Catching up to the end of Jordan - for us, not the country!

Sept 8
Today was a traveling day... along the Kings Highway towards Petra. The heat had stirred up the sand and the sky looked like LA ijn the 60's before smog control..hope it clears some before tomorrow. We stopped at Madaba to see the magnificent mosaic floor- or whats left of it after the iconoclasts had their way, at Mt. Nebo where Moses looked out over the promised land and a mosaic craft store where we succumbed to a purchase of 4 mosaic coasters. Tomorrow is Petra!

Kids are kids everywhere!

Remains of the magnificent mosaic in Madaba.

we visited a mosaic workshop

Mt. Nebo where Moses looked out at the promised land. The sky was too dusty for us to see.

Sept 9

PETRA!

The Monastery - Larry hiked up to see it!

 Sept 10
A travel day.  We spent the entire day crossing the border from Jordan to Israel.  What an experience! And not one I'd like to repeat either.  It was as usual blistering hot and first we went through the Jordan customs, easy peasy.  Then we stopped at another kiosk halfway through the no-man's land.  Jad, our bus driver asked for two passports.. Larry and I volunteered ours. Again easy peasy.  But then we ran into the Israel road block.

Aarghhhh.  Identify your bags, check.  Stand in line, (one window only is open although there are 4 people in the window.) and find the powers that be shuffling people in front of us.  Finally we got through that line then we had to get our carry ons screened, as well as ourselves.  Danger Will Rogers!  No pacemaker friendly scanners here.  So they demand to see my pacemaker card (thankfully I had it with me) and tell me to sit and wait. and wait. and wait.  Finally they decide I'm not a danger to the country, but my books are.  They've torn apart my carry-on.

Once through this horror we get our passports checked by a particularly anal customs agent who reads every entry in our passport.  Imagine how long that took!

Whew! Finally we are met by Lior, our new guide and escorted to the air conditioned bus.

We are told that the airport customs were a piece of cake.  But they weren't coming in from Public enemy no. 3, were they?

Friday, Sept. 4

 Today was really special. We shared a delicious chicken lunch with Franny and then headed upstairs for a nap. About 3 our tour leader called to see if we'd like to go to the King Hussein Park for a picnic with his family. Stuffed to the gills from lunch, we responded yes! of course! We met Jafar and his family and also his sister's family at the park. The kids were riding scooters down a sloping walk while Fran and Larry picked the brains of Jafar and Maumon about the country, the political climate, the financial climate.... etc. Dinner was a chicken "pizza" on naan bread with sumac seasoning and pine nuts -yummy! and figs and grapes for dessert. We really like Jordan so far.

 

Amman at sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday, Sept.5

 Umm Qais

With a day to spare, we along with Fran Howard decided to rent a car and head north to Umm Qais.

Umm Qais is Jordan’s northernmost point offers panoramic views out over the Sea of Galilee and Golan Heights, set among rolling green hills and plunging valley gorges. It's also the site of some wonderful Roman ruins. We hired a guide to lead us around the site... our driver being just that, a driver with no English skills.

Roman ruins have much in common, a cardo (main thoroughfare through the city) a theater, a nymphonium and baths, shops, and often a racetrack.  Umm Qais had them all.  It was extremely hot and Patrice got somewhat dehydrated, so she cut off from the tour early to find some shade and a cool drink. We found a cafe at the top of the hill and relaxed and enjoyed the great view of Jordan's version  of our Four Corners. We could see Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan as well as the West Bank and the Sea of Galilee.

Finished there, we headed back to Amman to meet our group and join them for dinner.

Sunday, Sept.6

A Day in Amman

Our first day as a group we wandered through the old town of Amman and the fruit and vegetable market.  

We quickly discovered that Jafar was out to stuff us to the gills. We stopped to taste several Jordanian specialties, most including goat cheese and bread, and common Jordanian fruits like dates and figs. The old town was fascinating with woman in varying degrees of observant dress, from the full black burka (which we couldn't help thinking must have been close to suffocating in the 105 degree heat) to the scarf and tight jeans.  Jafar says the young want to be observant but observed.  They certainly were drawing attention from the young shopkeepers.

Amman has it's Greco Roman ruin - the Citadel, which we visited of course, and we then feasted on a buffet lunch of hummus, pita bread, fruit, fresh salads, olives, and chicken,lamb and beef.  It was delicious but very filling and we were expected to go to a home hosted dinner that night!

The home hosted dinner at the home of Suzanne and her daughter Raiya was another very filling meal. You don't go to a dinner her in Jordan and not eat. It's an insult, so despite being stuffed to the gills, we ate., and it was delicious!.  We''re going to be very plump by the end of our trip if this continues!

I can't seem to add any more pictures... so I'll post this and try to upload two more days tomorrow.  1 week in and I'm already behind.  Just for the record it's hotter than a hot here and there's no end in sight.

oldest book stand in Amman

Greek Theater in Amman

A view of Amman

The Citadel in Amman