Jordan 4

I am going to give a quick rundown of the itinerary and then follow with a bunch of picture posts.

Wed:
We worked early so we could leave early and not take a vacation day. We left for the airport about 1:00. A cheap flight was found so we connected in Bahrain. Luckily the Bahrain airport has tasty beverages. On the flight from Bahrain to Jordan I walked back to the bathroom. The vacant sign was on so I opened the door. Guess what I saw? An Abaya. Oh NO! Actually, thank god she was changing her kid and not doing anything. That would have been bad news.

Once arriving in Jordan and getting through customs, (which the x-ray guy was able to tell that I had a CPAP just on the x-ray...no visual inspection...pretty good!) We met a wildcat taxi driver who actually gave us a good rate to town. We rode with him into town. The Jordan Airport is outside of town about 20 minutes or so. Once we got to the hotel (which for some reason, they upgraded us to the executive floor), we scheduled our weekend with a driver. Not as cheap as a big bus tour, but not that much more expensive for side trips and “Hey, Stop! I wanna see that!” kind of stuff. Since we were up so early, bedtime came pretty easy.

Thursday:
This was our Petra Day. I really cannot explain it. It is now one of the 7 wonders of the world. You need to look it up online. Just amazing. We were paired with a driver by the name of Issac. He was Palestinian and he had a great command of English. He was very helpful, funny, and a great tour guide…also a very safe driver.

On the way to Petra (it’s about 3 hours outside of Amman) we stopped half way to get a drink and bathroom break. He offered to get us drinks so since I am not a coffee drinker, I ordered a diet coke and Carol got coffee. We were getting ready to leave and I noticed that Carol’s cup was still pretty full. I thought that was awkward, so I asked. She let me try her coffee without saying anything. WOW. That was the most bitter, strongest, worst tasting coffee I have ever had…and the guys at this place loved it. Ick.

We headed to Petra and paid 21 Jordan Dinars to get in. We paid the extra 50 Dinars for a private 4 hour tour. Mohammed (imagine that) was our guide. He was hilarious…he had been doing this or working at Petra for many, many years. He was very knowledgeable.

On the way back from Petra, we passed through many towns and I noticed something. Many stores had sheep tied up out in front of the stores on the way down. Now they have no sheep tied out front, just fresh meat ready for sale. Many times it was the whole thing, gutted, skinned, and ready for cooking. Really an amazing sight.

We headed back to Amman and luckily in Jordan you do not need a Liquor permit to buy alcohol. We stopped at a store and picked up some tasty beverages and soon after headed to a good restaurant (Houston’s) which actually turned out to be really good, even though it was some type of American chain. (I try to avoid them)
Friday we were up an out early. The breakfast buffet at the hotel we stayed at was awesome. If they had Pork…it would have probably been one of the best ever. Our driver was waiting on time and we headed for a full day. First stop was the Greek Orthodox Church in Madaba. This is where they found (through random chance) a mosaic on the floor showing an ancient map of biblical times. It actually was made sometime in the biblical era. Unfortunately for us, there was a service going on so we were unable to see it. We got back in the car and continued on. Next stop was the Church of the Virgin Mary. This is basically a working archeological site. They have built churches on top of churches here and they are continually finding things. They have found hundreds of mosaics in these sites that are just amazing.

Next stop was Mt. Nebo. I talked a little about this in my pictures, so check it out. It was really moving being up there. You can see so far and it just has a special feel.

After Mt. Nebo we headed to Bethany. On the way, we passed through a couple of checkpoints. Being so close to the Israel and Palestinian border, they try to keep people from causing too many problems. I got to see where they were digging the church up where John the Baptist worked. See the river where Jesus was baptized. Very cool.

Then we headed to the dead sea. What an experience. We paid a daily rate at the Movenpick and got pool and beach access. It is built like a traditional Arabic village.
Afterwards, we headed back to Amman to desalinate and hit the town for dinner.

Sat was an easy day. We were beat from so much touristy activities the last 2 days that we slept in. Then hit the buffet and since we only had a little time left we decided to get Massages before heading to the airport. At the airport, the flight was full so the ticket agent made me weigh my bag and it was over the limit. I pack small, but with my cpap and all it gets heavy. So I had to check my bag. I was so mad. Luckily, it made it to Doha.

What a great time in Jordan. It was a blast. I recommend anyone to check it out.
Cheers!