Day 2: Amman to Petra

Today, we all were off to Petra, but first we were to have an all day tour, beginning with a city tour of Amman. It began at the Citadel…the one we never made it to yesterday. We expected great views, Roman ruins, and we got that and an in-depth history from our guide. Then, he mentioned we would also go into the museum--the Jordan Archeological Museum. This small museum houses an excellent collection of antiquities ranging from prehistoric times to the 15th century. In fact, it just happens to house the Dead Sea Scrolls, and four rare Iron Age sarcophagi and the Ain Ghazal sculpture dated to 6250 BC. Approximately 30 of these enigmatic and appealing statues, ranging between 2 and 3 feet in height and looking rather like kindly extraterrestrials to modern eyes, were discovered in 1983 and 1985 during road construction on the outskirts of Amman.

The statues are made of plaster applied to an interior reed armature. Some have legs, while others just have block torsos. They are most likely funeral statues, that commemorate deceased family members of important lineages. Gender is usually not indicated. Some of the statues have two heads and joined bodies; they could have represented a husband and wife, or other pairs (siblings, parent/child, etc.) depending on circumstances. When found, the statues had been deliberately buried underneath the floors of uninhabited houses, echoing the widespread neolithic practice of burying important family members (such as clan heads) under the floors of their own homes. The Jordanian statues were most likely fashioned for ancestor worship, painted and adorned, and revered in a special place by the community. The archaeological periods represented in the museum date back as far as The Paleolithic (1000,000 – 10,000 years ago) age.

Amman is a city that is rich in history and we merely touched its surface. About an hour north of the city is Jerash, which is one of the best and largest preserved cities in the world, dating back to 2nd century BC. However, we didn't have time to take it in. What we took in of Amman was that it is called the White City as it is all built in limestone and it is growing in leaps and bounds due to the number of Palestinians who have immigrated within the past 3 years…over 800K. Amman grew in stature as a capital after the rail line was built and the royal family built its palace in Amman after the 1940s. Even with the influx of immigrants, Amman appeared clean and quite upscale compared to Cairo. Gone are the tent cities, replaced by government housing and painted a uniform color by the government, to give the appearance of cleanliness. There are no clothes hanging out of windows here in Amman. For one thing, it would be considered indiscrete to hang one's personal items outside of one's homes, so people here invest in dryers. The traffic issue so apparent in Cairo is nil here in Jordan. Traffic police are everywhere and speed patrol is heavily enforced.

As opposed to our Saturday/Sunday days off, here in Jordan, folks enjoy Friday and Saturday off. We noticed folks sitting along the highway on blankets and chairs having picnics and barbecues when we left on the following Friday. Schools are compulsory through age 16. Classes are separated by gender. Classes start at 8 am and go through 3 pm. Government workers also end their day jobs at 3. The big meal of the day is held at 3:30 and folks have a late, light supper after 8pm. Those who work for multinationals, have a one hour lunch around 3 and go home between 5 and 6 pm.

Sixty percent of the population is under age 30 due to the fact that large families are supported by Islam. This is causing infrastructure problems. Public universities haven't enough room for all students and private universities are beginning to be introduced. Interestingly, Jordan has no oil and are looking into alternative oil sources. At first, they received cheap oil from their neighbors, but now it is as expensive as it is for us. Therefore, they are looking at oil shell for 2015 and nuclear power for 2020. So, where are they getting their wealth if not from oil? Phosphate is their leading industry and we saw phosphate plants everywhere along the highway. Jordan's other leading industries are: Cement, agriculture and tourism.

I found the topography interesting. It was mostly desert. It was miles and miles of desert. However, Jordan gets snow and has 4 seasons. It is for this reason, that property has become very attractive. In fact, in the past 5-6 years property values for a 1/4 lot have increased from $50K to $500K in the suburbs. Villas or mansions can easily sell into the $5-7 million range.

We made our way along the King's highway to Mt. Nebo. Now, I had forgotten much of my bible stories. Mount Nebo is where Moses was given a view of the "the promised land" that God was giving to the Israelites. According to both Jewish and Christian tradition, Moses was buried on this mountain by God Himself, and his final resting place is unknown. Scholars continue to dispute whether the mountain currently known as Nebo is the same as the mountain referred to in the Torah. There were fantastic mosaics currently being restored. The church was first constructed in the second half of the 4th century to commemorate the place of Moses' death. Six tombs have been found hollowed from the natural rock beneath the mosaic covered floor of the church. In the modern chapel built to protect the site and provide worship space, you can see remnants of mosaic floors from different periods.

The entire town now seems to be dedicated to the art of mosaics and we visited a workshop where beautiful pieces of mosaic art were being created by handicapped individuals. We stopped for lunch outside of Amman in a suburb called Madaba and went to see Madaba's chief attraction - in the Greek Orthodox church of St. George - a 6th-century Byzantine mosaic map showing the entire region from Jordan and Palestine in the north, to Egypt in the south. This map includes a fascinating plan of Jerusalem: on the left is the north gate from which two colonnaded streets run south. On the straight street through the heart of the city stands the domed Holy Sepulcher. Clearly inscribed above the north and east gates is the legend "Holy City of Jerusalem".

With our heads spinning from all we had seen and a long trip still ahead to Petra, we were ready to settle down to a nice afternoon bus siesta, but not before our guide showed us a special treat…the black iris. We were lucky enough to be around for the short season. It will only grow in the wild and it is illegal to pick it as it is endangered. The Black Iris is Jordan's national flower, only grows south of Amman, and the entire flower has a glossy luster finish. At the base of this sphere, three petals curve downwards, each showing a patch of velvet of the deepest black. The contrast of gloss with velvet is extremely beautiful, black on black, accentuating the mass of the flower, it's sharp lines and it's delicate transparent veins.

Finally, we go through the small town of Wadi Mussa ( Moses Valley) and arrive at the Movenpick Petra, right at the mouth of the Petra site. The hotel has quite an elegant lobby and we are all tired and looking forward to a nice dinner and a chair that hasn't got wheels underneath!

Day 3: Petra

We all gathered in the lobby of the Movenpick and walked to the entrance of the Petra Visitor's Center, about a 5 minute walk, about half the folks decided to take a horse drawn carriage ride to the "Treasury." Susan and I decided to take a horse to the beginning to the siq (gorge). Doug, Ken, Ray, Dave, Ralph walked to the gorge. Petra is a lost city, hidden in a valley. Petra is greek meaning rock and has just been chosen as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World and as a World Heritage Site and was selected as one the the 40 places to see before you die. It was established as a city by the Nabateans around the 6th century BC as a city. Currently, it has the beautiful treasury, which houses an empty room, many tombs, a monastery and three temples. There have been no excavated homes. Besides being extremely beautiful, it is an example of an extremely clever civilization as well as an insight into our past. Christianity found its way to Petra in the 4th century CE, nearly 500 years after the establishment of Petra as a trade center. According to Arab tradition, Petra is the spot where Moses struck a rock with his staff and water came forth, and where Moses' brother, Aaron, is buried, at Mount Hor, known today as Jabal Haroun or Mount Aaron. The Wadi Musa or "Wadi of Moses" is the Arab name for the narrow valley at the head of which Petra is sited. Petra declined rapidly under Roman rule, in large part due to the revision of sea-based trade routes. In 363 an earthquake destroyed many buildings, and crippled the vital water management system, which you can still see today.

We walked through the gorge and took many pictures and thought the treasury was just as beautiful in the morning sun as every picture we had ever seen. We continued along the way, walking in and out of canyons and tombs, stopping for tea and later, for lunch. I gave in and purchased a lantern, leaving it behind to pick up later in the day. We laughed at seeing our authentic handmade Nubian necklaces (which we knew were made in India) were now being sold as authentic handmade bedouin necklaces by the vendors. After lunch, Susan and Ken decided to climb the 995 steps up to the monastery. I chickened out and Doug and I decided to take the donkeys up. Ngaire went back to buy some more "authentic" necklaces, some were already back at the hotel, and others went for camel rides. As Doug and I passed Susan and Ken, we waved and had some good fun on our sure footed donkeys, glad we weren't climbing like Ken and Susan. Once off, we dismounted and noted that it would be awhile before we'd see them. We looked up at the monastery still many steps up and decided to just go down the 800 or so steps. As we turned, there were Ken and Susan. I don't know what pills they were taking, but they sure were fast. They went on past us to the monastery and we went on down. It seemed like forever, but was only about 35 minutes. At the base, Doug an I sat down and thought we'd be there waiting for Susan and Ken for about 15-20 minutes as they were going up much higher than we did and were taking photos as well, but about 5 minutes later, there they were. I think they must have jumped a few flights. (Ken was limping later on).

We made our way to the camels (We are the "do it all group…though Ken and Susan really won this day") and Doug, Susan and I got on our camels with Ken walking alongside taking our pictures back to the rest stop. Susan's camel fell in love with Doug and leaned in for a big kiss, but Doug didn't reciprocate "because he didn't know if it were a girl."

We picked up my lantern and made our way up hill in the heat, back to the hotel. It was a good couple mile walk. Once back, we freshened up and went down to the lobby and had drinks with Pat and Ray and Ralph. Slowly, others joined until it was time for dinner. Tomorrow, our last day together as a group, would be Wadi Rum.

Day 4: Wadi Rum and Dead Sea

We got on the bus at 8 AM and folks were all a bit tired. Today was to be a driving day and none were too pleased. First, we had one last hurrah. I was going along for the ride. I knew Wadi Rum was a pretty area in the desert, but that was about it. I began the trip as an ignorant slut, and I ended it as one as well! Little did I realize,that this was the area that was made famous by Lawrence of Arabia during the Arab Revolt (1917/18). Lawrence himself makes many references to Wadi Rum in his book 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom', a title apparently inspired by one of Rum's imposing mountains, which is extremely beautiful.

It is a vast expanse of red sand dunes and desert (real desert, with deep sand) with craggy mountains jutting out of the dunes. Geologists think that this Wadi (the Arabic word for "valley") resulted from a great crack in the surface of the earth caused by an enormous upheaval, which shattered mammoth pieces of granite, and sandstone ridges from the mountains of the Afro-Arabian shield. Some of the ridges are a 1000 feet high and topped with domes worn smooth by the desert winds. There is prehistoric grafitti on cave walls and prehistoric finds. While we only spent an hour or so driving in open air jeeps across the area, it is possible to travel by camel, horseback or stay overnight in Wadi Rum. I really wished we had visited there during sunset. We all wanted to reach our destinations, so we grabbed some snacks in the gift store, jumped on the bus and headed out for our 4 hour plus ride back to the Amman area. Ngaire and Ken would be the first to leave us at the airport; Susan, Doug and I would separate next for the Dead Sea and the others would continue on, back to the Amman Hyatt for the night.

We will miss you all!