Welcome to the next country from my trip! Jordan!!!
I had ZERO expectations for Jordan. All I knew about it was Petra - and even my knowledge of what Petra is/was is limited to that one iconic photo. After Egypt, Jordan felt like pure luxury! Everything was lovely and clean, and you didn't have to pay to take a pee! Height. Of. Luxury! But really. The desert is a stunner! And if you're looking for a Middle East trip that is calm, cool, collected, and mom-approved : Jordan is the country for you!
Before we get into trip photos...I need to apologize to my doctor here in NZ who was giving me my pre-trip vaccines
DOC: Now, you don't really need this one....Just don't touch any stray animals and you'll be good
ME: Oh, no problem! Strays breed disease. I know! No touching! Got it. I don't need that vaccine.
Also me (and ALL my friends):
We look like we are gonna drop a killer 90s album!
Well......we tried.
JORDAN
AMMAN:
The ladies reunited - last trip together was India 4 years before!
The gang is all here! Six of us finally met up in Amman, Jordan! And of course hit the arabic coffee hard (and maybe the occasional hookah...When in Rome afterall....)
The Roman Theatre in the capital of Amman
The bonker's markets!
At the top of one of the hills in Amman lies the Citadel - a site of importance for many great civilazations over the centuries (What remains is from the Roman, Byzantine, and Umayyad periods)
Ruins! Ruins galore!
The 360 views of Amman were beautiful from the hilltop
The art that was dug up in this area was.....interesting....
Regardless of time, culture, race, religion: people will be people! haha!
Temple of Hercules
Doing my best Hercules pose.
The Umayyad palace
JERASH:
Jerash is a city north of Amman and known for having some of the BEST Roman ruins outside of Italy!
Built after the Romans conquered the area circa 63BC (So shiny and new compared to Egypt!)
Arches everywhere - a Roman staple
Being so North...it served as a great trade stop on the way to Damascus in what is Syria today
The 'city centre' oval forum
Look at us - modern city folk
A look at one of the cardos (or streets) in the city
Colonnaded street
See these cool lines in the stone? Years of wear from chariot wheels!
Check out this ampitheatre
And little me in the centre! The acoustics were incredible. Not a bad seat in the house! Well.. the stone was uncomfortable, and the stairs were steep....so bad for the boozers. But you could hear!
The Romans were big on their mosaic floors
This pillar wiggled ever so slightly, but wouldn't fall! Architecture ingenuity (and tested by Laura)
The whole Jordan group!
The Nymphaeum - the town fountain to gather, grab a sip, and gossip
The office water cooler!
DEAD SEA:
A highlight of Jordan was visiting the Dead Sea which lies on its Western Border
Being so low, it was significantly warmer which made donning a swimsuit no worry at all!
(What was around 50F/10C in the city warmed up to 75F/24C at the Dead Sea!)
The Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth, 430m below seas level.
It is about 10x as salty as the ocean.
Sadly, with environmental change, the Dead Sea could be gone completely in the next 50 years
Some of the guys being the first to wade in.....doesn't feel too different yet....
But as soon as you get deep enough and pop your feet up...it's impossible to sink!
No effort to float!
Bobbin like my favorite thing - a wine cork
No matter how you tried....you felt like you forgot how to swim!
An experience worth having - and a reason to keep this special place thriving! (Make good choices for the Earth people. If not for you, than for your children!)
Not to mention the skin and mineral benefits of the Dead Sea mud (Or at least that's what we were told, which was enough reason for us to cover ourselves in it. Shhhh. Drink the kool-aide)
Near the Dead Sea is Mount Nebo
This is a religious site. It is told to be the location that Moses ascended to and from where he first glimpsed the Promised Land
Though there is some arguments over if this is THE correct mount... you can't deny it has some good views
And, with every believed religious site, a church gets built!
With lovely mosaics!
And lovelier friends by stained glass
Another Church
This is St. Georges Church in Madaba
Looks pretty old churchy inside
Vintage-chic
but THIS is what makes it special
This is what remains of the Madaba Map.
A mosaic map of the Middle East and is THE OLDEST SURVIVING MAP showing the Holy Land and Jerusalem. Dating back to the 6th century AD.
I'm not particularly religious....but this is pretty cool!!!!
KERAK CASTLE:
I told you - old shit! Sick of history yet? We aren't even in Petra yet.
This is Kerak Castle: A very LARGE crusador castle in al-Karak Jordan and where we decided the BEST game of hide and seek could take place
This puppy was in it's prime from 1142- late1200s, though it makes some appearances in history in the late 1800s/early 1900s
Sadly, this castle made recent history in as a terrorist attack site. (Not to be held against Jordan or a reason to not visit! Bad things happen everywhere - just Google local news to find that out. Jordan is actually a very safe country to visit and one of the safest in the region! Please still go!)
Something a little lighter!!! All over Jordan, there are street artists and shop owners making sand art in jars. One particular artist was so patient and happy to let some tourists play students when I asked if I could do it myself.
Peter's turn!
Master and his students!
I happily sold mine mere minutes after completion (I may have bullied Brendan into buying in. But that's business baby)
LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT WADI RUM!!!!! Also known as the Valley of the Moon - this is a large desert valley in southern Jordan and I never knew how beautiful a desert could be. It looks like Mars on Earth
First of all - there is this cool Hejaz Railway train that is refurbished to its heyday of the early 1910s (think Lawrence of Arabia)
Channeling my inner Wonder Woman
Stopping a train. Like it's hard?
Then we jumped on some very sketchy 4x4 trucks driven by 12 year olds and went on a 4hour sand dune adventure!
Making my (temporay) mark
And we had a great time!
Wadi Rum is used for MANY movies - like this scene from Star Wars
Which we all tried to recreate
With varying degress of success
(Meg nailed it though)
Mushroom rock.
These photos do not represent the terrifying dunes we bounced over at some points
This arch? THIS WAS IN THE LIVE ACTION ALADDIN! A movie I've only seen about 64 times so far (To answer your question: No, I don't know what it wrong with me)
After a day of adventuring, we were able to spend the night at a Bedouin camp in the desert
The Bedouin are nomadic people of the Middle Eastern desert areas
We were even treated to marshmallows over the fire!
We didn't have the right camera to do it justice....but in the middle of nowhere with ZERO light pollution, the stars were amazing
If this is too rugged for you, there are those cool little clear igloo type accommodations you can stay in for the night to get a similar view with a bit more pizzazz! I remember passing them in the scary truck of doom!
EARLY EARLY EARLY the next morning, a few of us set our alarms to be greeted by a camel caravan
I'm wearing approximately 4 jackets to achieve this sausage look as the desert is freaking cold in the morning.
Camels are awkward and adorable. Much how I describe myself
And off we go! With a strange man who speaks no English. Will we ever see our group again? We didn't know...
I was back of the pack... So had a great view.
Its hard to get a camel selfie
She looks better than I do in this one.
Ask me about my camel impression when you see me again. It's spot on.
I've heard of Petra.....but did you know LITTLE PETRA was a real place? Much like regular Petra, it's a Nabataean site carved into the sides of sandstone canyons. It resides just north of Petra and, as the name suggests, is similar, just smaller.
Complete with harrowing staircases of terror!
It's fine.... I'm sure everyone can get up this no problem
Not to be showed up by the boys who took the road less traveled up - I had to give it a go.
Turns out.....it was quite difficult...
But I did it!
PETRA:
Let's not waste our time on the little one....pull out the big guns! The moment you've been waiting for: PETRA!
First off: What is Petra? It's an ancient capital city in Jordan assumed to be in predominance around 200 BC and inhabited by the Nabataens (A nomadic Arabic people). The location was ideal as it was a part of the trade route (I dunno about you, but anytime anyone has offered me a modern trade via Craigslist or TradeMe, it's been a dud. No I will not give you my car for your old GameBoy..... I'm assuming ancient trade was cooler) AND it was not easily taken over as the entrance was a 2km hike though the below photo:
I recommend waking your ass up early and starting this walk at 6am to avoid all the people!
Cue Indiana Jones music as you first catch a glimpse of the famed Treasury (Feel free to leave this blog and watch the Last Crusade at any point)
Ta-dah! THAT treasury (and still, those 4 layers of jackets. Eat your heart our, Harrison Ford)
The camels make it look cooler than I do
But Petra was soooo much larger than just the Treasury. It genuinely was a city
It is covered in old religious sites, and ampitheaters, shops, burial sites, and likely homes
And this city takes all day to explore! Wear walking shoes!
The 2km walk in was cake. The real test was 850 slippery, worn and warped stairs to reach the Monastery of Petra
But worth it, it was
And 850 stairs to meet goats
In the past 100 years Petra was home to a lot of the Bedouin people. The government has since tried to replace them into villages outside of Petra since it was named a UNESCO site in 1985....but exploring around, it appeared as if some people still called this home.
To end the blog on one last adventure! We went to the Red Sea to snorkel.
Yup. The same Red Sea that Moses had parted.
While sailing, we could see 4 countries: Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia
I asked the captain if I could honk the horn. This led me to become the captain for the next hour and take it upon myself to annoy any boat close enough to hear me.
I was waiting for him to take the helm away from me at any moment.....but he never did. I'm now available for hire for any charters you want.
I was shocked at how beautiful the reefs were here
I mistakenly anticipated dirty water and limited sea life due to the region I was traveling in (Travelling is the best was to combat bias and misconceptions!)
There were cool things to explore that had been sunk by the military for scuba training, like this tank!
And this plane!
Laura insanely excited to be holding a (harmless) jellyfish!
Meg NOT insanely excited about how cold it is right now and the nipping it situation.
Despite the fact that the water was FREEZING, we all carried on for the experience
That's all for now!
I think 'Desert Rose' suits me...
Stay Tuned for Israel
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