Page 74 - The Light Dragoon 2024

The Light Dragoons are incredibly fortunate to have the only overseas Colonel-in-Chief of any Regiment of the British Army. King Abdullah II of Jordan served as a British Army Officer in the 13th / 18th Royal Hussars in the early 80s and has since become the Light Dragoons Colonel-in-Chief. The Light Dragoons were very fortunate to be hosted by his Majesty in Jordan on a 16-day trekking trip.
Arriving Amman, the team were greeted from the plane by Lt Mohammad (JAF). The only way to describe him briefly would be, “an ally bloke”. From the moment the team landed, we were excellently hosted. On the recce Capitan Montgomery-Stuart and Capt Chamberlin were advised on which hotels would be appropriate for the team, the natural conclusion was given that the Sheraton Hotel would be appropriate. Adequately described by booking.com as “a luxurious 5-star hotel that offers indoor and outdoor pools, a spa and gym”.
After a much-needed rest, the following morning we were introduced to the rest of the team that would be helping with the trip, all serving in Jordan’s Special Forces. After all the lads had gorged themselves on an inclusive buffet breakfast it was time to drive to Petra which was broken up with a stop at the Dead Sea for a swim. Tpr Osbourne made an apt observation and asked, “is it called the Dead Sea because it is dead floaty?”. Arriving in Petra, we were shown to the Movenpick and spent the remainder of the day exploring the town and finalising preparations for the trip.
Following our first night in Petra we were hosted by the JAF around Petra under Capt Laith. They took us around the World Heritage Site and had one of Jordan’s leading archaeologists give us historical insights into the area. A lot of
the team took the opportunity to immerse themselves in the culture buying ghutrahs (more commonly known as shemaghs). That afternoon the JAF hosted us in a local restaurant and introduced us to the delights of Mansaf (their national dish made of lamb cooked in a sauce of fermented dried yogurt and served with rice).
On the following day it was an early start to begin the trek. We took transport an hour to the north, starting the walk in Dana. This day proved to be a baptism of fire with temperatures north of 35 degrees and not a breath of wind, the team bounced between shady stops. For lunch we were invited into a local Bedouin tent and we had our first exposure to the desert nomad Bedouin culture and their tea which wasn’t quite Yorkshire tea but could be described as the ‘monster’ of teas, it being so sweet. After 23.5km we arrived at Wadi Malaga in time for watching the sunset over the Israeli border. Despite the ongoing Israel- Palestine conflict, it was still surprising to see a missile get launched over the border.
The following day was shorter at 13.7km, but took in 1050m of ascent. The views were spectacular and we used the oppor- tunity to introduce many “photo stops” for rest. At this point the ice had been broken with our Jordanian colleagues who were teaching us many “useful” Jordanian phrases. We also did a lot of traditional dancing, which we were sufficiently awful at, but enthusiastic, nonetheless.
For the following day some might say that we had broken the back of the hard marches, but Capt Griffiths had come down with the runs and did the 22.8km day with 600m of ascent only eating three dates out of fear of having to do a Paula Radcliff on the narrow mountain passes. The heat of the day was broken up with a swim in one of the wadis that still had water, giving us another much-needed rest. Reaching the Bedouin camp site at Little Petra that evening was a highlight and like every day, Capt Chamberlain wearing his matrix shades, greeted us with a big smile and crushing handshake.
On the following morning, we walked the easy 12km through Little Petra to Petra. I wouldn’t go quite as far as to say that the team looked like they just came off the set of Indiana Jones, but it was close. We spent much of the day slowly exploring the unique temples and alleyways carved out of the soft sandstone structure.
After the second night at Little Petra there was an amendment to the plan, we
were transported past Petra to a new start point further south and restarted the walk through the incredible Gaa Meribed Wadi. The local music playing from the guide’s speakers and our shoddy attempts at the dance made for quite the sight. While walking we witnessed some of the most awe-inspiring scenery of the trek with multicoloured rock faces and towering cliffs.
After the walk through the Gaa Meribed Wadi life became steadier with shorter distances and temperatures dropping below 25 degrees. With the shorter walks the team had more energy in the evenings, and we spent long nights sitting under the desert stars, sipping sweet tea, dancing and burning what energy we had left to local music, which by this point we were starting to get the rhythm of. Most evenings we put aside our local rations which you could not complain about and instead shared Mansef in a huge dish, which everyone was getting the hang of eating cross-legged on the floor using pita bread. Our attempt to share some of the North of England’s culture was met with confused faces as we sang “Blaydon Races”... The dancing was much more successful.
9 Nov was relatively short from Gaa Meribed to Wadi Al-Saif at only 14.3km. Crossing the mountain passes was difficult
The Regimental Journal of The Light Dragoons
Extra Curricular Ex Jordan Dragoon
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