All arrived safely

The group travelling from Heathrow have all now reached Wadi Musa and are safely making themselves at home in the Edom Hotel. The incoming Air Jordanian flight into London was delayed which meant we embarked much later, arriving at Queen Alia airport in Amman at half-past midnight, local time. We then suffered more delays as initially our bus wasn't allowed out of the airport, and subsequently we broke down an hour or so into the journey to the hotel. After a wait of around an hour and the assistance of a passing goods lorry we we eventually arrived at the hotel at 5.00 am.

Keys were swiftly distributed and we headed off for a few hours sleep, before our orientation meeting at 12.00.

At this all of our party were present together for the first time this season, including our local Jordanian friends and academics and those who have travelled by other means to be part of the team.

Susan - our brilliant and vital administrator!

Path up to the Edom Hotel

A camel in the land opposite the hotel

The view left of the camel up towards the main part of Wadi Musa

Introductions, housekeeping, health and safety and a background to the project were the order of the day together with a summary of the major achievements during the 8 years of  activities so far. Then lunch - flat bread, unidentifiable cylindrical meat, cheese triangles and humus reminded the old stagers and warned our new members what to expect for the next few weeks.

Some of the group then visited the nearby crusader fort for an insight into the history of the region and first views of the stunning Jordanian landscape. Tomorrow we begin in earnest, with an early start and a trip to the far south of the country.

Keep checking in to this blog for updates and images of this amazing project.

Many thanks to the Edom Hotel, Wadi Musa for providing us with WIFI internet access, enabling the blog to be completed each day.