1046. Frontier Town (Jor 014)
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2011
1
47
89
Trip End
Ongoing
Al Mafraq, Mafraq, Jordan
Friday, September 9, 2011
There are no buses to my next town—just a car which I'm assuming serves as a collective taxi. I figure I’ll go ahead and go for it even though I risk getting stuck out in the middle of nowhere. And yes, after Zarqa you really feel like you’re out in the middle of nowhere… endless flat moonscape that stretches on towards the horizon. This is the almost uninhabited desert wasteland shared by Jordan, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia… not a region I want to spend a lot of time exploring, but at least get a taste of.
Finally we reach Mafraq, which definitely has a frontier feel to it. Being a Friday, the "Sunday" of the Middle East, most shops are closed giving it an even more empty feel. It’s my first flat town here in Jordan and as soon as the town ends the endless desert begins making you wonder how in the world people make a living in a place like this.
