82 July 2008 Story by Amanda Katsurada Photos by Author and Subaru World Rally Team
thIs YeaR the World Rally Championship saw Jordan joining its round of events as the first Middle eastern country to hold a WRC round. Rallying in the Middle east is not an entirely new idea. It has been around for decades now and the popularity is on a continuous rise. Qatar, the United arab emirates and Jordan in particular have been producing great drivers. Jordan’s King abdullah II has been a driver with Phil Mills as his co-driver, and he must have gotten his rallying itch from his father, the late King hussein, who was also into the sport. Rallying is in their blood, and it’s almost as if it is the modern alternative to the traditional camel racing. There is more to a rally than who won, what the road surface was like and what the temperature was like; it is also about the place and the people where the rally is held. so really, what is it like to go to Jordan Rally as a spectator, with no previous experience in the Middle east? since there’s a good chance this will be my last trip to the Middle east for a while, I took two weeks off and began planning the trip. My friend in the United states, eric, was happy to join me for the trip; it’s always good to have a history buff who can enjoy the seemingly endless list of historical ruins in Jordan, from Petra (which made the new seven Wonders of the World list) to the Roman city of Jerash, to dozens of the Crusaders’ castle-forts that were on our must-see list. During the first ten days, we traveled across the country, from Jerash, one of the best-preserved Roman ruins in the world in the north, to aqaba, the port town facing the Red sea with egypt and Israel/ Palestine in view, before going to the rally. by this time I had a pretty good picture of the country, its people and culture. First of all, the Jordanians are very friendly. The first few questions they throw at you are, “Where are you from? Do you like Jordan? Good?” and when they say “good” they always do a thumbs-up, which I found charming. because the country is only about the size of Ohio, it can be crossed in four to five hours of driving. The terrain is rather smooth, mostly rolling hills with villages, towns and the very few cities dotted around them. april is the peak of tourist season for them, with flowers in full bloom and temperatures still livable at around 80 to 105 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and dropping quite a bit lower at night. It was quite dry, though not parching. Faced with a scorching hot sun, one would have to make sure not to go anywhere without a big bottle of water. Luckily, there were shops stacked high with bottled water on every street corner. The code of dress seems to be very liberal here RALLY JORDON TRAVELOGUE Desert Discoveries compared to the ultraconservative images I’ve seen in the news and on the Internet. There are few men wearing the traditional garments with headdress and even fewer women wearing the head-to-toe burka than expected. however, in Petra, where the bedouin run their own businesses of camel/horse/ donkey rides, shops and cafes for tourists, many still live in a traditional nomadic style. Mohammed, a young bedouin that I spoke with, told me, “all bedouin here own a cell phone and a car. see the village over there? That’s a village the government built for SubIESpOrt MagazInE 83
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