for exploring the desert. Rum village is the only village inside the protected area; the Zalabia tribe is largely responsible for tourism services and operates many of the jeep and camel tours. These services are organized through the Rum Tourism Cooperative, a locally run society that shares the tourism business between the villagers. Even though most local Bedouin have become villagers, they still maintain goat herds for milk, meat and 'jameed', a type of yoghurt. For parts of the year, some families or family members return to a wandering existence with their flocks. Few, however, are able to continue a truly nomadic existence today and the traditional Bedouin lifestyle is fast disappearing. However some faces are still present for a warm welcome and a cup of herbal tea, flavored with mint, rosemary and cardamom seeds.

Jordan. Petra Day and Night

Petra Jordan is by far the best known tourist attraction in Jordan and is considered a national treasure. Now a UNESCO World heritage site, one of the ancient wonders of the world is located 3 hours south of Amman. Established sometime around 6th Century BC the city of Petra Jordan was the capital of the Nabataeans. The city acted as an important economic crossroads for Persian and western Arabian trade routes. In particular, it was a key route for the importation and exportation of silk and spices between China, India, Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. Sometime after the 14th Century this centre piece of the Nabataean dynasty was abandoned and forgotten by the western world. It was not until 1812 that a Swiss traveler Johann Ludwig Burckhardt re-discovered it. Petra tours entering the location of the city have to pass through 1 km of a winding narrow gorge or Siq. As you journey through soaring vertical cliffs on either side dwarfs the Siq visitors. After weaving through the sheer pink tinged rock faces you finally glimpse the Al-Khazneh (treasury), the entrance to which has been carved into a sheer rock face. This intricately carved facade is believed to have been built in the 1s Century to house the tomb of a Nabataean King. The Petra site reached new heights of fame when it featured in a 1989 Hollywood film, Indiana Jones and the last Crusade starring Harrison Ford and Sean Connery. Sitting pretty high above the Petra valley is the Ad-Deir Monastery which is accessible by a steep climb up 800 odd steps and is well worth the effort. Up here is also a 3000 seat Roman styled theatre. You can do it on foot or in a donkey. Believe me, far safer on foot! In addition to the main attraction, there are scores of intricately carved out tombs littered throughout the Petra Jordan valley. With fascinating rock formations and Roman temples and sacrificial alters. We spend a full day explore this popular attraction in Jordan. We ended our journey to Petra with the most wonderful “treat” ever…Petra by Night. It is only done three nights per week and we were lucky enough to be able to do this before heading back to the desert. They light the entire As Siq and Treasury with over 1500 candles. You make the journey down the As Siq in complete silence so that you can reflect on the beauty and astonishing sights around you. The sky was so clear and the stars were out…it was truly magical! Once you arrive at the Treasury, you sit on mats on the ground and listen to some traditional Jordanian music played by the Bedouins (and they serve you their wonderful tea!). It starts with their “guitar” like instrument that is a rectangle covered with goat skin and only one string. The highlight was when flute music came out of the dark treasury. Eventually the musician appeared in the dark entrance and made his way through the candles to stand before us. Words can’t describe this experience…to see Petra this way, glowing by candlelight, lets you truly appreciate its marvel. I can’t imagine a more amazing way to end our day….it was spectacular and a memory that will never fade! I promise to go on with this story.

Happy hour at BLANCO BAR in Formentera Island

Happy hour is the word. This is Blanco Bar at Migjorn beach in Formentera. Migjorn is the South facing shore of Formentera. Plenty of beaches around here look wild, typically a mixture of sandy and stone beaches, not the best spot, but a place to visit. Formentera is famous because of its aperitif beach bars. I don't remember the exact location of this bar, but I remember a wooden sign indicating the way on the right-hand side as I drive from Es Pujols in the direction of La Mola. Two years ago, in my holidays in Formentera, Blanco was “The” spot for an aperitif under the sunset. Crowds were there with tan naked bodies, enjoying drinking a nice cocktail while listening to rock music and dancing on the beach! Nice people, nice atmosphere, not too crowded. Last year in my traditional visit to Formentera I tried to find it! But, for restrictions concerning the cost saves and due to recent the obligations of Formentera’s Natural Reserve, Blanco has just disappear. I’m glad I took this photo for the future! A new fashion is coming and a new spot was born: Km10.7. Also trendy and fashion also crowded and impossible to enjoy it. For my taste, I stay with the traditional, the Big Sur, located at the beginning of les lletes beach, and it is one of the most popular and trendy beach bars on the island. Unfortunately, it can also be so crowd that you cannot even move and you have to queue for a cocktail. But relax! After all, you are on holidays. I guess Formentera should be less crowded and much more worthy in low season. I never went there in low season. I promise I will.

From the Earth. San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

Our trip to Chile was almost in the end. A few days later and we will be starting our long way home. At 5 o’clock am, dark night, we star our journey. We left our comfortable hotel at San Pedro de Atacama and we jumped in to the frizzing “desert of the dead”. We skip in to the all road vehicle for the unknown tracks, but with a clear destination: the Geysers of El Tatio, a place located at 90km from San Pedro de Atacama, not fare from the Bolivian border. When we get in to the car, we had no idea what to find. The trip was long and rough, but we trusted our guide. El Tatio should be one of the most enchanting landscapes of Region, and why not of the north of the country. When we were arriving it was still dark and the place looked quite and unmoving. At that moment, it looked just a big plane with some frizzed water. We stopped the car, and we were advised not to touched the water because it will be very hot and danger. I was curious! In fact, at the moment of the sun rising, the unexpected happened. A strong noise came from the deep of the earth and strong Geysers and fumaroles emerge to the surface through fissures of the terrestrial bark, reaching a temperature of 85º C and about ten meters of height. This magnificent spectacle achieves its maximum expression during the first hours of the morning, between 6 and 7 o’clock in the morning hours, with temperatures below zero. After such a big trip, we were not expecting such an emotion. We had an extraordinary picnic breakfast on the spot after a big number of photos. These extremely low temperatures in addition to the large number of tourists, who arrived year after year to the zone, encouraged native people of the sector and authorities to count on a fully equipped tourism complex to properly receive thousands of national and foreign visitors that should be working today. We went back to the hotel in a different perspective, at day light, crossing fields of wild cactus and a volcano into the horizon. The temperature was warming up, and we started taking some lairs of clothes and filling the desert sun in our bodies.

Historic and technologic. Abu Simbel, Egypt.

Abu Simbel is a remarkable place. Not only because the two temples at Abu Simbel are among the most magnificent monuments in the world, but their removal and reconstruction was an historic event in itself. Abu Simbel was first reported by J. L. Burckhardt in 1813, when he came over the mountain and only saw the facade of the great temple as he was preparing to leave that area via the Nile. The two temples, that of Ramesses II primarily dedicated to Re-Harakhte, and that of his wife, Nefertari dedicated to Hathor, became a must see for Victorians visiting Egypt, even though it required a trip up the Nile, and often they were covered deeply in sand, as they were when Burckhardt found them. The temples are fare from the touristic routes. I went by bus, and start my trip at 4 o’clock in the morning with my hotel pillow beside me to assure a comfortable trip. We stopped when the day was rising in the middle of the Egyptian desert: even if the temples would disappoint me, my day was done by this first moment in the desert. When I first heard about the removal of the original temple, I was perplexed. When the temples (280 km from Aswan) were threatened by submersion in Lake Nasser, due to the construction of the High Dam, the Egyptian Government secured the support of UNESCO and launched a world wide appeal. During the salvage operation which began in 1964 and continued until 1968, the two temples were dismantled and raised over 60 meters up the sandstone cliff where they had been built more than 3,000 years before. Here they were reassembled, in the exact same relationship to each other and the sun, and covered with an artificial mountain. Most of the joins in the stone have now been filled by antiquity experts, but inside the temples it is still possible to see where the blocks were cut. Besides my skepticism, I was very glad to visit this place and I enjoy it a lot. I also went inside the man made dome to see an exhibition of photographs showing the different stages of the massive removal project. Both things are amazing: the site and the removal.

Phi Phi Islands. Thailand

Sorry to all my readers for my long absence. I realize now that TT reaches the 1040 visitors. Not bad! I decided to honor this achievement and all of you with one of the most beautiful places in earth I ever visited, the Phi Phi islands archipelago in Tailand. Phi Phi Islands famed as among the most beautiful tropical islands of the world and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions of Thailand. Phi Phi The name is derived from Malay, and the original was Pulao Pi ah Pi, where in pulao is the Malay word for island, and pi pronounced with only a half p sound, was very close in pronunciation to the English word be; the ah was eventually dropped, so the name was said something like Bi Bi. Later the p was pronounced with a stronger aspiration and the name became the Phi Phi or Pee Pee we know today. Funny isn’t it? The name refers to the mangrove wood found there. Six islands are in the group: Koh Phi Phi Don, Koh Phi Phi Ley, Koh Biddah Nok, Koh Biddah Nai, Koh Yoong, and Koh Pair total area is 42 square kilometers. They were incorporated into the national park in 1983. Unfortunately this lagoon and all the coral reefs were affected by the deadly Tsunami on December 26, 2004. I have no idea how it looks now, but I hope that the people there have found the quietude again. I'm still dreaming of a wonderful time in Thailand and Ko Phi Phi Island.

The Floating Gardens. Mexico City, Mexico

In pre-Hispanic Mexico, in the valley where Mexico City stands was a lake called Lago Texcoco, which now has long been drained. The Aztecs, on its edge, long before the Spanish came, dug a series of canals, whose mud they heaped on the earth around the canals or on anchored reeds atop the water. These plots of land, appeared like floating islands called chinampas - hence, their name ‘floating gardens’. In the Aztec's Náhuatl language the name Xochimilco means "garden of flowers." Xochimilco is divided into a traditional area and a newer ecological park north of town created in 1993 as part of a multi-million dollar "ecological rescue project" spearheaded by the federal government. Both areas offer excellent bird watching. The more touristy canals are lively, particularly on weekends. Brightly-colored, squarish boats (trajineras) carry up to a dozen passengers. Families visit the park en masse and boats carrying musicians serenade young lovers or for birthday celebrations. There are always plenty of vendors (in smaller canoes) with food and drink, souvenirs, and music. Hire a floating mariachi band. Three songs for 200 pesos!