Significant Sites

Ok, time for a bit of history (don't worry, I'll be brief!).

This spring of water is located in Wadi Musa "Valley of Moses".  Can you guess why it's called Wadi Musa?
Ok, Ok, I'll tell you!  This is the valley that the prophet Moses passed through and struck water from the rock for the Israelites. (Numbers 20:7-11) The actual site is called Ain Musa or Moses water Spring  (Mose's Well).  The Nabateans built channels that carried water from this spring to the city of Petra. (You remember, I was walking by some of those water channels in the Petra post! :) ) Also, be aware of the fact that alot of these sites are best guesses as far as actual places from biblical history, they are in the area, but as to actual rock or spring, who really knows?



This is the mountain we could see from our hotel, it is called Mount Hor in Edom. Mt Hor is situated "in the edge of the land of Edom" (Numbers 33:37) It was one of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness, which they reached in the circuitous route they were obliged to take because the Edomites refused them a passage through their territory. (Numbers 20:14-21)

It was during the encampment here that Aaron died. (Numbers 33:37-41) also (Numbers 20:22-29) Now look carefully, can you see a white square dot, building at the top of the mountain? That is called the tomb of Aaron. Josephus is the historian that puts Mt Hor near Petra as the location of Aaron's death.

We did not get to go up to the actual tomb of Aaron, we just saw it from the hotel and the bus, pretty much as you are seeing it now. Just look at the terrain and imagine the Israelites "wandering 40 yrs" in such an area.

Really, a million people "wandering" no wonder they had to have "Manna from Heaven". This is only one area they were at, but not too much to survive on I say. As I think of the Manna from Heaven and Water coming from a rock, I'm wondering if there is not a lesson in there about "The Bread of Life and Living Water." Ummm, something to think about I do believe.

Here is a photo of the town surrounding Mt Hor, interesting, interesting n'est-ce pas?

So now it's time to leave the south of Jordan and head north on the King's Highway to cross the Jordan river into Israel and our hotel at Tiberias on the Sea of Galilee. It was a long bus ride up North, but as we went it did become more and more productive and green. I noticed lots of goats and sheep in the hills. I could see the shepherds watching them. Makes the bible stories more real, that is for sure.

Just a quick note, as we left Jordan and entered Israel, Dixie the Immigration officer was the one that got searched,("patted down") by an Israelie female officer. I got to go into the little booth with the curtain and get checked out, for weapons and other contra band. Random search? Suspicious Character? I don't know!!!! But I wasn't detained and told I could have one call, that is a good thing!!

Finally,we have come to the conclusion of Monday 08 November 2010. Tuesday we wake up on the Sea of Galilee and that is an Awesome thing!!! I love the Sea of Galilee!!

Hotel Petra

Can't leave Petra without a note about the hotel.

 This is the name plate of our hotel in Petra, a very nice hotel that I thought was fun.

I enjoyed the restaurant as the ambiance was super cool, and there were languages from all over the world being spoken all around us.

 Everything is built out of rock or stone. This is my attempt at photography! The beige object at the back of the picture is a MINARET (generally attached to a mosque).  It is the tower used by a Muezzin - or crier-to call the faithful to prayer five times each day. They are called to prayer at dawn, noon, mid-afternoon, sunset and night. (This fact that the Muslims pray 5 times a day will come up later, just getting everyone prepped for future information.) Don't need an alarm clock in Muslim countries that is for sure!

 The inside of our first hotel room. Rather spacious compared to some of the other hotel rooms we had. I enjoyed the style and layout at this hotel.

 Ummm, did you notice anything unique about the room? Umm, think about it! Would we find a room like this in North America? Oh I think I'm going to leave it at that and you can let me know in the comments if you noticed the same thing I did!! (Tee- Hee, part of the fun of blogging!!!) :)

 This is a view, at dawn, from our hotel. The roofs are part of the hotel and the other buildings are part of the city of Petra that is not a tourist attraction. Lots of sand and rocks eh? huh?

 Another view of the hotel as we are coming up from the restaurant. I thought it was cool.

 This is an olive press with an olive tree there on the right. The round millstone with the wood stick in is used to press the olives. The worker pushes the millstone by using the stick that is in the hole of the millstone. This is a rather small olive press. I think this is just a model for effect.

 This picture is just because I liked the car that they were using as a taxi! Nice car!

This is another view from out hotel. This is to get you ready for the geography and history lesson that will come up in the next post. That mountain over there is significant, as well as this general area of south Jordan. Old Testament history. Think Moses and Exodus. Moses was in the wilderness 40 yrs after all, he had to be somewhere.

Petra, Jordan

Does anyone know what you are seeing here? Do ya, Do ya?

I'll give you a hint: Indiana Jones!.

This is Al-Khazneh (Treasury)

 This is a massive facade 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink,  rock-face and dwarfing everything around it.  It was carved in the early 1st century as a tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people.

Can you tell that I copied that info from somewhere other than my brain? (Maybe not, I shouldn't tell eh?or should I say Huh?)

 This Nabataen city of Petra made it's Hollywood debut in 1989 in "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" starring Harrison Ford! Oh I knew you knew that, but I am just showing off!

 This is just to provide evidence that I was actually there! I'm the one looking at the camera! How we got that picture with just 2 other bodies is beyond my comprehension, there were at least "a million people" there if there was one!

 There is alot of walking to be done in this fine"rose-red city half as old as time". So how should one do that?

 By horseback?

 By donkey?

 I love this picture!

The boys were rushing down to let the tourists ride, (for a fee of course!)

By horse drawn carriage?

 By camel?

 If you look closely, you'll see that I chose none of the above, maybe cuz I'm cheap!

I'm walking by a water channel that was carved out of the rock to get the water into the city. Some very interesting stuff, and engineering that went on in these old cities.

 This is called the Siq, it is a narrow gorge over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring 80m high cliffs.

Another view of the SIQ.

The couple in red and blue are from Santaquin, Utah, she later came to be known by me as "Pepsi"!

 

 Look at those colors! So Cool! There are hundreds of elaborate rock-cut tombs with intricate carvings- unlike the houses which were destroyed mostly by earthquakes, the tombs were carved to last throughout the afterlife and 500 have survived.

 Petra is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk,spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome.

 What does this look like?

 Did you say elephant?

Cool eh/huh? Two elephants!

 Some more of the carved out tombs etc.  We climbed up there and the following pictures are of what we saw from that vantage point.

 I think if we would have followed that road an other km or so we would have found more excavations etc.. it was too hot, too dusty to see more of the same, so we found shade and a lookout and enjoyed the view and the simple fact I wasn't dealing with snow!!!!

 This is the road we came in on, of course we passed vendors doing their thing, there are lots of them that have expensive items when you're coming and rather cheap items when you're leaving. The barter thing can be fun.

 I am pretty, oh so pretty!

 Oh so very, very pretty!!

 Kelly decided she was tired of walking on the hot dusty path, so she chose the CAMEL!

 She is having a blast  on the "beautiful beast"!

 Really? What is that expression really saying to Mike and I as we walk the 2 km back to the Blue Bus?
She had fun watching the camels "run over" the inattentive tourists. She enjoyed the ride for sure!!!

"Have a look!"

 It depends on which way you are going what these little goodies cost! Just a small sample of what was available for the tourist in Petra. Oh barter hard, it's the best part of aquiring such items!!

 Some women taking a break from the heat and the vending thing. They'll be ready when a new swarm of tourists show up.

 Check out the two boys (is it three?) with the man in blue with the white hat!! They are working on him, and oh my he has his hands in his pockets, looks like they may have made a sale!!
The donkey man, worked hard on me to ride his donkey, but no go! So he mounted up and went to look for another target. I hope somebody rode his donkey! Got to make a living, right?

 Look closely, what do you see? Are you seeing it? At the bottom of the hole in the rock!

 There he is! "One dollar! One dollar! Post cards, one dollar!!" Can't let the tourist get away!!

Too bad you can't hear the accent for "One dollar,One dollar!" It's funny, so LAUGH!!!! :)

 These guys are working on making a living too, kinda fun to see!

They had fun with Kelly, Mike got to pay for that one!

Thus ends the morning of Monday 08 November 2010 at Petra, Jordan.

Lay of the Land

Well, here we go!! I left Calgary for New York on Friday 05 Nov 2010. My sister Kelly and her husband Mike came with me! We arrived in New York at a crazy hour, so we booked a hotel, slept and got cleaned up, went to a resturant in New York, that was an experience in and of itself, and then we went to JFK Airport to stand in line and begin the first of many, many, many... luggage scans, security pat downs and full body scans. Whenever I got to choose between a pat down or a full body scan, I went for the scan, (cheap thrill for the guys in the back room, I'm sure!)

Take off your belt, take off your shoes, put on your belt, put on your shoes. Too bad I wore a belt or shoes! Overheard at one of the many airports:

"If you have no shoes, return to security and pick them up!"

How does one get very far and forget your shoes? Your belt, carry on, laptop etc.. I get, but your shoes????

We finally get on the airplane and 11 1/2 hours later arrive at Amman, Jordan Sunday 07 Nov 2010 at 2 pm local time. Brutal is all I can say about the flight!

We transfer from the airport to the "Blue Bus" to begin our 3 hour drive to Petra Jordan. This is a picture of the parking lot that I watched while the luggage was being loaded onto the buses. I watched the guy with the red "thingy" on this head and I couldn't quite figure out what his job was?? Some kind of security I'm sure!! I didn't get a picture of it first thing, but I noticed right a way that there was a "Tourist Police" and they carried guns!! Why do tourists need police with a gun?

 This will give you an idea of the landscape we drove through to get to Petra Jordan. Notice, sand, sand and more sand!! Also, take a look at the construction project. There were so many buildings like that in the Arab countries that we went to, lots of buildings under construction, but not completed and looking very abandoned to boot.

 Look out there, how does anything survive? What is out there to eat? How does anything grow? I can't say I know the answer to that one.

 Look closely, can you see the livestock. It's out there, but really, how do they survive?

More of the same.

 Oh was this a common sight!! Tour buses everywhere! We are stopped for a rest stop, and of course there is a gift shop right there!! I'm thinking that there are kick backs from the shop owners to the tour bus drivers and guides for stopping at that particular rest stop. Just a guess!!

I'm just wondering what the wooly guys really do eat? I guess there is some grass there, but it is brown and sparse! Oh quite the education on so many levels. I know I'm grateful for green grass and trees and bathrooms that you don't have to pay for!!

Next installment, Petra Jordan, one of the seven Wonders of the World!!