Blogs from Petra, South, Jordan, Middle East - page 7

DRIVE TO PETRA - DAY 11 We left the Movenpick Resort and Spa on the Dead Sea and began the drive to the Movenpick Resort Petra. The bus stopped along the way at Mount Nebo, known as Pisgah in the Bible. On a clear day, Jericho, the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, Jerusalem and Amman can be seen. Construction prevented us from entering the Memorial Church of Moses, but we were able to see some of the 6th century mosaics, remarkably well preserved considering the age. There was a small museum and a great view from the mountain. This is where tradition has identified as the place Moses died and was buried, but it has been a site of pilgrimages for centuries. Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths all recognize Moses as a prophet, so many visitors ... read more

Mit dem Taxi sind es etwa 1,5 Stunden von der Grenze nach Wadi Musa, den kleinen Ort am Eingangstor zur antiken Stadt Petra. Wir hatten dem jungen Taxifahrer erlaubt seine Freundin mitzunehmen, aber die beiden stritten die ganze Zeit, also mussten wir irgendwann anhalten damit der junge Mann seiner Freundin zur Versöhnung einen Tee am Straßenrand kaufen konnte. Dann mussten wir nochmal anhalten, damit er die mitgebrachte Minze, die seine Freundin auf dem Schoß hielt mit Wasser aus dem Kofferraum gießen konnte, schließlich hielten wir nochmal, weil er pinkeln musste und dann noch mal wegen einer Polizeikontrolle. So dauerte es doch ein bisschen länger aber gegen 17 Uhr kommen wir in Wadi Musa an, wo wir ein preiswertes jordanisches Hotel gebucht haben. Es gibt hier nicht viele Optionen neben den allgegenwertigen internationalen Luxushotels, die gut 200$ ... read more

The first day of our "Gateways to Antiquities" cruise happened to be one of the most interesting days of the entire vacation! We left the port of Safaga, Egypt the night before and we docked in Aqaba, Jordan early in the morning. After breakfast, we leisurely got onto buses for a scenic drive up to Petra (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The port of Aqaba was interesting as the country of Jordan was to the northeast, the country of Saudi Arabia was due east, the country of Israel with it's tiny resort town of Elat was to the Northwest, and the country of Egypt, (The Sinai Peninsula) was due west. We could see them all at the same time cruising into port. Nothing had prepared us for this amazing place of Petra! We had seen pictures ... read more

J: Jordan is an island of stability in an otherwise fairly hostile part of the world. It is bordered by Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian occupied West Bank, yet we found Jordan to be a friendly and open country, and we soon lost count of the number of locals saying 'Welcome to Jordan!' We arrived in Amman and spent our first day visiting the famous sights. The most celebrated of all, the Roman Theatre is an amphitheatre built on the side of a valley in Jesus' time. It was closed when we went but we could see the whole grand structure from outside anyway. Next we made our way up to the Citadel but with the light fading and Holly's broken toe aching we turned around before we got there. We had heard ... read more

The dogs went off just before 7.30am this morning. Obviously Ahmad exaggerated when he told us that we would be woken at 5.30am when all the dogs start running around playing and barking. I guess the dogs are on winter time too?? Absolutely too cold to think about using the basic showering facilities (didn't even check to see if there is hot water, but I think not) so we made do with a bit of a wash at the hand basin. If you get hat hair from wearing a hat and bed hair from sleeping what do you get when you wear a hat to bed?? A really bad hair day!! Thank goodness I'm not trying to impress anyone with my personal grooming. We had a quick bit of breakfast and then we headed off on ... read more