a modern silk route 7

"Nothing modern that is remarkable

Nothing historical that is apparent"

D, 30 OCT 22 @ Sufra, Amman 

Now, that's a quote worthy of T.E.Lawrence, another famous Oxford alum, whose canyon we visited this morning on a sunrise drive through the northwest corner of Wadi Rum desert. The landscape of Wadi Rum is so out of this world that movies like Prometheus, Dune, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Martian and of course Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here. 

Photo credit: Mary Evans picture library

D was thinking of Wadi Rum, Mount Nebo and Petra in Jordan's past and glorious as that may be, the modern day country is anything but. Its poor yet expensive. Its historical yet dirty. Its Islamic yet kids are unattended and unschooled.

The second line refers to Qatar and maybe there is something to be said about rulers who try to create something out of nothing.

Nothing is exactly what we are doing now at half past midnight awaiting to board our 2:45am flight. The fact that Jordan, a major trading country of the past, is not as connected to the rest of the world as Doha is speaks a lot to its place in the network of global business centres today.

What is perhaps most tragic is our sense of how it is taking care of its future. Much like Malaysia where education standards for the young (both the teaching and learning thereof) have fallen, and then exacerbated by politicians who buy their way into power by providing safety nets rather than trampolines for the citizens. So not only are the population poorly educated, they also lack hunger and drive; all vital ingredients to help uplift a nation to live to its fullest potential.

In fact, the refrain we heard here in Jordan is, alas, we don't have oil and gas like Saudi or Qatar. When in fact, my meetings to Riyadh and Doha are very much because the leaders here want to diversify their economy and instill greater skills and drive in their people. 

D felt that Qatar had developed so fast using/buying the talents of the world that little of their own history is evident. So, between the high end, clean malls in Doha vs the chaotic shops in downtown Amman, the latter still has a charm. But then again, the charm begins to fade when the cleanliness mindset is so sorely missing. Even high up in the desert plains to Showbak Castle or along the beach of Aqaba right across from Israel, and on the streets of Madaba, the city of mosaic artistry, trash is everywhere but in the bins and for that matter there are few bins. 

In fact, it astounded us to see children playing amongst heaps of trash and it shocked us to see kids living amongst the trash and just running on to the streets to beg for money. Quite unlike the free range kids we saw in Kashgar or Samarkand. Those kids are cared for, albeit freely.

There is a lot to be done in Jordan and that its king is listed in the Panama papers as one of the wealthiest man on earth only makes it more tragic when he is so revered and loved. 

Jordan is a beautiful land with friendly people. It deserves better. This important country at the strategic crossroads of the Silk Route can be better. It needs strong leadership and governance. 

We had only a brief 3 days here and packed in a lot. In the last 3 hours here, we ambled up and down Rainbow Street (Amman's high street) and ate the best food we had so far throughout the Middle East at Sufra. Even Jordanian wine, St George, is OK. D even saw a worker sweeping the streets and so happy she was to see that, she asked for a photo with him. So, yes, they can improve if they put their minds to it.