Mr. Hakel and the Hot Air

Blog 13 July 16, 2010
Big day today, I’m gettin’ started early. Currently riding in our minibus to Aqaba where we will immediately board our charter and head out for a snorkeling adventure on one of the world’s greatest reefs.
Woke up at 5 this morning to make our early trip. Hot air ballooning over Wadi Rum. I guess I could give you a blow by blow description of the set-up of the balloon, the different steps, safety checks etc. but that would just be torture for you. I’ve spent so much of this trip seeing indescribable things. I took 300 pictures today alone and it isn’t noon yet. (Yep, some of you are in store for a seriously long slide show!) The balloon was everything I thought it would be. Smooth, peaceful, awe-inspiring are just a couple of the inadequate words I can think of. Lift off was so smooth that if I had not been looking I would never have known we’d left the earth. This is such a different sensation than any other way I’ve ever flown before. Yes, the burners were roaring from time to time, but otherwise there was no sensation of lift or movement at all. None. We were up to 3,000 feet of elevation in no time at all. We also didn’t seem to be moving over the ground at all either. At least until I watched the shadow of the balloon on the ground carefully. Then our speed seemed to rapidly increase. Our Captain took us high initially and then brought us down low over Al Jebel, or a mountain. It turned out to be the mountain that some of us had raced up a dune besides two days ago. It was amazing to see things we could recognize from up there. All too soon our trip came to a smooth, no bump landing. We watched the take down of the balloon for awhile and then mounted our trucks for the next new experience of the day. This one was pretty much the antithesis of the previous. Camel riding. Now, I’m not much of one to throw my weight around, but it occasionally can come in handy as I was assigned the largest of the camels. I was literally towering over most of the other people in our group and since I was wearing a turban with my new sunglasses, I was in fact given the title, Sheikh. As I understand it, I am able to retain that title when I return home. I believe I shall only use it professionally. So, if any colleagues or students of mine happen to read this, please remember to refer to me as Sheikh Hakel. Thank you for your consideration.
The only similiarity I can think of in comparing a hot air balloon ride to a ride on a camel is the relative height at which one views one’s surroundings. The sounds, the temperature, the speed, and most definitely the smells are very different. Our ride lasted about an hour. The best piece of advice we were given was to get on fast, you never know when a camel is going to stand up and to cross your legs in front of its hump. Now, those of you keeping score at home, will want to ask if I am riding a camel or a dromedary. In fact I and everyone else in Jordan are riding dromedaries. I am going to call them camels. If you can’t deal with it go ride a bison. I mentioned the camel ride was about an hour long. For me that was about fifty minutes longer than necessary. The most fun/alarming moments were when the camel stood and when the camel sat. Besides that? I sang cowboy songs to stay interested and match the sway of the camel. We’ve just arrived in Aqaba, type at you later!
Salaam,
Dad/Lane/Sheikh Hakel