Blogs from Jordan, Middle East - page 13

Skipping ahead in the journey sequence. I'm now hopelessly behind schedule because of so many days without internet. The current hotel is one more nail in that coffin. I cannot catch up.... but I also can't wait to talk about the most amazing fabulous surprise I had at my hotel in Amman, Jordan. So I'll jump ahead to that story. Four days ago. Most of that day was spent on the onward journey, at airports, flying from Luxor to Cairo then Cairo to Amman. I was sorry to leave Egypt. I wrote my love letter while waiting at the airport in Cairo. Then I set my eyes on Jordan and the adventures waiting there. Largely unplanned, without the rigorous schedule of sightseeing I'd set myself for Egypt, Jordan would just unfold So I'm at the hotel ... read more

Murray spent a week running a training/simulation for the WASH teams around the globe. It is great to get everybody to get together to share what is working from their part of the globe and encourage other teams with suggestions on how to work out solutions for problems. It is also important to put names to faces, much easier to deal with people long distance when you know who you are talking to. During the training they ran an emergency simulation to prepare staff for a refugee emergency situation where they have to provide life saving water and sanitation services for refugees fleeing conflict and persecution. They also paid a visit to the Zataari refugee camp in Jordan which is home to 80,000 Syrians. Murray was staying near the dead sea and managed a quick dip ... read more

Greetings fellow wanderers - I believe I have a recommendation for you....! Well, actually, this is probably going to sound achingly familiar, but for a trip to Jordan, as compact a nation as it is, splitting a week-long trip between northern and southern Jordan seems like a perfect strategy, right? Whatever the case might be, in terms of your perceptions, this trip kicked off in Aqaba, a coastal town, Jordan's one and only, signified the first leg of the tour, and a chance to see one or two treasures of the region. The period being Ramadan, an eerie sense of tranquility pervaded to the extent of this being something of a ghost town, at least compared to the vibrant buzz of Aqaba at its busiest. A couple of attractions lined the way, namely the majesty of ... read more

Having been fortunate enough to have visited most of the world's great tourist attractions over the years, Petra had risen right to the top of my 'bucket list'. My concern was whether the expectation had resulted in perhaps my 'lifting the bar' a bit too high. It hadn't! Petra was without a doubt the highlight of my trip. As predicted, the southern border crossing from Eilat in Israel to Aqaba in Jordan (the Wadi Araba crossing) was very pain free, and we were basically through both sides in around half an hour. The drive north to Petra took a couple of hours through pretty desolate country, except when we passed the outskirts of the famed Wadi Rum on our right-hand side, where huge sandstone and granite rocks suddenly sprung up out of the desert, with shapes ... read more

Jordan is a land rich in epic scenery, world heritage sites, and natural wonders. It is also a spiritual heartland; a land blessed with a rich religious history. It is a land that inspired prophets and formed the spiritual backdrop for God’s covenants. Over the next four days, we will visit sites where modern day miracles happened, trek along pilgrimage routes mentioned in the Old Testament, take in views of the Promised Land revealed to Moses, visit the site where John baptized Jesus, see where Elijah ascended into heaven on a Chariot of Fire, and stop to enjoy the tranquil scenery where Jacob wrestled with an angel. Remarkably, the landscape in Jordan has changed little in the last 2,000 years. Today we ventured north of Jordan’s capital to Anjara, Jerash, Tell Mar Elias & the Jabbok ... read more