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!!