HTMW Recaps: September 2019
I normally add a quote to the beginning of each post that sums up or enhances my writing. However, I’m going to use my monthly recaps as an opportunity to sum up the month – be it the mood, the weather, my feelings… Anything really. This month really was a month of polar opposite emotions. I experienced great highs during our trip in Jordan and incredible lows in the final week of September. The quote therefore tries to sum up the living of a good life and pays homage to my Granddad, Harry Hodges, who passed away on 29th September 2019 aged 86. He lived a full and happy life, as I also always strive to do.
‘Even death is not to be feared by one who has lived wisely.’ – Buddha.
In January 2017, I announced I was going to start monthly recaps on my blog. If you missed last month’s recap, you can find it here.
September was both joyful and extremely difficult. We had the most wonderful holiday in Jordan, exploring the desert and stepping back into ancient history. However, the holiday end was overshadowed and, as you’ll read, the last week of the month was one of the lowest points in my year. A month of two halves.
The Highlights
A chance to finally explore Amman more thoroughly.
When I visited Amman the first time around, we spent less than 24 hours in the city before heading off to explore other areas of the country. It was nice to be able to spend a couple of nights there this time around and explore the city more thoroughly.
We spent time wandering the ruins of the Temple of Hercules, clambered up the amphitheatre in the centre of the city and ate some really delicious food on Rainbow Street. It was a lovely couple of days in the Jordanian capital. I’d highly recommend staying there if anyone is visiting the country in the near future!
Some really amazing food throughout our stay in Jordan.
Jordanian food is perfect for vegetarians! There is a tonne of falafel, hummous, bread and salads, all of which tend to taste absolutely delicious. We ate incredible falafel at a lovely restaurant on Rainbow Street in Amman. They were so good we ordered a second helping!
I find that I generally start missing food from home about halfway through holidays. However, in Jordan I could just eat and eat local food forever. I was particularly disappointed about our stay at the Ramada due to their lack of local food and the ‘Western’ food options being so prevalent. When it comes to Jordanian food, I say, keep it coming as much as possible!
The most wonderful time in Wadi Rum.
I adored my first visit to Wadi Rum back in 2017 and our trip to the desert was no different this time around. I loved it just as much, if not more, the second time I visited.
This visit was a very different experience to the first time I was in Wadi Rum. The camp and the whole experience felt much more authentic. The camp where we stayed is family owned and run and I definitely felt like we had a very genuine Bedouin experience. We felt incredibly warmly welcomed and extremely well taken care of. If you ever want to visit Wadi Rum and are looking for a camp to stay at, I can’t recommend Hala Rum Camp highly enough.
We took a jeep tour during our full day in the desert and what a day we had! I felt like we were taken to literally every single thing there was, and more! Yaser, the oldest brother and our guide for the day, was highly knowledgeable about the area and shared his knowledge generously. I learnt so much about Bedouin culture, the desert landscape and what it is like to live there. We were also treated to an incredible lunch, cooked over an open fire by Yaser himself which was one of the best meals we ate while in Jordan. I can’t recommend this experience highly enough. Whatever you do in Jordan, do not miss Wadi Rum. It really is somewhere special.
A tough hike with incredibly rewarding views.
I am not the biggest fan of Petra, largely due to the way I’ve viewed animals being treated there. As such, I took a step back for the majority of our time there. Instead, I took the opportunity to relax and chill out. However, I couldn’t avoid visiting Petra entirely. So one day I headed into the complex and P and I hiked to the Place of High Sacrifice.
I visited the most accessible parts of Petra in 2017, so this hike gave me the opportunity to get a bit off the beaten track and explore a less obvious area of the ancient city. There were fewer tourists and it was much quieter. In 36 degree heat, it was a tough climb to the Place of High Sacrifice and I’m not going to lie, there were moments when I nearly gave up! However, the amazing views when we reached the top made everything totally worth the effort.
We ended up watching the sun set before we headed back down the mountain and walked back through the Siq as dusk well and truly set in. I was immensely pleased that I completed the hike and got to experience a less visited part of Petra. It gave me a different insight into the attraction I wouldn’t otherwise have had.
Floating in the Dead Sea.
When we visited the Dead Sea on the Palestinian side in 2017, I was tired and had a headache. While my sisters took the opportunity to swim, I sat on the shore and didn’t partake.
This time around, we had two whole days to enjoy the Dead Sea and we took full advantage! We covered ourselves in mud, relaxed, floated for ages and swam (as best you can!) in the famous sea. With a salinity of 34%, the Dead Sea is ten times more salty than ordinary sea water. As such, the sea is renowned for its incredible buoyancy. Taking a float can have health benefits too, with studies showing that skin conditions are helped by a dip in the saline waters. After a couple of days, my skin felt noticeably softer!
Floating in the water, held up by salt alone, I felt completely relaxed. It was the perfect way to end our holiday before we had to head back to the UK. I loved that we got to spend so much time in the sea and it wasn’t a rushed experience. Spending time at the lowest point on earth – ticked off the list!
The Lowlights
My Granddad’s death overshadowed the end of the month.
While I was in Jordan, Dad messaged our family to say that Granddad had been taken ill and was in hospital. We flew home a few days later with Granddad still ill and still in hospital. I took the first opportunity to go and visit him when I got back from our trip. I’m grateful that I got to see Granddad before he was fully sedated. It meant he could recognise I was there and squeeze my hand before he fell back asleep.
Sadly, Granddad’s health continued to deteriorate and a week after my return from Jordan, he passed away in hospital. I dropped everything to be there when I got the call that his life support was going to be switched off. It was the toughest moment of 2019. However, I’m so glad I was able to be there for other family members. I am grateful I got to say goodbye.
Granddad had a long, happy, healthy and fulfilled life. I’m grateful he only had a short illness and died peacefully, surrounded by loved ones.
Purgatory in the Ramada Hotel…
The hotels around the Dead Sea are all resort hotels. Big, all-inclusive complexes with spas, swimming pools, restaurants, lounges, bars and access to the Dead Sea. We chose the cheapest available, the Ramada Hotel, and I’m extremely glad we only booked to stay there for two nights! Resort hotels are definitely not my scene.
We enjoyed the pool and the sea, but got bored quickly. The food was largely bad Western food (think chips, pizza and lukewarm buffet food!). Alcohol, our usual go-to in such situations, is heavily taxed in Jordan and getting drunk to pass the time wasn’t a realistic option. A small beer cost around £10! To top it off, the hotel was in the middle of nowhere. We couldn’t leave even if we wanted to! There also wasn’t much in the way of entertainment. Once day faded into night, we ate dinner, mooched about for an hour or so and went to bed!
Tough problems, I know. But we were intensely grateful to leave after two nights. It started to feel like an extremely high-end prison and our jokes about being stuck in purgatory began to take on a slightly desperate note…
Bucharest wasn’t quite as lovely as I’d hoped it would be.
On the way to Jordan, we stopped over in Bucharest for just under 24 hours. It was enough time to catch some sleep, do a walking tour and eat some food before heading back to the airport for our onward travel.
While I found the history of Bucharest interesting, the city just wasn’t as lovely as I’d hoped it would be. We ended up dipping out of the walking tour earlier than planned and going to grab some food and a beer. One final stroll around the oldest part of the city didn’t reveal too much more to us than what we’d taken in at first glance. Somewhat disappointed, we took an Uber back to the airport.
Unless someone has a deep interest in Soviet era history and the Cold War, I probably wouldn’t really recommend Bucharest to other travellers. I left feeling a bit disappointed, although it is all personal taste. Others may adore the city!
Posts This Month
I posted nothing new in September. This was largely due to my holiday taking up a large chunk of time and the sad events that occurred later in the month.
What I Read This Month – September 2019
Don’t Go There by Adam Fletcher.
During a trip to Istanbul, Fletcher is accidentally caught up in street protests. Subsequently, he becomes a little hooked on exploring life outside his humdrum, everyday reality of work, bills, rent and work.
On his quest for adventure and to better understand himself, Fletcher gets off the beaten track. Accompanied by his long-suffering girlfriend, he visits such places as Chernobyl, Ghana and China over the course of a few years.
I enjoyed the book. It is an easy reading travel book. Fletcher visits some countries that aren’t recognised by the UN. He gets himself into situations that would really stress me out and comes away with some great stories that he now shares in his book. It made me laugh a few times and roll my eyes a lot.
There are mixed reviews of this book on Good Reads, ranging from a ‘hilarious read‘ and ‘excellent book‘ to ‘don’t read this‘ and ‘a limp attempt at an ‘innocents abroad”. Unhelpfully, I agree with the cross-section of reviews. I will finish with this: it’s a quick read about travel to some places I am interested in or have visited myself. Therefore, I found it okay. If you’re looking for enlightenment about some less visited or more difficult to visit countries, then it’s not for you.
My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent.
This book was a tough read. I found myself squirming through some parts, often having to skim over sections or skip pages because of the graphic detail that Tallent goes into. I’ve read reviews since and this quote sums it up for me:
‘ …I found this a crass tale, full of gratuitous detail and none of the sensitivity the subject matter required.’
That was the problem. It was so gratuitous.
The story revolves around Turtle, a teenager whose father Martin subjects her to horrific sexual, physical and emotional abuse. I have no issue reading a narrative that covers such dark and difficult topics. I do, however, have an issue with an author who uses questionable language choices and sexualises the character. Tallent takes the narrative away from the character and adds his own omniscience into the book.
For me, this was the worst read of 2019. I didn’t enjoy the book, I think Tallent is over-hyped and overrated and I would not recommend this book to anyone.
The Road Headed West by Leon McCarron.
For someone who does not go cycling or even really enjoy it, I sure read a lot of books about cycling. This is the second cycling adventure book I’ve read in 2019, and I read a couple in 2018 as well. I’m sure it will not be the last!
McCarron is a classic adventurer. He’s walked across Mongolia and China with Rob Lilwall and completed plenty of other trips and travels in his time. This particular adventure sees him cycling the width of the USA, from New York to San Francisco. After a rest, he heads down the west coast of California onto Mexico. Along the way, he encounters gun-touting Iowan farmers, terrifying tornadoes and bears as he cycles 6,000 miles across the country.
Admittedly under prepared for the trip, McCarron undergoes some incredible personal growth as the trip progresses. With the help of the kind strangers he meets along the way, he navigates all the dangers, difficulties and self-inflicted pain points and emerges on the other side wiser, older and most definitely fitter! A must-read for anyone who loves an adventure, enjoys cycling or even, if you’re like me, hates cycling!
Instagram Pictures of the Month – September 2019
My photos this month are from London and Jordan.
I choose these three images based on which got the most likes on Instagram and then tell the story behind the picture. Disclaimer: They are not necessarily my favourite photos!
Lost in the Desert – Wadi Rum, Jordan.
Hair tangled by the wind. Sand in my shoes. Immense silence. Endless miles of red desert spread out below like a Martian landscape. This is me at one of my happiest points in 2019.
I don’t often have someone with me to capture happy moments. I also don’t really like having photos taken of me. But I’m glad that in this instance, P insisted and got this perfect shot of me gazing across Wadi Rum, at the end of long and wonderful day of exploring. We’d been without WiFi for 48 hours and I was fully relaxed. I was lost in the desert and I couldn’t have been happier.
The After Glow – Wadi Rum, Jordan.
Sunsets in the desert last for ages. The sky turns every colour you can imagine due to the dust that hangs in the atmosphere. We sat atop a sand dune to witness this sunset, gazing out as the red slowly leaked into purple. This beautiful glow turned everything pink and indigo.
Yaser had quietly left us to watch the sunset alone. When we slid down the dune, he motioned for us to join him at the small fire he’d conjured out of nowhere and sip mint tea before we headed back to camp. Unwilling to leave too soon, we eagerly obliged and drank our tea as the colours faded and the glow slowly ebbed away into darkness.
The Treasury from Above – Petra, Jordan.
The most well-documented part of Petra and the face of Jordanian tourism. The Treasury is heralded as a wonder of the world, an ancient beauty, something that everyone should see once in their lives.
In front of The Treasury the crowds of people are noisy. Here, touts charge money for photographs with camels. Men try to get people to take a carriage ride back up through the Siq. Boys wander between groups of people, selling cheap jewellery and other trinkets. Selfie-stick welding tourists jostle to take photos in front of The Treasury, posing for the perfect picture. It’s a bit overwhelming.
We climbed above the tumult below. The rocks were worn and slightly slippery. Up here, we weren’t alone but at least it was quieter than down below. I crept close to the edge and took this photo, blurring out the people to add an ethereal effect.
My Favourite Image: September 2019.
We moved into our new office this month and I went in for a 7am phone call every Thursday. As the days shortened, sunrise got later and later and the sun positioning in the sky slowly changed.
This photo was taken the day before I went on holiday to Jordan and I was stressing about how much work I had to do before taking off! However, in a quiet moment, I sat and drank a coffee and watched the sun rise before everyone else arrived in the office. It was a moment of peace before a busy day.
Coming Up in October 2019
E and I have our final hike of the year in Kent in October, and I’ll be horse riding a couple of times. My Granddad’s funeral is the 22nd October and there’ll be the usual antics in London with friends.
At the end of October, Mum and I fly to Uzbekistan to spend two weeks exploring this amazing looking country! It will be my 30th country and the last trip I take in 2019. I am very excited!
Keep your eyes open and be sure to follow my Instagram feed and stories for all the photos from our trip.
