Jordan

 

After saying goodbye to Israel, we headed to Jordan.  Crossing the border was an interesting experience.  

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the border crossing, which was okay because there was nothing to take pictures of.  It was just a little surreal to walk from Israel, showing our exist visas and our passports, etc, into Jordan; again showing our passports.  After Masada we were very hot and sweaty, and it was a very hot, short walk (with all our baggage) to cross the border.  Surprisingly, most of Israel was very humid.  When we got into Jerusalem, it seemed dryer, but it was a stark contrast in Jordan.  In Israel there had been a lot of greenery; now we were in a desert.  We were hoping to get to the hotel in time to swim in the Red Sea, or at least the pool, but it closed at sunset and we were just a little too late.  We still walked on the beach and found a fire dancer performing.  Our schedule was fully booked for our trip to Jordan and we realized that we probably wouldn't have time to swim the next day.  However, after some discussion, Roy and I split up our activities.  The planned activity was a jeep ride to Wadi Rum, followed by camel rides.   I was experiencing a miracle throughout this vacation because I was not having any pain in my back or neck.  We had no way of knowing how rough the jeep ride was going to be, so I chose to stay at the hotel and swim in the ocean and read on the beach.  It was lovely!  However, I also experienced FOMO because I knew what Roy was seeing was awesome.  It turned out that the jeep ride wasn't too bouncy, but the 30 minute camel ride might not have been great for me.  

This is the only picture I took on the beach of a couple of Muslim families

in their swimming attire.  At least these women could get in (they had their black scarves under their hats).  There were some women from Saudi Arabia with full burkas with eye slits and they were not in the water, only watching their children (our guide told us that the ones in full burkas were from Saudi Arabia, otherwise I wouldn''t have known).  

Entering Jordan

Roy took this picture of a police side by side.

Wadi Rum

Inside a Bedouin tent (set up for the tourists)

Camels.  John Hilton said that the main reason he doesn't continue with his groups to Jordan is that he's allergic to camels and they're everywhere.

Roy had a great time in Wadi Rum, and I had a great time on the beach.  After he returned, we met those of our group who had opted to go snorkeling.  We had a 5 minute bus ride to the port and set out on the Red Sea.  It was gorgeous!  Our guide pointed out Egypt to us.  We didn't realize we were so close.  I love the water so much that I stayed in as long as we were allowed.  Our first dip in the water wasn't too cold, but on our second swim, we were losing the sun and it started to be a little nippy.  When I got back on the boat I was shivering (which doesn't happen to me very often).  The crew was great, though, and gave me two more dry towels.  

Roy sporting his Jordanian headscarf.  

Petra was our last destination in Jordan.  It is a beautiful area with lots of sandstone mountains.  It looks a little like some of our parks in Utah, but--we don't have tombs in ours.  Many of the mountains had tombs carved out of them.  There were engravings on the tombs indicating how many people were buried inside.  As you went farther along in the park, you could see more elaborate tombs of people who had more money to bury their dead.  It was about a four mile walk--a lot more if you went to the monastery at the end of the trail; and we had three people in our group do it-- but you had to be quick because we had a limited time there.  

We asked these guys what they were dressed as, but I don't remember their answer.

This police officer was assigned to us throughout our visit to Jordan.  He had to wear his hot uniform, but I didn't feel too badly for him, since he is Muslim and his wife has to wear black from head to toe every day.  He has 6 children from 12 down to a few months old.  He was assigned to our group by the government.  I guess it's to help people to feel safe and to encourage tourism.  He was extremely nice and was very bothered that our guide was getting kickbacks from the activities he was directing us to.  We mentioned it to Bountiful Travel and they said that it just happens over there and there's not a lot they can do.  

Roy, Mohammad, Catharine (about half the muslim population
 is named Mohammad and the other half is Omar)

We set this picture to black and white to show the contrast a little better.  If you look closely you can see the "tree of life."  This was a symbol that was plentiful in Jordan.

This structure was called the treasury.  I'm not sure what they stored here.  Years ago, they said you could go inside, but because it's made of sandstone, it wasn't a great idea; it was wearing the structure down too fast.  They've created some wind blocks to try and preserve it as well.  Since I didn't go to Wadi Rum to ride a camel, Roy paid $9 so I could have the experience.  It was about a 4 minute ride and that was plenty.

People are one of my favorite things about traveling.  These school girls were so interested in us.  We stopped and talked to several groups of girls.  One cute girl, from Iraq originally (now from Jordan), bought us an ice cream.  We went to pay and the salesperson said, "Our gift to you, from Jordan."  He was taking credit for the young girl's generosity, but we figured out what was going on and were able to thank her for her gift.  

This girl is from Iraq.  I think she's the one who paid for our ice cream, but I'm not sure.

The return was up hill.  We walked most of it, but the last stretch you could get a horse "for free." Of course, it wasn't free as they expected a tip and they were pretty forceful about getting that tip increased.

The theater

Inside one of the tombs.

There were a lot of guards in the area and with the tourists.  One of Spains futbol legends was touring and he had a big calvacade.  I didn't recognize him or his name, but he was apparently well-known and loved.

On our last night in Jordan, we were the last to be dropped off at our hotel.  Roy went around to watch for our luggage to be loaded by the hotel porter, but he waved Roy off and said not to worry, he'd get it and bring it in.  When Roy saw him coming a few minutes later, he asked, "Where are my bags."  The porter looked panicked and started chasing after the bus, but it had already left.  Luckily, for some unknown reason, he had the bus drivers phone number, called him right away and told him to come back.  He had thought he had all the luggage, but while dropping off people at the airport and another hotel, ours had been moved to a different compartment.  After all that had happened to other people on this trip (missile at the airport, lost luggage etc.) we almost joined the bandwagon  and lost our luggage; thankfully, we did not.