Blogs from Jordan, Middle East - page 116

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May 21st Arrived in Amman about 7PM local time. Le Royale Hotel-Amman is beautiful. First impression of Jordan was what warm and friendly people we encountered, first time in the Middle East, so really wasn't sure what to expect. Economic summit was going on so military people everywhere, but that was to be expected given these times. May 22nd Started out at about 10AM for the trip and headed to Bethamy/Baptism site. Drove up to the baptism site of Jesus in Bethany, we were met by the director of the site introduction/film of the site, then after that we were taken by the Supervisor of archeological works, for about a 3-4 hour tour of Elijahs Hill,The church where John Paul II visited in 2000, the baptism pools where people come from all over the world to ... read more

"Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:" - Deuteronomy 32:49 And so we heeded the call of the Lord, followed in the footsteps of Moses and headed for Mt Nebo the first day our feet touched the soils of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Standing atop the mountain, we never quite figured out where Canaan actually was, but Moses (Mousa in the local lingua) had divine intervention and was probably more in touch with the local geography. ... read more

Wadi Rum, Jordan. Famous for the Arab Revolt, Lawrence of Arabia and all things Bedouin. As we walked though the wilderness, there was a perfect silence, a sense of timelessness until my mobile went off with a text from JordTelecom inviting me to phone friends and family back home for special rates in the evening. As we arrived back in the small village, there was a large gathering of arab guys shouting and waving their hands in the air. According to one of the "Bedu" a non local entrepreneur was trying to divert the tourists to his new visitors centre and screw the Bedouin out of a living, so they were there to make a demonstration. So much for avoiding "political gatherings". Petra: ancient city, built by the Nabataeans (who?), carved out of a narrow rock ... read more

i had travelled to sri lanka via jordan departing from london, with my parents and older brother, went with the national airline, royal jordanian airlines which i thought gave a reasonable service. landed in Amman and were transported to our hotel on the edge of the city. jordan is very much dry grass land country, and amazing sites. for example we had 2 days there and we went to Petra in the south were the ancient statues and caves are. is was very much a memorable place and if anyone gets the chance to stop off in jordan, i wuold recommend it. ... read more