Jordan! Wait... Jordan, really? WTF is in Jordan? Well, there's a lot of rocks, infertile dirt, some desert - all interesting in their own right but the real prize is the ancient city of Petra. If you live in a cave, then it's just another day in the hood. But for us house dwellers, it was something else and brought Nathaniel's Indiana Jones fantasies to life. Buildings and tombs carved out of sheer rock face that form intricate yet huge facades that were built hundreds of years before the time of Jesus. An amazing experience. The city winds its way down a narrow siq (a tiny valley that's been carved by wind and water). We walked down the valley but opted for the more conventional means of transport back to the start, conventional being camel. Camel toe jokes aside, it was invigorating. 4 sore thighs and 2 bruised pubic bones later, we returned to the Petra township to the best meal we've had so far. Hommus and baba ghanouge dips and bread, Mansuf (lamb) and a goulash-like bean dish. It's a traditional meal in the region, only eaten by tourists.

Just when we thought bad luck had escaped us for good in London, we were engulfed by a dust/sandstorm in our hire car whilst driving back to the airport. Then the dreaded traffic jam. We're not talking the M4 in Central London this time. This is a 3 lane highway in the middle of nowhere in a Jordanian desert with only the Jordanian Top Ten on the radio with hits like "I love my Goat", a cover of a KISS song called "Goats, Goats, Goats" and the old classic "Loving you is easy 'cause you're a beautiful goat". Having previously missed a flight in similar circumstances, we were determined not to fail again:

35 minutes. Stopped 100 metres from the police control point. Some movement in the right lane. We pounced. 3 lanes diverged into 10. We are now 10 metres off the highway to the right in no man's land in the desert, just shy of the police. 5 minutes pass. Cars start filtering through one by one on the highway. There are thousands of cars. There's no way we can merge back. A 4WD takes the initiative outside us and makes a B-line for the highway across open desert. We look at each other; smile; make the decision. We engage the 4WD option that comes standard with all Compact Toyota Yaris hire cars. BANG! CRUNCH! SKID! Traction, success! 110 km/h and back on track!

Little did we know that 3 significant traffic accidents had occurred ahead due to the severity of the dust storm. Still, who dares wins and we made it with 6 mins to spare to return the hire car and 3 hours before our flight - So you can imagine our frustration when the Thrifty guy was 50 mins late to collect the car!

Onward to our final Arabic adventure - Egypt!