Day 46, Tuesday, January 18th. Our morning city tour of Amman included the Citadel, which has been perched on a hilltop overlooking Amman since ancient times, and the Roman Theatre. Greek, Roman, Christian and Islamic ruins fill the city. In the afternoon, we visited the amazing ancient Roman city of Jerash, which boasts an unbroken chain of human occupation dating back more than 6500 years. This is the most well preserved Roman city outside of Italy. Hidden for centuries in sand before being excavated and restored over the past 70 years, this city once boasted a population of 20,000 and was on a major trade route. The columns and mosaic floors are remarkable. Our local guide, Mohammed, was one of the best we have ever had. In his 32 years as a guide, he has witnessed many of archeological discoveries on this site. It is estimated that only 25% of the city has been uncovered- digging continues. Interestingly, our guide is my age but his years in the sun have made him look much older.
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| Byzantine Church at Citidal |
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| View of Amman from Citidal |
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| Dead Sea Scrolls |
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| Roma n Theater |
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| Entrance to Jerish |
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| Jerish |
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| Jerish |
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| Our guide at Jerish |
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| The meal that made me sick |
Day 47, Wednesday, January 19th. Well, the curse of the pharaohs finally struck me at 1 this morning – I think it was the buffet lunch at Jerash. I was being a little too brave, and ate many of the cold salads. By 6 in the morning, nothing was left in my stomach. I felt very weak, so we delayed our trip to Petra for a few hours. The five hour drive, was through the desert. After the first few miles, it wasn’t very interesting. We made one stop to visit Mount Nebo, where God revealed the “Promised Land” to Moses after he lead his people through the desert for 40 years. I think God played a cruel joke on Moses. After looking at my photo of the “Promised Land”, you be the judge. The story is that Moses died on Mount Nebo and never entered the "promised Land:. Mount Nebo is one of the most important Christian sites in Jordan. Pope John Paul visited here about 10 years ago. We arrived at the Movenpick Petra Hotel around sunset for our two day stay. I slept for over 10 hours and was well the next day.
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| The "Promised Land" |
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| Directions from Mount Nebo |
Day 48, Thursday, January 20th. Petra!
Today was one of the highlights of our entire journey. We had seen the National Geographic specials on this special place, but it didn’t do justice to the beauty of this ancient city. Petra has been inhabited for around 8000 years. Most of the structures were built by the Nabataeans. Later, they were conquered by the Greeks and Romans and remains of these civilizations can be seen too. The best preserved structures are the tombs carved into the limestone. The most famous is called the Treasury, but it is actually a king’s tomb. All the tombs are carved into the walls of the canyon – they are all one piece – even the columns. Ancients thought that an Egyptian Pharaoh had hidden his treasury in the building. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusader was filmed on location in Petra. There is a lot of walking/hiking. I took the two return hour climb to the Monastery for a spectacular view of the entire Petra site. Izzy went on his own adventure. He decided to take the donkey cart and horse back to the entry – it is almost an hour walk from the main site, BUT he forgot I had all the money and the combination to the room safe. Somehow he convinced the horse man to take him to the front door of our hotel on his white stallion. Then Izzy begged the front desk to lend him money to pay the horse guy. Only Izzy!! Put Petra on your Bucket List of places to visit.
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| The Treasury |
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| Royal Tombs |
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| Home in Petra |
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| The Palace |
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| Church |
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| Road to the Monastary |
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| The Monastery |
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| Over-worked children |
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| Over-worked donkeys |
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| First view from the canyon of The Treasury |
Day 49, Friday, January 21st. We left Petra mid-morning for Wadi Rum, a desert of austere beauty. Haeyl was our Bedouin jeep guide for our two hour drive through the mystical Wadi Rum. We saw ancient camel drawings and climbed to the top of a huge sand dune. Izzy felt like we were driving through the pages of National Geographic. Because of the sand and haze in the air, the photos don’t capture the real splendor of this place. Haeyl said tigers still roamed here in his grandfather’s time. While sipping tea in a Bedouin tent, Izzy met an American cardiologist who is interested in working in Australia and I bought a beautiful necklace made from camel bones (or maybe plastic from China). After leaving Wadi Rum we continued to pass areas of unique beauty contrasted by the utter poverty of the people living there. Most of the Bedouins in this part of Jordan eke out a meager existence in this arid place. I tried to photograph some of their shacks and tents while we raced down the highway. We passed by the top end of the Red Sea and followed the peaceful border between Jordan and Israel for hours. Seven hours after leaving Petra, we arrived at the Dead Sea, the lowest place on Earth. I was amazed by its beauty and size. We checked into the Kempinski Hotel, our home for the next two nights. This is a world class resort on the banks of the Dead Sea. We watched the sun set on the Israeli side of the Dead Sea and enjoyed a fine Italian meal beside one of the several infinity pools on the property.
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| Our desert guide |
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| Wadi Rum |
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| Wadi Rum |
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| Rock drawings |
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| Wadi Rum |
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