Aqaba, Jordan – April 8th, 2025

Jordan Baja time again on the Red Sea in Aqaba. A date switch this year from November to early April so the weather should be slightly better, although there were strong winds, shifting sand and poor visibility on the three-plus hour run down from Amman to Aqaba this morning.

A record entry of 33 cars and 16 bikes and then additional entrants in a national event and a navigational rally.

The stunning red rock and moonscapes of Wadi Rum have been the location of numerous Hollywood films like The Martian and Aladdin and, knowing NASA, probably a lot of moon and Mars landscape images…

A new hotel – the Westin Saraya Aqaba Beach Resort – this time and a stopover before and after at Amman airport in a tired transit hotel that badly needs a refurb and is stupidly overpriced. I won’t mention the breakfast or lack of it.

At least there are direct flights now on Mondays from Manchester T2 with RJ to avoid the nightmare of Istanbul or Heathrow transits.

Thanks also to Big Donald for deliberately crashing world markets so his buddies could fill their boots and flush out the weak hands …