Hi!
We are in Aqaba, Jordan, preparing to head out on hyrofoil to Dahab, Egypt. We’ve enjoyed our time in Jordan. Our first stop was Amman - a big, bustling and modern city. Our group hiked up to the old Citadel (approx 5000 years old, the original Philadelphia), and visited the Jordan Archaeological Museum. This small and low tech museum houses some of the dead sea scrolls as well as the oldest sculptures found on Earth. They are 6000 years old and would fit nicely in a modern art museum today (in my humble opinion). When we have a moment to upload some pics, I’ll include one.
Again we are surrounded by religious history. We visited Madaba and Mount Nebo (a day trip from Amman). Mount Nebo is where Moses went to die, looking over the promised land. From the mountain you can see the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Jericho, Galilee… all the Biblical biggies. There is also an amazing church built on the site with beautiful mosaics.
We spent a relaxing day in a Dead Sea resort. After floating in the sea (it is amazing how buoyant it is!) and covering ourselves with mud, we lazed around by a pool. Chris and the other guys from the tour spent about three hours trying to figure out clever ways to increase their speed on the waterslide. Several sunburns and a badly bruised/sprained toe (Chris’) later, we had all had a good day. From the resort we headed straight to Wadi Musa to see Petra the next day. Petra is a massive site. Petra (referred to in the Bible as Sella) was at its peak in the first century AD and in decline by the second century. About 30,000 people lived there. It is about 40 sq km. You have to walk though a gorge to reach the city, and this walk is one of the best parts of the visit. The Treasury and the Monastery (you reach it by climbing about a million steps) are the biggest buildings cut into the rock, but there are also over 1000 tombs, a dam, waterways, a Byzantine church, etc. on the site. It was a dusty, hot, amazing day!
Today may be a long day. Our Hydrofoil is supposed to leave at 11:30 but it is apparently always delayed. Our tour leader said that on the last tour it departed at 4:00 pm, and on other occasions they have not had a spot to dock at on the other side, and have sat in the boat for up to three hours waiting to dock. We will be sleeping in Dahab tonight.
That’s all the update for now!
Hope that all is very well at home.
Paula
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