Friday, January 29, 2010

Indiana Bjørn and the Last Crusade so far

In the series "Bjørn goes to hot places only to freeze his butt off", it's now time for a trip to Jordan. Or Horrordan, as it apparently is known as to most people I have told about my fresh travel plans the last couple of days. At work I was instructed to write down in more detail than usual exactly what I've been working on lately, in case, eh..., someone else will have to finish it.

Let them worry. I'm confident I'll be fine. The only worry I have is that it seems as if I shall have to spend a few days at a five star hotel. This is not something I was designed for. What will I do if the mattresses are comfortable?! What if the cleaning people thinks my backpack is just a piece of garbage? What if I go for a hike in my room and I get lost? How embarrassing!

(Photo borrowed from the Creative Commons, by C. Chou)

Apart from that, Jordan will please me, I'm sure. I'm already thoroughly impressed by how the people there, being surrounded by Israelis, Irakis, Syrians and Saudi-Arabians, haven't been at war for several decades now. And the stuff I'm going there for, mainly mountains, looks just great!

Well, apart from the fact that they offer freezing temperatures at night during this part of the year, that is. That's okay. If it gets really cold, I can just stay inside and pretend I'm out exploring the country, by watching movies like Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (sounds like a feel-good movie!), Red Planet and Mission to Mars (I suppose this means the landscape may be slightly alien?) and a large number of action movies that needed spectacular scenery to lead the attention away from a missing story.

Ground Zero of my journey will most likely be Petra, the mountain town that isn't a mountain town because it's located in the mountains, but because it's built INTO the mountains! You've probably seen photos of it already. If not, I can pretty much guarantee that when I return, I will force you to look at some.


Well, as soon as I've finished the pile of photos from Africa, that is. It's right her next to me as I write, only half done... I'm sorry. In the meantime, you can look at my Turkey photos one more time. Lots of Turkish people do! No less than nine of my photos from my time in Turkey last summer have been voted to be "Featured Photos" on the Turkish Wikipedia. Like the one above. How nice of them! #8D)

There you go. Now you know where you won't find me the next week or so.

Enjoy your February!

Bjørn