UKC

Anybody got experience in these places?

Wadi Rum seems well covered, but Google seems to reveal a few other little spots here and there that could merit a visit. In the Sinai, one outside Jeruselem, one near Haifa... Where are they, which ones are good, dangers and logistics involved, etc?

Any other tips about this region? I'm headed there with my (climbing) girlfriend Nov 6 - Dec 15. We were thinking to fly into Amman or Cairo and then link up a round trip Israel->Egypt->Jordan. Partly backpacking/tourism, partly climbing. CAN'T WAIT.

Thanks!

In reply to John Blab:

Haven't actually been but meet a lot of people who have. For example, I was talking with an isreali climber just a couple of weeks ago about the areas he used to visit in the region. My impression is that the stuff within Israel is not high-quality ... essentially convenient crags for locals. Sinai seems to be regarded as good and getting more and more developed but you'll have to search around to assemble information. There's some stuff on John Arran's site. Wadi Rum is of course a world-class climbing area and should be the place you spend the most time. Elesewhere there's a surprisingly large amount of sport climbing in Syria, accessible from Damascus.

Tony Howard's site http://www.nomadstravel.co.uk/ is a great general resource for the Middle East and North Africa.

In reply to John Blab: HIGHTOWER off this forum was there earlier this year with the HotRock trip, I'll ask him to send you some info when I see him today. It may also be worth emailing the HotRock organisers as they should be pretty clued up about it.

In reply to John Blab:

You have mail...

In reply to John Blab:

Make sure you take a copy of the latest edition of Di Taylor and Tony Howard's guide to trekking, scrambling etc in Jordan. The first edition was excellent but this new one is even better. It should be in the shops now and it'll open up all sorts of new dimensions of Jordan for you beyond Wadi Rum. Petra, for example, is well worth several days, at least, and for some adventure, try Wadi Siyyagh.

One other tip -- take the trouble to learn a few phrases of Arabic (eg the first few phrases of greeting ritual). It's not difficult and will enhance your encounters with locals.

Have a good trip.

In reply to Solaris:

i got an email about it just last week from Cicerone, so i think you have to be careful which edition you're buying.

http://www.cicerone.co.uk/product/detail.cfm/book/520/title/jordan-walks-tr...