Blogs from Jordan, Middle East - page 113

Geo: 30.7668, 35.3437We hit the road this morning for Shawback castle. Rabbi decided to change the itinerary, as he believed this castle was better than the one we should have visited. It seemed okay. It did have a secret passage or two that we were able to go partly down. This castle was set up on a hill and we were all celebrities for the half hour we were there. There was a group of local children who wanted to continuously take photos of us!We kept driving until we arrived at our Dead Sea resort. There we ate a huge, fancy buffet lunch. After we had eaten all that food we had to change and get ready to float!! The sea was still, no waves. We were told not to open our eyes or mouth under ... read more

Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Bible stories, lost cities, Lawrence of Arabia - Jordan has romantic associations up to its eyeballs. It's one of the most welcoming, hospitable countries in the world. Jordan is largely desert but this one bland word covers a multitude of scenes from red sands and towering cliffs to stony plains of volcanic basalt and hills rich with olive trees. Jordan is part of the land bridge which link Europ, Africa & Asia and full of biblical history....which saw Moses, Aaron, Lot, Jesus and even Prophet Muhammad ... and yet it is far from being stuck in the past and the capital Amman is a thoroughly modern capital - ruled by the Hashemites a noble dynasty, which traces its origins to the Prophet Muhammad himself now led by King Abdullah II Here's a ... read more

Geo: 29.4045, 34.9758We had a 2am wake up call this morning, as we are going up Mt Sinai, which sounds like hard work. We began our walk at 3am, 5 minutes later I take the camel option- I wouldn't want the camels to get lazy and unfit!! The sky was beautiful and full of stars. The ride was really smooth and enjoyable in the dark. Passed lots of people walking up. It was getting cooler as I got higher up. On the way up I passed a small group with a lady lying on the ground- she didn't look too good. Wayne was trying to help, but couldn't do anything and kept walking. The ride was much better than walking in the dark and much more fun. The end of the ride was at the camel ... read more

With this blog, we say goodbye. We ended our journey with the most wonderful “treat” ever…Petra by Night. It is only done three nights per week and we were lucky enough to be able to do this before heading back to Amman to fly home. They light the entire As Siq and Treasury with over 1500 candles. You make the journey down the As Siq in complete silence so that you can reflect on the beauty and astonishing sights around you. The sky was so clear and the stars were out…it was truly magical! Once you arrive at the Treasury, you sit on mats on the ground and listen to some traditional Jordanian music played by the Bedouins (and they serve you their wonderful tea!). It starts with their “guitar” like instrument that is a rectangle ... read more

Petra…a place where you instantly feel like a kid again. It was what you always dreamed about, being an explorer and finding a lost ancient city (I’m sure Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade doesn’t help this either!). That is exactly what Petra is, a lost ancient city carved out of rock. There is not much historical information on Petra. Only that it was created by the Nabateans around the 7th century BC. What happened to their large civilization is also unknown. They know there was a big earthquake around 500 AD that may have destroyed the civilization. We started our morning early (7am) and made our way down the As-Siq. This is the 1km “corridor” that leads to the famous treasury in Petra. It is a huge gorge that has been carved out with water ... read more