きらめく砂漠を駆け抜ける　耐久レース「ギャロップ」　ヨルダン

【ワディラムＡＦＰ＝時事】ヨルダン南部ワディラムのきらめく赤い砂の上を、１００人以上が馬に乗り駆け抜ける。耐久レース「ギャロップ」の参加者だ。（写真はヨルダンのワディラムを走る耐久レース「ギャロップ」の参加者）
　レースは１０月２９日までの５日間。２００キロに及ぶ旅は、映画『アラビアのロレンス』のロケ地として知られるワディラムから始まり、国連教育科学文化機関（ユネスコ）の世界遺産に登録されているペトラ遺跡で終わる。
　参加者は主にアマチュアで、主催者によると今年は欧州の他、日本やアルゼンチン、米国、インドネシアなど１６か国から１３３人が参加した。馬は全てヨルダン国内で用意された。
　優勝は女性３人、男性２人から成るフランスのチーム「ブルー・ガラ」だった。
　ギャロップはこれまで、インドやモロッコ、オマーンで開催されてきた。主催者は「砂漠や渓谷、山々」を越える「馬乗り耐久レース」であり、乗馬技術に加えて出場者の持久力、結束力、自制心が求められると語った。
　スタート地点のワディラムは、１９６２年の大作歴史映画『アラビアのロレンス』で主演のピーター・オトゥールの乗馬シーンが撮影された。ゴール地点のペトラのエルカズネ（宝物殿）は、１９８９年の大ヒット映画『インディ・ジョーンズ／最後の聖戦』のロケ地となった。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/11/02-13:35）

Galloping across the shimmering red sands of Jordan's spectacular Wadi Rum valley, more than one hundred riders on horses swept through the lunar-like desert as part of an epic long-distance race.
The 200-kilometre (125-mile) five-day long Gallops race, involving mainly amateur jockeys, started in Wadi Rum and ended Friday in the famed ancient desert city of Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Quazane, an amateur French team comprised of five women medics, took second place, beating the all-male Royal Cavalry of Oman into third spot.
The race was won by another French team, Blue Ghallah, made up of three women and two men.
The cross-country team event, which organisers billed as an orienteering and endurance equestrian race across sparse desert terrains, canyons and mountains has previously taken place in India, Morocco and Oman.
It is a great experience that allows us to discover a new country, said 27-year-old Camille Cerf, a model who won Miss France six years ago.
Organisers say the race draws not only on horse-riding skills, but also competitors' stamina, their spirit of solidarity, as well as their self-discipline.
Riders included Emeline Parmentier, a 26-year-old Belgian who lost both her legs from above the knee in a car crash in 2019, and who took part using a specially fitted saddle.
After the accident, I said to myself: Well I can't walk anymore, and if I don't walk I won't discover new things -- now riding horses is like walking again, she said.
- Boost to tourism -
Other riders included Princess Jalila bint Ali, from Jordan's royal family.
The race in Jordan brought together riders from across Europe, and as far as Argentia, the United States, Indonesia and Japan.
We have 133 riders from 16 countries, race organiser Badi Kabir told AFP. All the horses come from Jordan.
Looking around at the majestic dunes and stunning rock formations of Wadi Rum -- where Peter O'Toole was filmed riding his horse in the 1962 epic Lawrence of Arabia -- Parmentier said the landscapes she rode through were amazing.
The race finished in front of the famous rock-carved Treasury at Petra, where scenes from the 1989 Hollywood blockbuster Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were shot.
I think all the photos we can take will never describe a quarter of what we see here, Parmentier said.
The Covid-19 pandemic badly dented Jordan's tourism industry, which represented over a tenth of its GDP.
The race had been postponed due to coronavirus travel restrictions, and the fact it finally went ahead was seen by tour guide Mohamed Saleem as early evidence of a recovering tourism sector.
Everyone here is happy, he said. The pandemic affected us a lot, and we lost our income... I hope that such races will attract the attention of tourists and bring them back.