I'm back from my exhausting, yet amazing trip to Jordan. We took a taxi from Damascus to Amman, Jordan (which cost about $20 each) directly after school on Thursday, and spent the night in Mad'aba. We picked Allison's sister, Jody up at the airport. She lives in Egypt, and flew over for the weekend.
Our first day we visited Mt. Nebo, the sight where Moses saw the promise land. It is near the "Moses Spring" where he hit the rock with a stick and water poured out. We then drove down the rode a bit to the site where Jesus was baptized. The actual spot is now dry because of dams, but we did go to the river where they baptize people today. In the picture, I am getting water at this site. Right across the river is Israel. If you check out my Shutterfly, I took several pictures of this. It's the closest I'll come to the Holy land for quite awhile. Both sites were amazing. To think that I was standing where Jesus, John, Moses stood is beyond words.
Next we departed from our spiritual journey to hit the Meridian Hotel on the Dead Sea. We were all jonesing for a burger, so we went to "Champions" at the hotel. It was a spot-on replica of an American restaurant. I could have been at Chili's in Portland. We had the best nachos and burgers, then walked down to the sea. We didn't swim because we were so hot and tired from all the holy sites, and we didn't want all that salty residue on our skin. We headed south to Petra and checked into our lovely, Amra Palace Hotel.
I LOVED Petra. I actually didn't know what it was before, but if you've seen Indiana Jones, this is the place! It's a Nabetaen city that was carved out of the rocks in the canyons and hills of that area. The Nabetaen's were very ingenious and created aqueducts, underwater reservoirs, and beautiful carvings. The pictures don't do it justice. We actually stayed there one day longer than we'd planned. The last night, we slept in the desert in a Bedouin camp. It was the best night's sleep I've had in a long time.
It was a long trek home, but definitely worth it. We got back late Monday night, and had to be at work the next morning. I figure I can sleep anytime, but a trip to Jordan is a rarity. I can't wait to go back.
Will post my pics on Shutterfly ASAP!!
