Blogs from North, Jordan, Middle East - page 29

After the massive walking of yesterday both Dave and Chelle were completely exhausted. So it was with great joy they woke up and hopped into a rental car for a full day of more walking and sightseeing. Because the tour that we were going on didn't actually start until the next morning (oops - a wee spot of bad planning that actually turned out really rather well) we had decided to rent a car for the day and drive up to see the ruins of Jerash and then head down to the dead sea to have a bit of a float. So we started the day by trying to navigate our way out of Amman. We were pleasantly surprised by how empty the roads were as we were driving out of the city and were most ... read more

Since Mo and Lisa were so nervous, we decided to leave at 6:00 am sharp. After a treacherous drive, at the border we met the same Lebanese guards, Yes, again more paperwork . We drove & passed Damascus toward Amman (Jordan), it was about 105+°, we did check in a nice cool hotel and the next day we drove toward Petra. ... read more

Tři holky a dva kluci. Těšili jsme se víc na Jordánsko a o Sýrii si mysleli, e jedeme do absolutní divočiny. Přečetli jsme cestopisy z netu a nakoupily Lonely Planet a Rough Guide. Zpočátku si mysleli, ze nám bude stačit 14 dní a ze střevní problémy nás určitě neminou. Jak to všechno nakonec dopadlo si můzete přečíst v následujících několika dílech cestopisu po blízkovýchodních zemích, Jordánsku a Sýrii. Počáteční nepříznivá situace na letenkovém trhu, ze totiz budeme muset mít jako počáteční i konečnou destinaci Ammán nebo Damašek, vzala za své, kdyz jsme těsně před námi daným termínem k nákupu letenek narazili na letenku pod deset tisíc korun českých od maďarského MALEV. Kazdý z nás se tak na konci ledna stal vlastníkem letenky Praha - Ammán a zpět Damašek - Praha. Odpadnou nám tak nepříjemné náklady na ... read more

Swimming in the Dead Sea is a very weird experience... I'd heard about the floatiness, and it really is like that. But not just floaty, you actually cannot get yourself around like normal in water, to get upright you have to manouvre yourself into the right spot. And boy does that salt sting! I thought I should taste is since I was there so I stuck my tounge in. Bad move - I don't recommend it! Metallic and oh so salty, yuck! The dribble of freshwater to rinse off afterwards was welcome - there were a few swimmers who found out that shaving and waxing the day before does not pay off... ouch. The rocky back road we took to get there was also fun, having to do three point turns to get round steep bends ... read more

Petra is something else altogether, a beautiful city carved into and out of the rocky outcrops of Wadi Musa - the Valley of Moses - and which was the capital of the ancient Nabatean people. It is also an area replete with Biblical associations, in which it was known as both Seir and Sela. The most famous Petran was King Herod, he who lopped off John the Baptist’s head. Earlier, the Cainites (son of Adam and brother of Abel) resided here. Esau (son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham) moved his kin here after a spat with his brother Jacob. And when Moses was leading the Chosen People to the Promised Land, King Rekem of Petra refused them permission to pass through their lands, which I guess could go someway to explaining that 40 year journey ... read more