Jordan

Why again are we in Jordan? Shameful of me to say, I didn’t know a lot about Jordan before this trip. It was Brad's idea to come here and I guess with all the turmoil around this part of the world our alternatives were getting limited. In fact, due to the cancellations from Egypt our original group of 15 reduced down to 4, thankfully we all got along famously so it ended up being an enjoyable 12 days travelling through Jordan and Israel.

After a non-eventful entry into Amman, Jordan and a night at the hotel (no more 4* for us) we headed to Madaba, where we visited the 1st of many, many churches. The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George houses an ancient mosaic map that depicts Palestine and Lower Egypt around 550 AD, and gives you a small sense of how ancient this land is. From here we drove to Aqaba, which is the southern tip of Jordan and sits on the red sea facing Israel. It's basically a port town with some nice yachts and huge cargo ships. Valentine’s Day consisted of couples sitting on the beaches on rugs and the evening rang out with a cacophony of honking car horns. We both forgot, so no drama there!

Next day was into the desert at Wadi Rum. This is a UNESCO protected area which we explored in a rather rickety open old jeep, operated by the local Bedouin community. With the sand exfoliating every part of our exposed bits, we visited several interesting rock formations and enjoyed the spectacular desert landscapes for which Wadi Rum is deservedly renowned.

That night we made camp in Bedouin tents after a joy ride on camels and a great meal that the local boys cooked in the ground (like a lovo in Fiji). We drank a local brew, Brad tried the tobacco + apple smoking pipe and did his best to look like Lawrence of Arabia, and then the two of us went for a walk through the sand dunes under a full moon. The stars were magnificent and the mountain ranges never seemed to get any closer, somewhat like a mirage in the distance. None of our photos will do this landscape justice. We got back to camp and everyone was asleep. I guess without electricity you wake and sleep with the cycle of the sun. A nice simple life but a shower would have been nice as well.

Next stop was Petra. We didn’t know until we arrived that the famous Treasury is a regular and fully justified contender for the ‘8th Wonder of the World’ title, the Treasury’s glorious façade, glimpsed from the narrow cleft known as the Siq – is arguably the single most striking sight of the entire region.

The greatest surprise, however, is the size of this ancient city, built by the Nubitean people. We explored the old Roman road, amphitheatre and several old tombs. We then climbed the 800 steps up to the Monastery which provided a great view of the entire site. Debate is ongoing but it appears that Brad's photo of the Monastery may end up being one of the top 16 which we will frame when we return.

(photo on left) He is beginning a Facebook campaign to get his chosen over mine. Good luck. It was a memorable day and sure to be one of the main highlights of our trip. We finished the day with Brad, Leonie and Graham deciding to have a Turkish bath which included steam room, Jacuzzi, massage and rub down, 2 hours later and water logged Brad returned, whilst I nursed a headache and sore limbs from the trek.

The next morning we drove along the King’s Highway, a road that dates back to beyond the time of the Old Testament. We reached Shobak Castle, originally built to protect the eastern flank of the Latin Kingdom and its trade routes to the sea before it fell to Saladin in 1189. We then visited the highly anticipated Dead Sea, where Brad got to experience water from my perspective (floating) in this unusually high 30% saline water. He slapped magic mud on all exposed limbs and spent the afternoon soaking up the sun, warm waters and pools. Our tour finished in Jordan with a visit to the Roman city of Jerash which is in a fine state of preservation. Founded in the time of Alexander the Great, it had become a centre of considerable importance by the 3rd century AD. Today it is one of the grandest ancient cities in the world with an imposing collection of archways, theatres, baths, public buildings and colonnaded streets. Fact is, from our perspective Roman ruins are far better seen out of Rome.











Israel

There is a saying in Israel “if it’s not here, its near”, meaning there not exactly sure where all this history occurred, but they are dam sure it happened in Israel.

Can’t say I was looking forward to the crossing from Jordan to Israel via the King Hussein/Allenby Bridge, my experience 23 years previously still wakes me from deep sleep (Egypt to Israel crossing). My fears however were not grounded and we made record time being cleared through immigration and customs. In the afternoon we made the short journey south to Bethlehem, where we made our pilgrimage to Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity, built over the site that marks the traditionally-accepted birthplace of Jesus Christ and a sacred place for both Christians and Muslims.

There are impressive Constantine mosaics, a colonnaded ancient basilica and a small grotto that marks Jesus’ birthplace. Afterwards we drove to Beit Sahour to visit the Shepherds' Field, identified in the New Testament as the site where the Angel of the Lord visited the shepherds and informed them of Jesus' impending birth. Our hotel at Jerusalem was interesting, we ended up in a tower complete with turrets, whistling wind through the poorly glassed windows and a circular staircase and lofts. Kind of cool but would have been heaps better if Jerusalem did not experience its worst rain storm in, like, forever.

The best parts of Jerusalem are the serried buildings and ancient ramparts of the Old City, the Mount of Olives and the iconic gold of the Dome of the Rock. In the old city we walked to the 'Cardo' in the recently restored Jewish Quarter, which was the old north-south axis in Roman times. We visited the Western (Wailing) Wall (photo below), Via Dolorosa (Stations of the Cross) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, we also visited the Yad Vashem (Israel's memorial to the Holocaust). Have I mentioned all the guns, missiles, military, tanks, police . . . ?

Next day we drove through the Jordan Valley, stopping en route at Beit Shean to view a well-preserved Roman theatre and a unique Byzantine mosaic floor. Passing through Tiberias, one of Judaism’s four holy cities, we stop at Yardenit - the new commemorative site of Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River.

Watched hundreds of believers in white robes getting baptised. Brad was tempted but it looked cold and there was no lifeguard present. At Nazareth we visit the Basilica of the Annunciation, which incorporates, according to Roman Catholic tradition, the cave in which Mary received the news from Gabriel that she would give birth to Jesus, followed by an obviously awkward conversation between Mary and her husband Joseph, that we think went something like:
Mary: Darling, I have some difficult news.
Joseph: My love, what is it? Are you ill?
Mary: No, no, you see... I'm pregnant.
Joseph: But... we haven't slept together. You said you had a headache.
(extended awkward silence, maybe crickets chirping)
Mary: God did it.

Afterwards we returned to Tiberias to sail across the Sea of Galilee to Tabgha, where Jesus performed the Miracle of the Multiplication of the loaves and fishes, Brad’s favourite part of the bible. Unfortunately our smart arse Australian wit came back and slapped us when we protested that there was an American flag on the boat but not an Australian one. The skipper quickly amended this oversight and then proceeded to play both the American anthem, where 20 strong vibrant voices from some mid-west gospel choir rang out across the sacred sea, and then the Australian anthem, where the 4 of us at the stern of the boat did a shocking job representing our country with squeaky voices and forgotten words. (life lession 4236, need to go to more Rugby matches.)
That night we stayed in Tiberias at a kibbutz. We were thinking it would be like some kind of Hamish community, with no TV or even internet (which chilled Christine to the bone). If we had know kibbutzes were 4 star luxury accommodation then we may have spent our whole time there. Our room overlooked the Sea of Galilee, it was peaceful and quiet and the food was excellent.

By now it is safe to assume that we were churched out so we changed the remainder of our tour, skipping the Golan Heights (which are basically just hills forming a buffer with Syria at the northern end of Israel) and then travelled down the coast to the ancient crusader port of Acre. This is another World Heritage-listed site with an amazing history from the crusades, through the Napoleonic battles and on to the present day. We visit the massive complex of buildings occupied by the Knights of St John as well as the Knight Templars' secret tunnel. We then went to Haifa, one of the richer cities in Israel, and gazed in awe at the Baha’i temple and the magnificent views overlooking the port and Mediterranean Sea.

We couldn’t see the American destroyer, USS Cole, which had been despatched the previous day to keep an eye on some Iranian warships, but we did see a local Israel patrol boat coasting back and forth. The last night of the tour was spent in Tel Aviv, definitely Israel’s liveliest city, with a cafe culture and relaxed beach scene where we said goodbye to Leonie and Graham and made our way back to Jerusalem for another 3 nights and got to experience 1st hand the end of Shabbat.

For those of you that don’t know about this, basically after sundown on Friday until nightfall on Saturday the Torah emphasises restraint from physical work and labour. “Genesis 2:1” “On the seventh day, God completed his work that he did. He rested on the seventh day from the work that he did. He blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, for on it, he rested from all the work that God created to make” Seriously sounds like a Monty Python skit.

After a small psychotic breakdown and words to reception from Christine when we arrived at the Crown Plaza in Tel Aviv after a botched check in and a crappy room ... we were upgraded to the presidential suite, (twice the size of our Willoughby home) overlooks the Med, 7 rooms. where we are relaxing from the religious fervour and psyching ourselves for our 15 day tour in Turkey.

Will write after Turkey, be safe everyone, love Christine and Bradley