Travel On The Hejaz Railway
If youre travelling in the middle east in particular from Jordan or Syria or visa versa theres one train journey you shouldnt miss out on. The Hejaz..
Background
Some know it as the line built by the Ottoman Turks to transport pilgrims from Damascus to Mecca while others know it as the railway bombed by TE Laurence and the united Arab tribes during world war one. Built in 1906 the Hejaz line is over a century old and what few people know is that those very same carriages still run today. Twice weekly infact between Damascus and Amman
The Hejaz line was only ever laid as far as Medina as Bedouin tribes prohibited the completion of the line to Mecca. Never the less the route became popular with pilgrims when it started operating in 1913. The journey took some fifty five hours and proved to be a winning alternative to the sixty day journey by camel.
Hejaz Today
If you plan to travel on the Hejaz line today only a small section of the railway still remains; Damascus to Amman and visa versa. The rails further south have either fallen into disrepair been destroyed altogether or have been adopted by the Jordanian government to transport potash and phosphate.
The route has remained something of an enigma to mainstream tourism and is used largely by locals military personnel and the odd solitary rail enthusiast
But rail enthusiast or not you wont be disappointed. The rusty carriages while faded and archaic maintain all the charm of the early twentieth century. The seats are hard wooden planks the steps are barely hanging on by a screw and the toilets are unthinkably bad. But if you enjoy meeting the locals have a sense of adventure and dont mind getting sand in your lunch there are few more rewarding ways to see the backyard of the Middle East.
And as you rattle through the desert at a little over jogging speed snapping away to your memory cards content youll wonder why most travellers in the region opt to do the same journey in less than half the time staring out at the countrys highways from the comfort of an air conditioned bus.
Practicalities
The train run twice weekly from Damascus to Amman and visa versa. Unfortunately the steam engine has been abandoned in favour of a diesel and just because the train is scheduled to depart at a particluar time doesnt necessarily mean it will. To buy tickets simply arrive at the station in the morning half an hour before departure it definately wont leave early take a seat on the crumbling carriage and then wait for the inspector to arrive usually after departure from who you can buy a ticket.
The Journey takes 1012 hours. Bring some lunch as none will be provided and shopping opportunities on route are limited. On arrival at the border you actually change train on to a similarly archaic locomotive. Passports are collect here too and returned again an hour or so later at the first station within Jordan/Syria
Decisions about whether the train will actually run are left usually to the very last minute and even if you confirm the day before there are no guarentees. Don’t put too much faith in what guides hotels or travel agencies tell you as very few of them actually know the train still exists let alone if and when it’s likely to leave.
However if you arrive at the station on the day to find the train is cancelled you’ll have ample time to have a leaisurely breakfast find the bus stop drive to Amman and still arrive several hours before the train will.
About the writer: Tariq El Kashef is the author and editor of www.alternativeegypt.com The Online Guide for the Independent Traveller
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