Update, Chapter 2: SEALs, Dubai, Jordan

So, that last post took us up through the mid-April time frame. I got back to the ship on the heels of the Captain Phillips thing, and everyone was still pretty excited. It was funny to see the SEALs walking around the boat in their "uniforms". They basically wore whatever they wanted to, although that's generally how the sailors on the boat operate anyway, whether authorized or not. They'd be with us for at least a few more weeks, and at the very least it was interesting to have some new guys around. April and May were pretty slow around the ol' Boxer.
In mid-May we left the Gulf of Aden (GOA) and headed north for a port visit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). We were all excited, but especially everyone else because unlike me, who had gotten to go to Bahrain for a little trip, everyone else had been on the boat for almost 3 straight months at that point. Yikes. Our little tin can gets a bit stifling when you spend that much time on it without getting out and stretching your legs. The constant pitching and heaving gets old too.

Dubai was interesting. The UAE is, like Qatar and Bahrain, a very progressive Muslim country. Dubai, like the other major Middle Eastern cities, has been exploding over the last few years. They've built two huge malls (one has the largest indoor ski slope in the world! It was impressive! But not nearly as impressive as the big bowl of Marble Slab ice cream I ate there...) and the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai, is in the works. It's supposed to be completed within the next few years, but it's already a pretty incredible sight. The downside of Dubai, as is the case with much of the oil bearing country in the Middle East, is that the land itself is not much to look at. I mean, if you love sand dunes, scrub brush and rocks, you'll be in heaven, but for a guy like me who grew up with green as far as the eye can see it leaves something to be desired. So without much in the way of outdoors activity to partake in, I did the only sensible thing one can do in a desert; I went to a water park. And it was an absolute blast. For instance, my experience with a real water park is pretty much limited to Wild Waves in Federal Way. I'm sure I've been to some others, but that's the one that I think of when I think "water park". My fondest memories of Wild Waves can be summarized by about 30 seconds of unbridled glee screaming my way down a water slide, followed by a 5 minute trudge up 1,000 stairs to get back up to the beginning. The Arabs see water parks a bit differently. At this water park you board your inner tube at the bottom and the jets propel you uphill! You don't have to walk at all! In fact, you cruise up hill for a good portion of the time, then head back downhill to the lazy river that returns you to the beginning of the ride. Genius! I'm sure most of the water parks built in the last 5-10 years all have the same general setup, but this was the first one I'd seen and I was very impressed. That was definitely the highlight of my visit.
Pushing out of Dubai, we headed back south and re-entered the GOA. This time, though, we didn't hang out for long. We stayed in the vicinity of Djibouti for a few days to move some people, then headed up the Red Sea for an exercise in Jordan. Cruising up the Red Sea was an interesting experience. The Red Sea is about 20 miles wide at its widest point and flanked on the west by Egypt and on the east by Saudi Arabia. But wait, it gets even more interesting! At it's northern tip, where the River Jordan empties into it, Israel sits on the west bank of the Jordan and the country of Jordan sits on the east bank. So within a 10 mile stretch you have Eqypt, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Needless to say airspace planning to ensure that none of our helicopters accidentally wandered into another country was of key importance in planning the exercise. I was the main planner for the aviation guys, so I had my hands full trying to make sure that all the Jordanian authorities were read in on our plan and knew when and where we were flying throughout the exercise. It was great to get to fly over land again, and the terrain there is amazing; extremely arid desert, but with towering mountains that get snow in the winters. We got a huge amount of training done, and got to shoot a lot of ordnance, so it was well worth the trip. Also, there are some really cool things to see in Jordan, and we had a bit of time off to go check them out. For instance, I went to a place called Petra. It's a city that hit its heyday in the first few centuries AD, and the most incredible thing about it is that it was almost completely carved out of the sandstone in the area. It was actually in the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. There's a part at the end where the Nazis are moving through the valley looking for the temple and finally they come through this opening and there's a temple carved into the sandstone; that's part of Petra. It was amazing. Supposedly 150,000 people lived there at its peak, and it's hard to imagine that many people living in that area. Another amazing thing about Petra is the difference between an established, modern national parks/ monuments system like the US has and a less established system like the one in Jordan. There were next to no railings or walkways at Petra. Visitors are basically free to climb around on nearly whatever they want. We explored probably a hundred caves, and it was amazing to see the ceilings covered with the thick black residue from thousands of years of fires from the goat and sheep herders who have lived in the cave dwellings. Pictures don't rightly convey the immense scale of the place or the awe inspiring vistas filled with hundred foot tall rock carvings. Incredible place and I'd definitely like to go back. It reminds me why I wanted to be an archeologist when I was a kid.
The other big hit of my trip to Jordan was a trip to see Jesus' baptism site on the River Jordan and to swim in the Dead Sea. I'd flown until about 0200 the night before and the bus left at 0630, so it was a bit painful to be up and running for the trip, but we had a 3 hour bus trip up, so that allowed me to get a bit of rest. The bus took a highway north through the town of Aqaba which was near the port where the ship was pierside, and continued through the deserts and mountains I'd been flying over all week. I must admit, I much prefer a 1 hour helicopter ride with me at the controls to a 3 hour bus ride with no room for my knees, but a trip to the River Jordan isn't something you get to do everyday, so it was well worth it. Jesus' baptism site was a cool experience. The site itself is relatively unimproved, with only gravel paths and split beam fences to guide visitors to the small wooden platform over the river at the point where Jesus is rumoured to have been baptized. Of course, the modern day river is much, much smaller than it would have been in Jesus' day, due to the large amounts of water diverted for irrigation throughout the river valley. Also impressive was the Israeli monument built on the opposite side of the river. The Jordanian side is very quaint and rustic, while the Israeli side is more modern and developed. I also got a water bottle full of River Jordan water, so some of you can expect to see some of that in the near future when I get home.
After the river we hopped back in the bus and headed south 30 minutes to the Dead Sea. This was mostly a tourist stop, but it was another cool experience. They dropped us off first at a restaurant/ shop area where we had lunch and I bought a Jordanian cook book for Jen and I to try out when I get home. Next we headed over to a nearby swanky hotel on the shores of the sea. We headed down to the pool area (complete with a water slide!) to change into our swim trunks, then headed down the stone steps to the beach and the Dead Sea. For those of you who aren't aware, the Dead Sea is the saltiest body of water on the planet. It's the high salt content that gives it its bizarre buoyancy. Floating in the Dead Sea was a surreal experience. You can stand on the beach surrounding it and watch people float effortlessly, and although it looks strange, the experience's strangeness really doesn't hit you until you get in the water and realize that you couldn't sink if you tried. It's literally like wearing a life preserver; it's that buoyant. It blew me away. For the first 10 minutes we all just floated around laughing about how strange it felt. Then the stinging began. Just like getting salt in a wound, any scratches you have anywhere on your body start to hurt, and it becomes at least a little uncomfortable. It's such a bizarre experience, though, that this is easy to overlook. I realized quickly that if I stood in water that was only up to my waist I could use my feet to fish rocks off the bottom. Usually, that wouldn't be all that interesting, but these rocks were actually big chunks of Dead Sea salt! I collected a couple of rocks thinking they might be neat gifts for people when I got home, and they'll go nicely with the Dead Sea water I also collected in a water bottle. Basicallly, I walked away from my trip that day with a small collection of natural resources and a cookbook. All in all, I'd say it was a successful trip.
Leaving Jordan, we headed south out of the Red Sea, back into the GOA, and continued east into the Indian Ocean and out of our Area of Responsibility. That marked the first big step on our way home. We lost our tax free status, but I'm pretty sure we were all willing to trade that with being one rung closer to home. Besides, we'd be in Thailand for a port visit in a couple of days...

Pictures to follow as soon as I get this internet working...