If there was any spot in the Middle East that I’d want to explore and drive in, it would probably be Jordan. Why? Because of the amazing Petra scenes in Transformers 2, the rich history of Lawrence of Arabia, and all the stories I’ve heard from motorcycle enthusiasts about the amazing drive from Wadi Rum to the Dead Sea. So when Ford Middle East invited me on a trip to test out their truck and SUV range on an amazing road trip through that very route, I had to take it.
Upon arrival, we were shuttled to the exquisite Kempinski Ishtar Dead Sea where a quick dinner introduced us to the team from Ford who would be accompanying us as well as some distinguished guests – Rowland Sherman, an absolutely fantastic photographer and a long-time friend of Ford, as well as William Dalrymple, who would serve as the much-knowing historian of the trip.
The epic road trip began as we left the Dead Sea and made our way towards Wadi Rum, a drive that would follow in the footsteps of T. E. Lawrence’s March to Aqaba, a rebellious act that marked the beginning of the Ottoman Empire.– Right off the bat, it was a breathtaking start. For the first half of the day, we drove along a rocky mountain range on our left while the Dead Sea glistened on our right, with the mountains of Palestine in the distance.
As the driver rotations were set, the first leg of my journey saw me in the 2016 Ford Expedition. To my luck, I was paired with just one other co-pilot, which meant that I got to drive a lot more than those who were grouped with 3-4 co-pilots. For years, I kept calling the Expedition a “three-bedroom apartment on wheels” and for the most bit, I don’t think I’m wrong. What I was pleasantly surprised with was the fact that it didn’t feel sluggish neither did it waft across lanes or turns.
While the initial hour or so was spent using my GoPro to take videos and sharing some videos from my cell phone, we eventually reached a signal dead zone where I was actually able to focus on only the drive. The Expedition was a treat and while it wasn’t the most responsive vehicle I drove in the trip, it was definitely the one that was the most comfortable and least disruptive (in terms of cabin noise and wind).
At mid-day we switched vehicles and I really lucked out. From the Expedition we were shifted into the 2016 F150 King Ranch, which was the luxury version of the full-options F150. Score. My luck grew further as the F150 was also the vehicle that I drove off-road for the duration of the off-roading on the trip. Score!
The F150 King Ranch drives like a dream, making you feel like it is, in fact, as we say in South Asia ‘a road that your father owns’ and is very capable when no longer on tarmac. At this point of the journey, I got another fortuitous break when my co-pilot told me he had some work that needed completion and asked if I could drive for the rest of the day.
Why on earth would I say no to driving Ford’s most capable off-road vehicle in the fleet, off-road, in one of the region’s most beautiful tracks?
The 45 minutes that we spent off road were to take us to the Captain’s Camp, where we would stop for lunch. In this time, I was comfortably managing soft sand in the F150 while the two all-new 2016 Ford Edge’s in front of me were going way too slow for their own good. While they eventually caught on and played a heavier foot, there were enough moments where I had to crawl through deceptively soft sand in the heavy F150 and there were no signs of it being bogged down in the sand.
At the Captain’s Camp, we were served Zarb, a traditional Bedouin dish where the meat and vegetables are cooked in an oven built underground and covered in sand. The meat was fall-off-the-bone and well worth the long drive there.
From the camp we were scheduled to drive off towards the Seven Pillars, a historic site in Wadi Rum. Having finished my lunch, I stepped out of the camp while the others ate and planted myself into the all-new 2016 Ford Edge and said, “how hard can it be to off-road these things?” Sure, they have a low clearance height and are really designed to go dune-bashing. But the Edge now comes with Intelligent All-Wheel Drive, which meant power went to whichever wheel needed it most.
Having spotted a dune right next to the camp we took it on, in the Edge and our results were interesting. The overall conclusion was that if you were an avid dune-basher, then avoid the Edge as it’s not best suited for it, mainly due to its low clearance. However, if push came to shove and you had to tackle a dune, then as long as you kept your momentum and stayed in second, you’d be just fine. If you feel yourself about to be bogged down, then yank the wheel to a side and the Intelligent All-Wheel Drive will get you out right out by delivering power to the wheel that needs it the most.
From there, we drove towards an old train station where, 100 years ago, Lawrence and the Arab revolutionists boarded and hijacked a supply train that was carrying supplies for the Ottoman Empire. This 100-year old line ran from Damascus all the way to Mecca and was the main source of supplies for the Ottomans, which made it an obvious target. The team from Ford and the Jordanian Tourism Board carried out a faux-hijacking of the train, with horses, camels and even fake gun-fire. They took one of us hostage and all was lost as we surrendered to the rebels. But hey, we did get to see a WWI Rolls Royce armored battalion vehicle, so I think the loss was worth it.
On the final portion of the March we switched vehicles again and this time I was in the Edge For those two hours, I had Ziyad Dallalah the Chief Engineer of Ford Middle East & Africa riding with us, which made for a lot of interesting car talk. I also learned things that I promised Ziyad that I wouldn’t share with anyone, so stay tuned for some big announcements from Ford.
The next morning, we were to begin the last leg of our journey, from Aqaba to Petra. While my day started off in the Edge, I was later put in the Ford Ranger Wildtrak – a pickup that I desperately wanted to drive off road (347nm of torque!) but alas it was all mountain roads for me. Definitely the torquiest of the lot, even though it’s only putting out 200bhp. Not a very high-revving engine so all your torque came to you right in the first 1-2 thousand revs, which is great if you’re towing or carrying loads.
After a 3 hour drive, we finally reached Petra where we had two hours to play tourist before a shuttle would take us straight to the airports for us to catch our flights.
Petra is absolutely stunning. While the entire hike down Petra is about 4kms and takes between 2-3 hours to and fro, we had a total of 2 hours that we could spend at the site so we only got as far as the first monument in Petra (there are 4 in total, the 4th being where Transformers was shot). However that itself was reward enough for the trek down the first 1.2 kms. The stone walls were full of stories and we were lucky enough to have a guide accompanying us the entire way to share some of those stories with us. I also got hustled out of a few dinars by a group of enterprising local children who taught me some fun lessons in free market economics while trying to sell me postcards.
Once we were done with Petra we were taken straight to the airport (a 4 hour drive) and back to Dubai, which rounded off the end of our trip. Thank you Ford Middle East for not only the chance to experience the SUVs and trucks in such a unique and historically significant manner, but also for the chance to experience Jordan’s beautiful drives and history.
