Jordan 2022, part 22 (Dana)
The night was bad – freezing. It did not help that I had a thick blanket and a thin duvet, I woke up during the night because of the cold, so I got out of the room and went down to the ground floor of the section of the guesthouse with guestrooms, because I had seen earlier a pile of back-up blankets there. I got only one, because they were all enormous and heavy, although I knew this would not be enough. That’s why, after returning to my room, I put on a down vest over my pyjamas, while all the time I was using my own travel blanket (small, thin, but warm). Thick socks on my feet were already a must. This was all necessary since the temperature outside was below freezing, there was no central heating on the guesthouse premises and there were also no air-conditioning units to heat up individual rooms. Admittedly, they did have some movable gas-heaters that warmed up the room quite nicely while working, but as soon as they would be turned off, the temperature would drop abruptly. I was told it was not safe for the heater to be on during the night. After all, even while I was still awake, the heater kept switching off on its own (I reported it, but was told this was the way it was supposed to be), so I did not even think of leaving it on for fear it would certainly switch off, while all the time emitting gas.
In the morning when I woke up it was early and I felt a little chilly under all of these covers, so I turned on the heater, but could no longer go to sleep, so at some point I simply got up.
As the weather forecast suggested, I was greeted outside by the dazzling blue sky without a speck of a cloud. I momentarily forgot about the bad night. From these sleeping quarters of the guesthouse, first I went out to the street where the water from the thawing snow from yesterday was now frozen. There was not a lot of this, but I certainly had to guard my steps.
To start with I went for breakfast to that common area that, if necessary, also served as a dining room. The room was decorated as a traditional, Bedouin tent, and as needed they arranged around some very low plastic tables, while the guests could sit either on the floor or on the low divans that followed the perimeter of the room.
By this time I was quite used to the traditional breakfast that was offered everywhere and that always included hummus, mutabal and pita bread. What was good here was that they put the pita bread on the top of the heater’s lid, so the bread got wonderfully warm. In addition to me, there was also one French guy staying at the guesthouse, so we had breakfast together and chatted a little. I was waiting for the temperature to move above the freezing point and then eventually I left around 9:40 am.
My plan was to walk along the trail called Wadi Dana, which means Dana Valley. I had already seen the afternoon before that this valley was stunning and I was looking forward to a nice walk there, but I must admit I worried a little because of the altitude difference. I had not hiked for a while and consequently my fitness was not what it used to be. And yet, I had the whole day free and this seemed like a good plan. The entire trail is some 16 km long and the hotels in Dana village offer to wait for the hikers at the other end of it and bring them back to the village by car. At least this was proposed by some alleged local guide from my guesthouse who in all probability worked for them, but the price that he mentioned was insultingly high. Since I was going on my own, I thought I would just go down for about 2 hours, calculating that I would need at least 3.5 hours to return uphill.
And so I went. It was very windy in Dana village and the sensation of the outside temperature was as if it was below the freezing point. I was told that the situation in the valley would be better. There was still some snow in the street and when I walked over it, I could feel it was frozen beneath. Treading carefully, I got to the first viewpoint along the trail that I planned to follow on this day. I had already been here the afternoon before, simply because it is at the end of the “main street” of the village. This time, in the morning, with the gorgeous weather, I was again delighted with the sight, just like the previous afternoon.
Dana Biosphere Reserve covers the area of over 300 sq km around Wadi Dana. This is practically a system of mountains and valleys and the altitude difference within the reserve goes to a maximum of 1600 m. The reserve has abundance of topographical forms and habitats, which in turn leads to a large biodiversity. It is possible to find some rare and endangered species here, which makes the reserve very important, not only at the local level.
Encouraged by the beauty that spread in front of me, as well as by the gorgeous sunny day, I headed along the trail. By the way, it may be seen in the previous photo – all the way to the right and covered by snow; there are footprints of the people who had walked there the day before.
I had to be careful. It was a natural trail, like a dirt road, and at first it was more or less covered by snow that could easily hide a thin layer of ice. And then this turned into mud. Where there was no snow, the soil was moist and this was some kind of soil that was very, very, very sticky. In addition to the soil being very sticky and piling up in large quantity on my shoes, this also meant that my shoes could easily slip on the mud below. On top of that I had the feeling I had weights on my feet, because I presume I must have had at least 1 kg of mud on each foot. All of this meant that I descended very slowly, because all the time I had to be careful where I was stepping.
On the other hand, at each turn, since the trail zigzagged, I stopped and admired the landscape in front of me. I was enchanted and filled with admiration. I found all of this so beautiful and impressive that I did not think of anything else and was only filled with joy over the magnificence of the surrounding landscape.
And so, I stopped in one place and then I heard the bells of some sheep and goats, since a herd was coming down from higher up, while the shepherd was the true leader sitting on a donkey in front of it all. I called him As-Salaam-Alaikum and he responded with Wa-Alaikum-Salaam, and then he continued, but not much farther. After a dozen metres, he got off the donkey, since his sheep and goats dispersed all over the slope. There were also some 5-6 dogs, but for some unfathomable reason they did not bother with the sheep and the goats, concluding instead that I was their main problem. While the shepherd gathered the sheep and the goats from the slope, the dogs surrounded me while I was merely peacefully standing there watching the whole thing.
Just like I had been taught by a good friend Ljilja, I very seriously raised my voice at the dogs, but these were unimpressed. Then their boss also yelled at them, telling them, as I concluded: “Enough!” (of course, in Arabic). They did not mind him much right away either, but after all that scolding, both his and mine, the dogs eventually let me be.
Right at this time the shepherd brought his herd together and was ready to continue with them down the trail, so I also came along. I checked with him if I was on the right trail by simply asking: “Wadi Dana?,” which he confirmed. He also offered to me to continue on his donkey, but I thanked him and explained I would rather go on foot.
We went in parallel for a short while, but soon enough I had to make a stop in order to take photos, because the beauty around me and in front of me did not diminish; it only changed the angles and perspective. Plus, the Sun was getting higher up on the firmament, so the colours and shadows also altered.
The shepherd, the sheep and the dogs went in front of me and from time to time I could see them in the sections of the trail below. Eventually, they got off the trail and went on some other paths of theirs. I simply continued to descend further.
In time, the weather circumstances indeed started to change, as I had been told they would, it was becoming warmer and only sporadically the wind would accelerate and bring the coolness from the higher sections of the mountain.
Still, I could take one of the two jackets off and put it in my small backpack, together with the shawl and the cap. I almost had not done this at all since my arrival in Jordan.
On the other hand, towards the lower sections of the valley, there was no hint of snow, while the nature was gorgeous.
Although by the very walking along the trail I looked straight ahead of me, whenever I would make a stop, I would turn around and I found all of it beautiful and interesting.
Here it was mostly pleasantly warm now, although I could still see the snow on the top of the mountain. That is probably why I had to put on my jacket from time to time, because as soon as there would be any wind, it would bring the cold air down.
In front of me, on the other hand, I could see the trail winding and leading to the lower sections. When you continue along the trail all the way to its end, you practically reach the lowland areas that are located south of the Dead Sea.
Not counting the shepherd, his herd and the dogs, I was here seemingly completely alone. But, from time to time, some small birds would fly by and they would only sporadically stop close enough and long enough for me to take a photo.
Although my walk here was very simple, I followed a trail from higher up down, I really loved the beauty of the landscape and could not stop taking photos. No matter how much the motifs are repeated, I must admit that I find each one of the photos fascinating.
At some point, the trail leads parallel to some high cliffs.
When I got off the trail and went closer to the cliffs, I could see another mini-valley.
Here I also took the opportunity and filmed a little with my video-camera. The video helps experience this area better, but it also provides the sound of the wind that kept blowing all the time bringing the coolness from the snow-covered heights.
There in the distance I saw another shepherd whose dogs barked somewhere to the right from the trail I followed. This time it was not me, they were too far away from me, and I wondered if some beast appeared that tends to attack their sheep. I don’t know.
In any case, after I had descended significantly and started to walk along a somewhat flatter section, the first shepherd I met on this day was close to the trail, while his sheep where scattered around. I greeted him again and he asked me if I would like some tea. How could I decline such an invitation?
Needless to say, the two of us could not really talk, since I don’t speak Arabic and he knew just a couple of English words, but there was no big need for that – we communicated quite well even without knowing the words of different languages.
To start with, I looked at what he was doing. He collected a few twigs from around, as well as some dry grass, then he piled this up and using his lighter he set the grass on fire that soon spread to the twigs. He also had a metal teapot, tea, as well as a plastic container with water. He used this water as well to freshly wash two glasses that would be used for the tea later on. Everything was set.
The shepherd was also kind enough to pose for me and he also took a couple of photos of me.
Although it was a sunny day, this should not mislead anybody, since all the time now there was this cold wind, so I had two jackets on me again.
While I was sitting on one of the rocks beside the fire, waiting for the tea to be ready, we were approached by some curious goats from the herd (the herd consisted mostly of sheep, but there were also some goats that were more curious). I don’t know which variety this is exactly, but it certainly seemed picturesque enough with its wavy ears and horns.
Soon enough, the tea was ready and it was then served on a perfect “table.” I was exceptionally happy and felt very privileged. The Jordanians are renowned for their hospitality, but for me this was much more than what I could expect.
From my backpack, I got a couple of small food items that I brought along, but this was not even remotely as impressive as the tea that was offered to me. I had some sweets which I shared with my host, while giving him a packet of peanuts as a gift “for later.”
No wonder he did not want the peanuts right away; he simply did not want to spoil his lunch. Namely, on the ground he arranged neatly a plastic bag on the corners of which he put large pebbles to prevent the bag from flying in the wind. Then he emptied a tuna can in the middle and also cut some vegetables. He put the other part of vegetables on the fire to grill them a little, just as he put a large pita bread there to warm up. The lunch was served.
He then called at his colleague, the other shepherd, and also invited me to help myself. I took a little, just not to insult him, but I certainly did not want any more than that because these men worked and they needed the energy from the lunch, so I did not want to take any away.
But, even before that other shepherd came, we were approach by a goat (or maybe it was a buck, I don’t know) who felt like having lunch with us. Although it got a couple of pieces of vegetables, it was obedient enough when the shepherd told it that it was all.
Then it walked to me, before leaving us and going in search for some food that is naturally provided for goats.
I sat here for a while yet and then I thanked for the tea, got up, put my backpack on and started to return to Dana village. Walking along the same trail that had brought me here in the first place, now I started to go up gradually. Still, very soon I looked back and so I spotted the shepherd that was enjoying his cigarette after the lunch.