The night chill turned into a bitter, bitter cold. I wrapped myself in as many layers of the thick bedding as possible (and underneath a couple of the beds themselves) and still shivered myself to sleep. I doubt the the thermometer actually dipped below 15°C (59°F), but in the dry air it felt terribly cold. And the tent didn't provide much shelter against the wind that whipped constantly along the cliffs where it was set.

I woke up a little after sunrise and tried to clean off in the unilluminated cinder block hygiene shed (for lack of a better term) – but without light, warm water, water pressure, soap, or a mirror, the success of my endeavors was limited.

We said goodbye to the French family, and came to think of them as a cautionary tale: They were doing exactly what we had been advised to do: spending a lot of time in places to really get invested in the experience. According to Christine (the mother), they would be spending three days at the desert camp in Wadi Rum. As we trotted away after just one night, well satisfied and eager for our next adventure, I think they eyed us with envy. For me, at least, one night was perfect.

After breakfast, we went on a jeep tour with one of the Bedouin hosts in one of the Toyota Land Cruisers. This is clearly a dependable vehicle, as it managed to take us through the inhospitable desert even when almost nothing in it worked. Off the top of my head, maintenance problems I noted included the transmission, door latches, windows, glove box, mirrors, and rear hatch – and a lot of bolts and screws were just jostling around in the floorboards.

The tour took us through some amazing desert landscapes:

Then we came to Lawrence's House, the site where T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") based his work during the 1917-1918 Arab Revolt (against the Ottomans).

Then we came to some animal herds and a couple of natural arches – one high on a ridge, and the the other down on the ground (and easy to climb). By chance we happened to run into the French family again here, as they were on a separate tour.

The animals: The arches:

And then, as is the custom, we stopped for hot tea:

Tea in the Desert

But a real highlight for me was the opportunity to see some ancient Thamudic or Nabatean inscriptions:

Now the Nabateans built Petra, of course; everybody knows that. But you may be wondering, "Who are these EN Thamud AR ثمود  People?" Well, that's an interesting story: According to the Qur'an, they're a bunch of assholes:

Then we went past a sand dune:

Sand Dune

And finally we concluded at Lawrence Spring, sort of. The spring itself is concealed in the mechanism that you see in the photograph, arranged so that the people and livestock in the vicinity can get to the water. Of note is that T.E. Lawrence named the mountain from which the spring flows the "Seven Pillars of Wisdom," which he later took as the title of his autobiography.

Lawrence's Spring (And some of the pillars of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom)

And then we were dropped off in Rum, stopped in the restroom to freshen up before returning to the rental car. And the magic ended as I saw what I looked like after two blazing hot days, a freezing night, a pittance of running water, and no shower.

Then we drove to the airport to catch our flights to Luxor. Having been on the other two of Jordan's major north-south roads – the Dead Sea HIghway and the King's Highway – our route this afternoon took us on the remaining option, the Desert Highway.

To be frank, I didn't particularly care for driving in Jordan. I was already gun-shy after being clocked speeding two days previous, and the drive didn't have much to recommend it: The road was long, the desert was monotonous, and amenities were meager, few, and far between. It was fun, though, to come upon flocks of camels (yes, the aggregate term is really "flock"), and to see the exits for Saudia Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria. And, although I didn't realize it at the time, it was on this road where I passed the easternmost point I have ever gone: 36°5'21" E.

Finally we arrived at Queen Alia International Airport, named for the third wife of King Hussein, who died in a helicopter crash in 1977. The Amman airport was constructed in 1983 and named in her honor.

In the airport we grabbed Popeye's chicken (that and Pizza Hut were our only choices), and sat by a smarmy man who repeatedly asked my help in finding him an American wife. Eventually, at a lull in the conversation, he pointed to me and Billy and said, "Are you thay?" He repeated it a few times but dodged when I asked him to clarify. I don't know if "thay" equals "gay," but that is my best guess. I'd have been happy to give an honest answer, of course – but in an unfamiliar culture, I'm going to make damn sure I understand the question before doing so.

EgyptAir was enjoyable, with a welcome mint, a decent snack on a short flight, all kinds of juice (including mango and guava), and footrests even in coach. It was a bit disorienting in its embrace of religion, though: The in-flight magazine thanked God for the success of their Hajj service, a Qur'anic verse was displayed on the video monitors, and I'm fairly certain that the one untranslated in-flight announcement was a prayer for a safe flight. The arrival in Cairo was odd, too, in that most of the passengers applauded the safe landing (nothing similar happened with the mostly tourist flight to Luxor).

AMM EN  Queen Alia International Airport   AR  مطار الملكة علياء الدولي
1 hour, 20 minutes
CAI EN  Cairo International Airport  AR  مطار القاهرة الدولي

CAI EN  Cairo International Airport  AR  مطار القاهرة الدولي
1 hour, 5 minutes
LXR EN  Luxor International Airport  AR  مطار الأقصر الدولي

I had been concerned about our train tickets, but the representative met me at the airport as promised and took us to our hotel. There was a bit of tension as he told us he could not take us all the way because the hotel was on the West Bank, which was not part of his plan, and tried to dump us at the river with instructions on using the ferry – but it didn't take too much stridency on my part to get what we paid for. This created a bit of a logistical challenge for him (but better him than us, since he already had our money): The driver he hired wouldn't go to the West Bank, as the bridge was 10 km out of town, so our agent hired a private boat and two kids to be luggage porters. There was some heated negotiation on the boat; I couldn't understand much of it, but I did understand at one point when he hushed them and nodded toward me saying, AR «يتكلم العربية» EN "He speaks Arabic" .

Despite the tension, slipping across the black, still waters of EN Nile AR النيل  at midnight in the private boat was a magical experience. I got a little tired of Egypt (as you'll see in the coming days), but I never tired of the majestic Nile.

On the other side we walked a few blocks to the Amon Hotel. Along the dingy, narrow, dim, unpaved alleys I found myself thinking, "Jeez, what have I got us into now?" (Billy later shared that the same thought had struck him at the same time.) Egyptian cities rest on the east bank of the Nile, as the eastern, rising sun was associated with life and the western, setting sun was associated with death – viz. the tombs here in Luxor, Abu Simbel to the south, and Giza, Saqqara, and Dahshur to the north. With each turn down a new, dark, trash-filled alley in this West Bank neighborhood, I came to worry that the ancients had it right.

A few steps in, Billy's baggage boy tried to entice him into a quickie in the alley, but Billy showed proper restraint. We finally got to the hotel, and I thanked the Egypt Legend agent and tipped the kids 1 JD a piece (because I didn't have any Egyptian money yet), which they seemed delighted to receive.

We selected the Amon on the recommendation of Lonely Planet: Middle East, and were quite pleased with the place: It is an oasis of cleanliness in a hostile environment. The staff welcomed us uncomplainingly in the wee hours of the morning, gave us juice and Coke, and showed us to our room. More through stoicism than frugality I tried to forgo the air conditioner – which adds an additional LE 15 ($2.64) to the daily bill as soon as it is turned on – but it was less than 20 minutes before the Luxor heat changed my mind.

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