November 20 - Sunday Our flight to Amman, Jordan was just over an hour and uneventful. We are met at the airport by the tour company rep who takes us through the visa process and customs. It costs 20 dinar each (equiv. to $35 each). Once we pick up our luggage, we pass through one more screening process before we’re good to go. Our driver for most of the week, Joseph, drove us into the city of Amman, 40 km from the airport and related a number of facts.
Amman, the capital of Jordan with 2.4 million of Jordan’s 6 million, is one of three large cities that together hold most of Jordan’s population. It is called the “white city” because most of its buildings are built from limestone. Only in the last few years have tall buildings been allowed, and as can be expected people we met did not want the landscape of the city to be altered by the high rises. Having just arrived in this country we immediately notice 3 things, traffic is much calmer, there aren’t vendors all over the place, and the surroundings are much cleaner. Joseph also told us that Jordanians have more freedom than most of the other Arab countries. Jordan is a democratic country with a King and a upper and lower parliament. Jordan’s first two major industries are phosphate and cement, tourism is third. They use only 14% of the country for residential and agriculture. It’s the 4th poorest country on earth in availability of water, and yet they export food products. They rely heavily on the rainy season and the last couple of years has only provided about 40% of the amount they need, so they’ve had drought for the last couple of years.
Our hotel, Metropole, is modern, with free internet(!!!) and very clean, we are happy. We decide to give J some time on his own and we went exploring the neighborhood. It is very safe to go out and about. We also notice the buildings are quite new and well maintained. We all enjoyed a wonderful meal in the hotel restaurant, a nice treat after hotel and ship buffets. The food was excellent! Later M and T enjoyed some relax time over dessert and tea while J went upstairs to watch a movie on TV.
November 21 Monday - Joseph picked us up at 8:30 for our tour of Amman and some other sites outside of the city. As we drove along the streets
to the Citadel, to be our first stop, he explained the makeup of the city and gave us an explanation of the “camps” for the Palestinian refugees which occupies a fairly large area. The camps are actually apartment complexes they rent. It’s like government housing in a way. We find out the Jordan is a young country, established 1921 so many of the buildings we see are “young”, although the region goes back to the beginning of human civilization.
The Citadel is a fortress occupying an entire hilltop and it’s surrounded by 7 hills where the original settlements began. Amman now occupies 23 hills. The citadel is a wonderland of different eras of development dating back 7000 years to the rise of civilization of Mesopotamia. We hired a local English-speaking guide to give us the history of the site. It was very interesting to hear how they can tell what areas were developed when, by examining the building materials and techniques used. We stopped by the remains of the Temple of Hercules and a 90 m statue of him.
All that was left were a massive fist and an elbow. There was also a mosque, and a palace with all of its associated buildings within the walls. The site is wonderfully preserved. We stopped in at the archeological museum at the site to see ancient tools, pottery and other antiquities dating thousands of years ago. The view from the citadel allowed us a great view of the surrounding hills and parts of new Amman.
We could also see a Roman theatre set in the hill across from the Citadel and were told it seats 6500. We decided not to go into this theatre because we had seen several already on our journeys.
From the citadel, Joseph took us through the narrow streets of old Amman, into the city centre. There are many staircases leading from the surrounding hills into the centre that the locals use instead of driving as parking is at a premium in the area. We drove along the busy market place where shops had many displays outside their shops, almost equivalent to our sidewalk sales in the malls. It was fun to see all the different vendors and the comings and goings of this busy place from within our van.
We left Amman behind to head out to the Islamic Fortress, Ajloun Castle, built in the 12th century and had withstood the power of the Crusader armies. We had a great time wandering the halls and passageways within this grand place. We all agreed this would be a great place for a game of hide and seek - then J corrected us and said it would be great for the hiders but not so much fun for the seekers as there are so many passageways and rooms.
The view from the top of it was super, although its somewhat overcast and hazy today. This fortress was instrumental in the communication route (pigeon messengers) between north and south.
Our drive took us into the hills north of Amman where summer fruits trees are plentiful and most of 16 million olive trees growing in Jordan are located. There are still some Roman olive trees which are a couple thousand years old still producing some of the best olives!
We can see that people are not as well off in the rural areas. We also see that it’s not as clean as the city. Joseph took us to a restaurant he has been going to since 1982. It was a great experience similar to our tasty lunches in the good restaurants in Cairo. We enjoyed the salads: tahini, smoked eggplant, yogurt and herbs, tabouli, finely chopped tomatoes and cucumbers,french fries, two massive pita breads (like large pizza crust sized) as well as a platter of grilled meats and veggies. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the price was great. We have found that costs in Jordan are quite reasonable, including snacks at the convenience store near our hotel as well as restaurants.
Our last stop for the day was Jerash, also known as Gerasa, a well preserved and complete Graeco-Roman city. We’ve been to a few Roman cities and this place surprised us with how much of it was still intact and with little need of restoration. This is because much of it having been covered by soil that washed down a local hill following a large storm many centuries ago. We had another English-speaking who was quite a character and led us through the site giving explanation for various areas within the city. First we walked through the impressive south entrance gate built to honor Hadrian when he was emperor, then we walked passed the hippodrome (where chariot races and gladiator fights would have taken place) to meet our guide. We passed into the grand oval piazza, reminding us of the oval piazza of St. Peter’s Basillica at the Vatican - our guide said that this was fashioned after that one. We walked down colonnaded streets, a magnificent fountain where Byzantine citizens once annually re-enacted Jesus’ miracle of turning water into wine (although the miracle occurred in Cana in Israel). There were also temples, two theaters, north and south, both in amazing shape and monasteries. At one time there were 25000 people living here. The area is very large and there is still much of the land un-excavated. Who knows what else lies beneath the surface. Today people like to make pilgrimages to here as this was one of the places Jesus travelled to.
We end the day back at our hotel for another great dinner at the restaurant followed by a movie on TV.
November 22 - Tuesday - Today we left our hotel at 8:30. Joseph took us through a section of New Amman with some really nice homes, and then on a new highway that he figures will have development along it in the next five years. We traveled to the town of Bethany, which means “beyond the river” where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. We had to take a bus to the site with a certified guide because it was so close to the Israel border and no private cars are allowed. We are led along a path to the baptismal site, where the River Jordan flowed at on time and where a spring flows in the rainy season.
Also at the site are remnants of chapels from the 5th century. Nearby are chapels built by various denominations which people come for pilgrimages to here and some are baptized in the River Jordan. Thoughts of “Wow, Jesus walked in this area and Johan the Baptist was here “ went through our minds while we were here. We all noticed that the area felt holy - our bodies seemed to understand that Christ had walked here!
After the tour, Joseph took us to our Holiday Inn and Resort at the Dead Sea. We were 1200 feet below sea level. The resort is quite new and has a number of fresh water pools and beach access to the Dead Sea. J and T went down to the sea and coated ourselves with mud and drying off in the sun we headed into the sea.
WOW what a cool experience! Joseph had told Jeffrey that he could not sink here, he would not even be able to try to swim down. Both Joseph and M warned J that he must not let the Dead Sea water touch his eyes as he played. So J did try to swim down and found Joseph knew what he was talking about! No sinking here, in fact we could be in sitting position and float. It was so fun floating and not being able to sink. This is the closest any of us have been to experiencing weightlessness. M and J tried standing straight up and would still float, with everything above their armpits entirely out of the water. If they just moved their lower legs back slightly, their center of gravity would change and the would topple over and float horizontally. We had a great time enjoying the weather, water and beach. The water temperature was really comfortable having us stay in for much longer than we thought we would. Today’s swimming in the Dead Sea ranks right up there among the amazing experiences we have ever had!
We watched an awesome sunset from the shores of the Dead Sea.
We enjoyed a nice meal in the hotel restaurant. It’s low season, so the place is really quiet. Today’s temperature was 25 C.
November 23 Wednesday - Joseph picked us up again at 8:30 this morning for a drive from the Dead Sea to Petra. We left the Dead Sea and drove up
Mount Nebo where Moses is said to have died. It was here that in his dying days, God showed him the lands below telling him that this was the Promised Land.
From the view point there is indeed a wonderful view inclusive of Jericho, Jerusalem, Bethany, and the Dead Sea. Pretty neat being in these places written about in the Bible. We walked around the area which has a museum as well as a fabulous mosaic floor that had been recovered from a church.
We left Mount Nebo to head to Madaba to the Saint George Greek Orthodox church to view the mosaic floor map of the Holy Lands. Although much of it is missing because of damage, what is there is quite representative and accurate at a time when scale cartography didn’t yet exist.
Another fascinating thing was that our driver, Joseph, showed us a portrait of Mary holding Jesus which had a third hand that did not exist in the original portrait. It was in 1977 when smoke emitted from the painting and the third hand appeared, as a miracle. He was actually able to come see the painting a couple of days after this event. Now the painting is under glass and in another room out of the main church area to protect it. As in this country the percentage of Christians is small and the miracle is not believed by the Muslims. In this country we were told that the Christians and Muslims have a good relationship. Joseph told us he is Greek Orthodox, and although the percentage of Christians in the country is only a few percent, he feels and is treated completely equal to his Muslim countrymen.
We also stopped at a Mosaic workshop with trained craftspeople who have gone to school to learn the art of mosaic to keep the craft alive. It is a government sponsored program, a favorite of the Queen, where both able and handicapped people get training as well as employment. We were shown how the artisans create pottery, mosaic table tops, and wall hangings. The work is amazingly detailed and beautiful to look at. Once again T concluded we should help sponsor this amazing artwork, so you can see if you come visit us at our place in BC after we get home.
We had a couple of hour drive to our next stop Karak. Our drive took us along the King’s Highway, the oldest route from north to south. The King’s Road is mentioned in the Bible when Moses asked the King of the area at the time if he and the Jews on the Exodus could walk along it on the way to the Promised Land. It was also once part of the Silk Highway linking the south and east to the north and west. We traveled through Jordan’s Grand Canyon. Going from 800 ft above sea level to 100 ft. then back up to 900 ft. The view was spectacular along this curvy highway. Even though the land is barren in most places, it has a beauty all of its own.
We stop for lunch in Karak before touring another fortress, this time built by the Crusaders, although today its surrounded by modern development on one side.
Again we enjoyed wondering through many chambers and passages leading us from outside to inside as well as from one level to the next. After walking about for 3/4 of an hour we’re ready to go onto Petra, another 2 hours away, along the Desert Highway.
We arrived at our hotel, previously abandoned village homes that now are completely refurbished into a very nice resort hotel. Our room is large, in its own section within one of many buildings that make up the resort. The sunset as we drive in is gorgeous, outlining the mountains around Petra and the mountain where Aaron, Moses’ brother was buried.
November 24 Thursday - It is sunny and reaches 15C today, and we have a daytime view of Mount Aaron.
Joseph picked us up at 8:30 to take us to the entrance to Petra. It was here that we met our guide, Mohamed. Part of our entrance fee included a horseback ride to the entrance of the canyon. J and T did this (as neither had ever been on a horse before)
while M walked with the guide. It’s not too commercial around the entrance, although we did see an “Indiana Jones” shop selling souvenirs and “Indie” hats. The ancient entrance to Petra, As-Siq, is a 1.2 km long canyon. The opening to the As-Siq is near the bottom of a valley, yet the Nabataeans built a diversion dam and and bored a spillway through the mountain so water would not enter the As-Siq and wash into the city nor erode the sandstone walls of the entrance.
As we walk along the Siq, we’re amazed at the beauty of the sandstone rocks. Erosion has certainly added a beauty to the place. Sometimes the canyon is fairly wide and other times its quite narrow, with walls reaching about 80m in height.
We even saw a few of that rare tribe the Chinese Bedouins.
We also see the best example we have yet seen of an original Roman road worm away by the chariot wheel.
We learn about the Nabataean tribe’s engineering smarts, trading prowess and religious beliefs. For example, as water is precious here, every small valley or stream was damned to hold back water during the rainy season for use later on.
As well, the Silk Road went through their lands and the taxed every caravan and became quite wealthy as a result. This tribe arrived originally from Saudi Arabia in ruled here for 400 years, starting in about 300 BC. We’re told that only about 20% of the site has been unearthed.
Our guide had us prep for the first view of the “Treasury” the iconic landmark of Petra at just the right spot in the canyon to see it basque in the sunshine.
It is a marvel to see, although it is mis-named as the building was likely a tomb or funeral ceremony building. All of the buildings we saw today were carved directly out of the rock mountainside, starting from the top and working down (except the few buildings the Romans built later). Some of the facades of the buildings are in better shape than others depending on where they are located (protected from the elements of erosion or not). We had an opportunity to go inside a tomb along the street of facades, and see the coffin sites dug out of the ground.
The color of the sandstone within was beautiful. Actually we didn’t get tired of looking at the various colors formations within many of the rocks the entire day. There is Greek, Roman and Oriental influence that our guide pointed out because they were a tribe open to other cultural influences over time. Actually the word “Petra” is Greek for rock.
We had a wonderful time wandering through the area occasionally being asked if we wanted a camel ride or a donkey ride up to the monastery, some 800 steps, about 1.25 hr walk. We declined on this. After a tea break and getting J something to eat, we decided to walk up to the High Place of Sacrifice (only 600 steps) where the tribe performed sacrifices to their gods. We walked beside the only free standing building in Petra,the main temple for the people, many buildings were destroyed in previous earthquakes long ago. Our walk takes us about an hour up along the back hills, sometimes along narrow carved out steps and walkways along the hill and mountain’s edge.
At times T made sure she didn’t look down. By going this way we saw even more tombs and perhaps some homes carved into the mountain faces. Occasionally we passed a Bedouin woman who had set up a small stand selling trinkets and chunks of rock, T was thinking do they climb up here everyday? The Bedouins lived in the valley up until 1985. When it became an UNESCO site, they had to leave the area. The government provided new housing and hospital and school up on a hill overlooking Petra. Apparently it was not an easy task to accomplish.
During our upward climb, we met a Bedouin with a couple of donkeys and customers trying to navigate an extremely step section of steps.
We thought “Wow, how does he train the donkeys to do that?” They didn’t seem like they were enjoying the experience. This path had some steps that we quite worn from erosion and use, at times more like a ramp than actually steps, but we managed just fine. Our view from atop the high place was amazing and we all enjoyed it and a rest having just spent the last hour trekking up the mountain.
Our route down was on the 600 step route taking us right down into the Tomb area. The walkway led us through a canyon down onto the main “street” and then we began our walk back to the Treasury and the As-Sig canyon to the entrance. Once we get to the main gate it’s 3:30 and we’ve all had enough walking for the day. We called Joseph to pick us up and returned us to our hotel. The boys bought a celebratory ice-cream to cap off a great day of exploration. Once we’re back at the hotel, J wanted to go swimming in the warm waters of the hotel pool, while T and M kicked back.
November 25 Friday – We have a nice late morning today, Joseph is coming to pick us up at 11:30, so after breakfast, J spends time on-line completing his French lesson for the week. We packed a separate bag for tonight’s overnight in the Wadi Rum desert in a Bedouin tent. As we are leaving the Petra area, Joseph takes us to a park/lookout of the entire valley. From here we could see the canyon route, it’s a beautiful sight. We could also see a portion of the Silk Road that is now a highway.
Our drive is to Wadi Rum (which means valley of the red sand) a protected desert area. As we approach the protected area border Joseph points out the mountain Lawrence of Arabia wrote about called the Seven Pillars of Wisdom.
Once Joseph pays the fees to enter the park, we continue a short drive to a rest house where we are going to meet our guide and transport to the camp. We have another good lunch typical of what we have had elsewhere in Jordan.
Our guide Abdullah is waiting for us in his 4x4 pickup to take us on a tour of the desert valley before we’re dropped off at the camp, further into the reserve. The scenery is spectacular with the mountains jutting up from the desert floor to around 1700 m high.
The mountains are mainly sandstone, but there are also portions of the mountains base that are granite and marble. The erosion on the rocks, as well as the colors, has made some fabulous scenery. We stopped at Lawrence’s Spring, where Lawrence of Arabia frequented during the Arab Revolt.
J enjoyed scrambling up the piles of rocks at the base of the mountains. We walked amongst narrow canyon walls with rock etchings dating back 3000 years ago. We had a great time and workout climbing to the top of a sand dune. The sand felt great beneath our feet. We sat around watching the sunset before heading to the camp for the night.
It had a collection of canvas tents as well as a couple of common tents with low tables, cushions and rugs for us to sit around and on. A campfire in a Bedouin style metal fire pit that could be moved around the tent was lit to keep the chill away. We had a really enjoyable dinner, again the style typical of this region. Before the generator was turned off at 8:30, we made use of the running water and flush toilets before we headed into our tent. We quickly got under the pile of blankets to get warm. Tonight all three of us were sharing the same bed, cozy and warm under several inches of blankets as the desert gets quite cold as soon as the sun goes down.
November 26 Saturday - All three of us wake around 7:00, but don’t brave the chilly air until 7:30 to use the facilities. We’ll forego the showers until we get to our hotel, the Marina Laza Resort, in Aqaba. We have breakfast in the tent complete with customary tea, and await Abdullah to take us back to meet Joseph.
Aqaba City - it’s Jordan’s only port city and as we near it we can see many infrastructure facilities put into effect to ease the truck traffic congestion and volume of trucks. It’s a tax-free zone, so the place has really seen growth in the last decade with foreign investment. The resort we are booked into is part of a complex with commercial, marina, and numerous hotels and condo complexes. We say goodbye to Joseph as he drives back home to Amman today, we have truly enjoyed his company for the week.
It was a great place, J enjoyed swimming in the pool after we had lunch on the deck. As our hotel is along the shore of the Red Sea we can confirm that the Red Sea is not actually red (its so named for the red coral that grows near here and the red mountains nearby).
November 27 Sunday - We are picked up at the hotel for 7:00 am as our plane leaves for Amman at 8:40. It doesn’t take long to get through the several security checks. Our flight is on time and only 40 min to get there. Our flight to Tel Aviv isn’t until 4:30, so we find a place to hang out, have coffees, lunch and J does schoolwork to pass the time. We pass through another security check before getting onto our 25 min Royal Jordanian over to Israel.
Once in Tel Aviv we noticed it took a bit longer to get through passport control as everyone is thoroughly checked and we see several guys being pulled aside for further questioning. We are met by a rep from the travel agency who passes us off to someone else who gets us loaded into a van to get to our hotel Herod Tel Aviv. When we get dropped off, we don’t know any info for tomorrow’s pick-up, so the receptionist at the hotel makes some calls on our behalf and finds out we’re to be picked up at 8:15. It’s located on the shore of the Mediterranean; unfortunately it’s already dark when we get there, so we don’t go down to the beach. It looks like a great place. Our hotel is very nice and the food is fabulous. After dinner J watches a movie and then we head off to bed.
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