Tag: Jordan

Petra

Just about everyone has seen a photo of Petra’s Treasury. To be honest, that structure was my #1 reason for visiting Jordan. And yes, the Treasury is quite magnificent. But there is SO much more to Petra. So, despite taking many photos of the Treasury, I’m not going to post any in this blog. If you want to see what it looks like, just ask Ms. Google.

The Treasury is a little more than a mile from the entrance. Although there are several options for getting there—golf cart, horse or donkey—Hisham, our guide, told us the very best way is on foot. That way, you can take your time and truly experience Petra’s magic. There are incredible rock formations everywhere, both naturally occurring and man made. Hisham did an excellent job drawing our attention to both, like this formation that resembles an elephant,

and this Nabatean carving of a camel driver leading his herd into the city. All that remains are the legs of the man, and some parts of the camels, still it was wonderful to see. And look at those glorious colors!

Can you spot the camels feet ( Hooves? Paws? Whatever camels have at the end of their legs)?

I could go on and on about Petra, and I will. For a little while, at least. It is far, far bigger than I ever expected.

In the morning, it was cold enough for jackets, sweaters and hats, but by afternoon, Jeanne and I had shed a couple of layers.

Two members of our group, Paulina and Bill are travel guides in Moab, Utah. In fact, if you want to see the highlights of Arches, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point, contact Paulina (moabinaday.com)—it’s her company, and she’s terrific. There WILL be a Moab visit and blog post before the end of 2024. I promise.

But back to Petra…even Paulina, who lives in Moab, ( and is a geologist) was blown away by the colors, the canyons, the enormity and the unbelievable carvings of Petra. Now that’s saying something.

I love the color of this structure!

Petra is strategically located between the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, and Yemen, which places it right smack dab in the middle of both the Silk and Spice Roads.

The Nabateans could offer the caravans food, shelter and safety. And the traders could make the Nabateans very wealthy. The Nabateans had a good thing going, at least until the Romans came along in 106 AD, and conquered them. As usual, the Romans had to leave their mark, so of course Petra has Roman ruins. Yet another fact that I never knew. I hope it comes up in Trivia one of these days.

Roman Temple

This was a Nabatean theater, which the Romans took over. Did they add the columns? I forgot to ask.

After lunch, we were given several options. We could go back to the hotel or climb to the monastery, the Royal Tombs or the High Place of Sacrifice. The Monastery was 950 steps. I don’t remember how high the other two were, just that they were significantly less than 950. I knew we still had to walk almost 3 miles to get back to the hotel, so the Royal Tombs it was.

It was impossible to get all of the royal tombs into one shot, so the photo atop this post gives you a view of another section.

Before your eyes glaze over, I’ll post one last photo of Petra then move on to some of the other fantastic, but little known (at least to me) highlights of Jordan.

The view from the Royal Tombs

When we left Amman, Hisham gave us the option of following the regular itinerary or paying a bit more, and making a detour to the Dead Sea. Our very compatible group unanimously opted for the Dead Sea detour. But first, we followed the proscribed itinerary, stopping to view the mosaic on the floor of St George’s Church in Madaba.

The church is being renovated, but we were still able to view the mosaic, which is encircled by the red chain. Fortunately, the graphic of the map, in the visitor’s center was much easier to read, perhaps because there weren’t columns in the middle of it.

Hisham, explaining the significance of various sites in the map.

Next stop was to a mosaics workshop where we watched items being created. .

In ancient times, the craftsmen scoured the area, searching for rocks of the right colors; these days, it’s much easier. They simply visit the granite countertops place, and collect the scraps.

For the rest of the day, I felt like we were journeying through the Old Testament. Take another look at the names on the map above. Am I the only one who kept hearing “Joshua at the battle of Jericho, and the walls came tumbling down” over and over in my head?

Just like Moses, we were able to gaze at the land of milk and honey from Mount Nebo, except back then, there wasn’t t a road running thru the landscape. Maybe it looked more promising thousands of years ago.

It was incredibly windy atop the mountain,

and that wind was responsible for the whitecaps on the Dead Sea. It was so rough, we weren’t allowed to go into the water. Undaunted, I decided to sit on the little pier, dangle my legs, and take a photo. I’m a Massachusetts girl, so I mistakenly thought the tide was creating the waves and the “tide” was going out. Suddenly a strong gust of wind pushed the water over the pier. So, no photo. Luckily, the lack of moisture in the air meant my pants dried rather quickly.

Although we weren’t able to go into the sea, we DID experience what it would have been to float in it like when we used the salt water pool in the Crown Plaza resort. It was quite an experience! Again, no photos, except this one of the view of the Dead Sea from the resort patio.

We took an elevator down to the beach, but still had to walk down—and then up— the equivalent (according to my Apple Watch) of 9 flights of stairs

The rest of the drive, through the Jordan Mountains, was gorgeous.

Roadside stop. For 1 dinar, you can sit on the swing and get your photo taken. I preferred the view of the sunset.
Bedouin camp

This morning, We departed from our hotel at 4:30 AM for the 3 hour drive to the Amman airport. We should be in Cairo before 1 PM today.

The van has WiFi, so I’m writing this as we bump along dark deserted streets toward the King’s Highway. Nothing to see, except the glow from my fellow passengers’ iPhones.

Merry Christmas to all!

Three Days in Amman, Jordan

Remember learning about the “Dark Ages” in school? Well, come to find out, it wasn’t dark everywhere. In the Muslim world, for instance, the “Golden Ages” is a more apt description. Don’t believe me? Then come to the magnificent Jordan Museum. In addition to archaeological treasures, like Dead Sea Scrolls, the museum has a wonderful short video about the many significant contributions Muslims made to the world during Europe’s dark days, plus several interactive, multi-media displays.

Even if Amman isn’t on your bucket list (although Jordan should be) you can still experience some of the museum’s wonders by visiting this website ( if the link doesn’t work type in 1001inventions.com. )

The Jordan Museum was not part of the OAT tour, however my friend Jeanne and I arrived a day early, so we had free time to explore before we met up with Hisham, our trip leader. My virtual travel buddy, Esther, who I hope to meet in person someday, had highly recommended the Jordan Museum, and I’m so very glad she did.

For those who like antiquities, the first floor has plenty of pottery and jewelry, plus something you don’t see in most museums— Dead Sea Scrolls

The upper floor has the video and the interactive displays that delighted me. Bet you can’t guess what this elephant contraption is.

Believe it or not, this is a replica of an 800 year old clock. “ The large clock uses Greek water-raising technology, an Indian elephant, an Egyptian phoenix, Arabian figures and Chinese dragons, to celebrate the diversity of the world”. ( description courtesy of the website).

The Crowne Plaza Hotel linked us up with Sam, who drove us to the museum, waited for us for over an hour and drove us back, for about $45 total. Best of all, there was no extra charge for Sam’s great commentary, delivered on the way to and from the museum.

Sam, Jeanne and Bobbie

The area around our hotel is definitely NOT conducive to walking, however that didn’t stop Bobbie and me from venturing out for lunch at Kabob Express, where our language barrier resulted in our ordering one lunch instead of two. (It turned out fine, because there was still food left over even after we’d both had our fill). Would I recommend it? Well, it was close to the hotel, they accepted credit cards, you got a lot of satisfying food for your money— and as my dad used to say, “it filled the hole”.

Jeanne, Bobbie and I met the remaining 4 travelers at our dinner, in the hotel restaurant. One of the reasons I enjoy traveling with OAT is the small group size allows you to really get to know your traveling companions, who are usually interesting, curious, friendly and seasoned travelers. This group is certainly all that, and more.

On our tour’s first full day, we visited Amman’s most important sites: the Citadel, which is located atop one of Amman’s seven hills, and the Roman theater; both have on site museums, which we explored.

The sites weren’t crowded at all, so you could take your time perfecting your next instagram post. And believe me, this couple did.

It was easy to get whatever shot you desired, like these fingers and an elbow from what was once a 42 foot statue of Hercules. You can also get a feel for the old section of Amman, which appears in the background.

Check out this great view of the Roman theater from the Citadel. The theater is so large, this was the only way to get all three tiers of it into one shot.

Here at the theater, the preferred photo op was to plop your toddler atop the front pedestal and then give the child directions on exactly how to pose. This little girl was having none of that.

Notice the special seats carved from stone in the first tier, right behind her? Those were the royals’ (Caesar’s) box seats. Way up high, in the nose bleed seats was where the women and slaves were relegated.

So, of course we ladies had to do something about that!

We spent our last day in Amman driving about an hour north to Jerash. Don’t feel bad if you’d never heard of it. Neither had I, before this trip.

Despite having been partially destroyed by the earthquake of 749, it is still one of the best preserved Greco-Roman cities, as interesting as Ephesus to me.

This is normally the high season, with thousands of daily visitors, but because of the fighting between Israel and Hamas, we had the site almost to ourselves. Although I am so sorry for the Jordanian people who make their living in the tourist trade, I am even more sorry for all the Palestinian and Israeli victims of this horrible war.

Hadrian’s Gate, outside of the city
Still a work in progress, these stones are sitting on the ground, waiting to be fitted together.
View of the oval forum from one of the temples
The theater, with incredible acoustics brought about by the series of niches. They didn’t need microphonesGood thing because they hadn’t been invented yet.

We will be leaving shortly for our dinner with a Jordanian family in their home. Tomorrow we travel to Petra, stopping at the Dead Sea along the way.

Jordan Adventure

Timing is everything in life, and right now, the jury is still out as to whether my timing is extremely foolhardy or rather brilliant.

I booked the Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT) trip to Egypt in late February of 2023. For years, I’ve wanted to visit Petra, and OAT’s trip offered the opportunity to spend five nights in Jordan, prior to the start of the main trip in Egypt. OAT limits their trips to a maximum of 16 travelers, and their single rooms get snapped up quickly, so I knew if I hesitated, I would lose out. I also knew that it would be wise to spend the my first holidays without Mike, Sandy, and my dad away from home.

You’d have to be living in a cave on a deserted island not to know that things changed in the Middle East rather dramatically on October 7, when Hamas attacked Israel. Given Jordan’s proximity to Israel, one might question the wisdom of traveling so close to a war zone. In fact, MANY questioned that decision. So, I figured I’d share my thought process. (Yes, I actually DID put some thought into the decision to “stay the course”.)

Take a look at the visual atop this post. You will see (as I did, because I did indeed look) that Jordan is on Israel’s eastern border, and the Gaza Strip is on the west, with quite a few miles separating Gaza from Amman and Petra. Here’s a more detailed view of where we will be while in Jordan.

The parts of Egypt that I will be visiting are even further away from the action. The following map provides an overview of the main trip, including the two internal flights and the Nile cruise.

These are all familiar places, but for those interested in more detail, check out the map below. Lots of new names!

I’m comforted by the knowledge that OAT has, in the past, canceled trips whenever there is even a remote chance for danger. In fact, this particular trip offered a choice of two pre-trips, either Jordan or Israel. Not surprisingly, the Israel pre-trip has been canceled.

The wonderful members of the Facebook Group, “Friends of Overseas Adventure Travel”, who have recently, or are currently following my itinerary have been posting photos and urging us future travelers not to cancel. They feel safe and welcome. An added bonus? They have reported that the sites are not crowded!

I’ll confess, getting to Amman is no picnic. Departure day started with NPR announcing flight cancellations at JFK and Newark airports, then the neighborhood Facebook forum was full of inquiries about flooded roads. I kept a careful eye on my United app, which assured me that everything would go as planned. And it did.

I left Newark at 7:30 PM to arrive in Frankfurt a little after 9 AM, which to my body is 3 AM. Normally, l prefer to travel with carry on only. But not when the Frankfurt airport is part of the itinerary. Every time I’ve flown into Frankfurt, the plane has parked in East No-Jetway-land and this trip was no exception. We carried our luggage down the stairs, then crammed into a bus that deposited us at one of the Terminal 1 concourses. Sometimes it’s the concourse you want, sometimes it’s not. This time it was not. It took a while for me to figure that out, because the gate for my flight to Amman was not showing up on the board. Eventually, I learned that I needed to get into the VERY long line for (what else) the bus to concourse B, and then walk down two flights, with my blessedly light carry on bag slung over my shoulder.

Fortunately, OAT was offering reasonably priced business class flights. Business class usually comes with lounge access, so while at home, I checked out their lounge using this helpful link that a member of Friends of OAT sent. Hanging out for 6 hours in the airport didn’t seem so bad given the showers and sleeping facilities the link promised.

Guess what? That lounge was a HUGE disappointment. Yes, there were 4 leather “beds” but there was no door to the room, and based on the clanging noises, I suspect it was near the kitchen. Still, I was able to get about an hour’s rest. It was downhill after that. The shower room was frigid — I didn’t want to remove my sweater, never mind the rest of my clothes—and that lounge had the WORST food ever! I actually left the lounge early to hang out at the gate instead. Maybe the good stuff is all in the First Class lounge?

Business class between Frankfurt and Amman is nothing special. The middle seat is unoccupied, so you at least get a little more room. I guess this explains why business class was so affordable. But enough of the bitchin’ and moanin’. In a little more than 4 hours, I’ll be in Jordan!