Our next adventure would take us to the Middle East. Even as I write this post - almost a year later - it's hard to imagine that we were really there! We hadn't planned to take a Travel Club trip in 2012, but when they offered Jordan, I was instantly intrigued. I don't think Joe was so excited to go, but he did agree and it turned out to be an absolutely fabulous trip. The Middle East has, of course, never been the most stable of places, but there is so much to see. And, it all turned out just fine. Never once did we feel the least bit threatened and we saw some of the most fascinating places we have ever seen in all of our travels. I was most looking forward to Petra, but I have to say that every day presented an interesting adventure and we absolutely loved it all!!! Here is our trip to Jordan.
10/13/2012 - "Making our way to the Middle East"
I feel as though I start every travel journal with the hectic month/week/day leading to our departure, particularly when we are non-reving. And, I will again. The trip was hectic because I was SO INCREDIBLY busy at work (2 people have left my group this month) and since our department joined Corporate Accounting, my quarter-end duties ramped up quite a bit. Typically we would always, always, ALWAYS arrive to our destination the day before, but this time I decided to add MORE stress by deciding that we should stay in town to see our friend, August, perform with Dennis DeYoung, the Music of Styx with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Friday night (see previous post). For some mysterious reason, DDY rarely (actually once believed to be never) comes to Texas, so I was afraid it might be our only chance to see him at home. Plus, since August' wife, Michelle, has long been my bestie, I wanted to see her, their 2 girls and, of course, the show. So on Friday, I get up at 5:30AM because I was interviewing someone at 7:30. After work, we go to the show and get home around midnight. THEN, we had to finish packing. After being up 20 hours, we got 2 1/2 hours sleep under our belts before getting up at 4:10AM this morning to catch the 6:10 flight to Chicago, connecting to a 9:10 flight to Heathrow. We will spend the night in London before flying on to Amman on Sunday and arrive just as the tour starts. Whew!!! I will say our arrival at DFW was quite timely - we were walking up to the gate when they called our names. We didn't get first class, but we got exit row and we got to sit together. At 15 minutes before departure, the flight attendant announced that that we were waiting on 30 passengers connecting from HNL. Of course, Joe and I thought, "oh boy...here we go..." Fortunately, there were other passengers connecting to London and although we took off 10 minutes late, we arrived on time at O'Hare. With a tight connection to London, we were pretty happy when we pulled up to gate K15 and only had to walk to gate K9. Score!!! We got our Business Class boarding passes, got on the plane, and as we were waiting for departure, I quickly made reservations on my iPhone at the Sheraton Skyline at Heathrow, where we stayed last year on our way through from Maldives, and now here we are. Our flight to London was fairly uneventful. Joe and I were not sitting together, but managed to order the same meals to eat, nap a little, read a little, and I watched the movie,
What to Expect When You're Expecting.
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| Sunrise on the way to Chicago |
Surprisingly, although the time leading up to and the effort of deciding what we were going to do was kind of crazy, I didn't feel overly stressed today. Maybe it was the lack of sleep, but I prefer to think that we had several back up plans and since we never even had to go to Plan B today, all was well. And even though it's only 6:00PM at home, it's midnight here, so I'm signing off and getting some much needed sleep!
10/14/2012 - "LHR to AMM"
Let's not forget that Joe and I had 2 1/2 hours sleep on Friday night. Last night, we got about 6 hours. Much better, but our 2-day average is significantly below our usual.
I'm just saying... Ha!!
Today we were up and out the door fairly early to catch our 10:10 flight to Amman. We checked the flight from the hotel and it was a little delayed, but we were up and ready so we headed to the airport. We called for a cab, but one never arrived so when the "Hotel Hoppa" arrived, we just went ahead and jumped on. I have a feeling they never called the cab, but I suppose that's neither here nor there at this point.
When we arrived at LHR, we made our way to the British Midland counter at the opposite end of the terminal. Since the flight was operated by bmi, we thought that was where we needed to go. However, there was no one there working (although there was a long line of customers), so we asked the guy at the bmi information desk and he told us to check in with BA - all the way at the other end of the terminal. Ha!! Well, at least we got our exercise for the day. Check in ended up being super easy. Just put in your PNR number on the self-serve kiosk and tell how many bags you are checking and get a priority verification card (just like checking in at AA)!! After going through security, we managed to have some breakfast while we waited for our flight to be posted (at LHR, they don't give out the gate numbers until a specified time before departure). They ended up posting our departure gate at about the original departure time and we made our way to the gate.
This is where the "fun" begins. We arrived at the gate in time to hear them say that the plane was being cleaned and re-fueled and they would board us soon. At that point, they expected us to take off about an hour late. We still didn't have boarding passes, so I went up and asked if the stand-by passengers should check-in and they gave us our seats. A few minutes later we boarded the plane. And then we sat there. And we sat there. And we sat there. Finally, the pilot comes on and says they are taking the plane out of service and are looking for another plane. This was the exact moment when I had my first REAL feelings of distress. First of all, we both assumed that if we could get to LHR, we were home free. It never, once, occurred to us that we might actually have a problem with BA. Second, if they cancelled the flight, we were worried that they would put all the passengers on the Royal Jordanian flight, since BA only has one flight a day. Royal Jordanian was our back-up plan out of LHR. In the event the flight cancelled, I was pretty sure we didn't have a backup plan! Fortunately (and just using that word indicates a happy ending, right?), there was another plane 2 gates away. We were off-loaded, the flight attendants did their security checks, catering moved the food, and the ramp moved the bags. We got on the plane and arrived in Amman four hours late. I didn't even mind the delay - I was just SO happy to get there!!!!
Since we missed the provided transportation to the hotel (we also missed dinner), it was up to us to find our own way. We were going to take a shuttle van, but we got bad instructions and we waited and waited and one never showed up. We decided to take a cab instead and as we were walking to the cab line, a man asked if we wanted a cab and we said we did. He told us to follow him, he would take us. So, we crossed a wall and went in to a parking lot and got into a van that I'm 99.9% sure was NOT a cab. I really wanted to bail, but we stuck it out. Again, if we had ended up dead, with our bodies dropped in the desert, I wouldn't be writing this. But, as I told Joe - never again. We are smarter than that and it's not like we have never traveled! I was petrified the whole way to the hotel. Whew!!!
10/15/2012 - "Amman and the Desert Castles"
Fortunately, when we got to the hotel last night (alive), there was a sign posted for the AMR Travel Club, so we knew what time we needed to be ready for our first day of touring. It was another 6 hours of sleep night (we're now at 14 hours for 3 days), but we were excited to start our adventures in Jordan, nonetheless.
Breakfast and dinner are included on our tour each day. Both meals were buffet downstairs. Breakfast didn't look that bad - scrambled eggs, potatoes - some usual American fare. Then we bit down and realized it was all ice cold. The hotel had clearly made no attempt whatsoever to keep the food hot. Still, we managed to choke down enough to keep us alive and made our way to the bus. We had several people ask if we were the Foley's. Apparently they were worried about us since we hadn't been at dinner.
The first thing on our agenda was a tour of Amman. They first took us by the King Abdullah I Mosque, where the tour guide, Hassan, pointed out that you could see a Christian church in the background, proving that Jordan is not 100% Islamic and is tolerant of other religions.
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| King Abdullah I Mosque |
Our next stop was to the lookout at the Citadel. The Citadel is the highest point in the city and provides views all around.
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| Amman from the Citadel |
Further in to the heart of Amman, we stopped for a look around the Roman Theatre. It was quite interesting as well and proved to me that at one time those Romans really did rule the world!
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| Self-portrait from the top of the Roman Theatre |
My favorite part of the city tour was the market, our next stop. I tried to take several pictures, but I was more interested in the people and seeing how they live. A few asked where we were from and when we said the US, they all reacted positively. We had a bit of free time while we were downtown, but since Joe and I are not shoppers, we decided to try the famous Kunafa, which is sweet dough with cream cheese and syrup. It was actually quite good. After our Kunafa, we washed it down with a Coke and Diet Coke at a small upstairs cafe overlooking the street.
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| The Market |
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| Kunafa |
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| Coke and Diet Coke |
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| Our view of the streets of Amman while enjoying our Coke and Diet Coke |
Our next stop was the Royal Automobile Museum. Now, we weren't too excited about this, but as it turned out, we really loved it. According to the literature, the "Museum affords the visitor an insight into the history of the Kingdom through the exhibited cars from the era of King Abdullah I, the founder of the Kingdom, into the era of His Majesty King Abdullah II." And, that is a true statement, but we really enjoyed the pictures and videos that accompanied some of the pieces. We actually saw the vehicle that carried King Abdullah through the streets of Amman during his funeral procession and a Land Rover used when Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and her husband, HRH Prince Phillip, visited Petra in 1984.
After the automobile museum, it was time for lunch. We sat on a covered patio in groups of 6. Jordanian food is what I consider Mediterranean. Hummus, olives, grilled meats, etc. All very, very good! At this meal, we were offered a mint drink and I decided to try it. It was pretty sweet - like mint lemonade kind of. Not too bad!
After lunch, we took a drive into the desert to visit some of the desert castles. Romans were not deterred by the desert climate and built a chain of fortresses along the frontier of their new Arabic province. We made stops at 3 of the castles - Qasr al-Azraq, Qusayr Amra, and Qasr Kharana.
Qasr al-Azraq is where T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) and Sharif Hussein bin Ali based themselves in the winter of 1917-1918 during the Arab revolt against the Turks. Qasr means "fort" and unfortunately it was almost destroyed in 1927 following a violent earthquake. But, it was nonetheless interesting (although HOT in the desert) and kind of cool to walk in the footsteps of the famous, if eccentric, Lawrence of Arabia.
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| Above the entrance of Qasr al-Azraq is Lawrence of Arabia's room |
Qusayr Amra is part of a much greater complex that served as a caravanserai, bathhouse, and hunting lodge. Qusayr means "little castle" and it is famous for its 8th century frescoes of wine, women, and wild good times. The frescoes in the reception hall were being restored, so we didn't get a great view of those, but it is, of course, great that they are doing what they can to preserve the site.
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| Fresco at Qusayr Amra |
Qasr Kharana is a place that historians have had a hard time with. In fact, they haven't quite figured out what this Qasr was built for. It isn't located on any major trade route, and there appears to be a total absence of structures for water storage. Current belief is that it served as a meeting place for Damascus elite and local Bedouin. Regardless of its origins, it has been impeccably restored and is the most photogenic of the desert castles.
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| Qasr Kharana |
That concluded our first full day in Jordan. Before returning to the hotel, we stopped for dinner and by the time our heads hit the pillows, we were fast asleep.
10/16/2012 - "Northern Jordan"
Our adventures today would take us north of Amman. Our first stop was Umm Qais. Umm Qais, previously known as Gadara, was renowned for its time as a cultural center and was home to several classical poets and philosophers such as Theodorus, the founder of a rhetorical school in Rome. One poet called the city "a new Athens." According to the Bible, it was in Gadara that Jesus performed one of his greatest miracles - casting demons from two men into a herd of pigs. Umm Qais was particularly interesting to me because you could look down and see Lake Tiberius, which was once known as the Sea of Galilee. Also, Hassan, pointed out a mountain in the distance and told us that is where Nazareth is. From Umm Qais you can also see the Golan Heights and over to Syria. Syria has been particularly nasty as of late, so I was glad that our parents didn't know how close we were! And, of course, we didn't go there, but as we left Umm Qais (where, by the way, Hassan is from), we saw the checkpoint in to Syria. YIKES!
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| A little hazy, but you can make out Lake Tiberius |
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From Umm Qais, we traveled to Ajloun to see the famous Ajloun Castle. It was built by Izz Al Dinn Usama atop Mt. Auf between 1184 and 1188. This fortress is one of the few built to protect the country against Crusader attacks from Karak in the south and Bisan in the west. Now, it's primarily visited for its outstanding views and Joe and I took the opportunity to check them out by going to the roof. The views were, indeed, incredible.
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| The town of Ajloun from the roof of the Ajloun Castle |
Our next stop was lunch and for lunch we were having a traditional Jordanian dish - Mansef. It is made of lamb and served with rice and yogurt sauce. Visually, I had a little trouble with the meat because it was so dark, but in all honesty, the dish was quite good. I was proud of myself for trying it and incredibly glad I did.
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| Mansef |
Next, we went to Jerash. Jerash contains the remains of a once powerful Roman city and is known as the Pompeii of the East. Entrance is through Hadrian's Arch, which was built in AD129 to honor the visiting Emperor Hadrian. Our first stop inside the city was the Hippodrome, an ancient sports field. Then we were on to the South Theatre where we were treated to a performance by the Jordanian Scottish pipe band. They play there to demonstrate the excellent acoustics and it was a highlight of the trip. I was truly mesmerized! Another highlight of Jerash was Artemis' Temple. Artemis is the goddess of hunting and fertility and is the daughter of Zeus. When it was built, it was flanked by 12 elaborate columns and 11 of them survive today.
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| Hadrian's Arch |
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| Hippodrome |
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| Performance by the Jordanian Scottish Pipe Band at the South Theatre |
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| The columns at Artemis' Temple |
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| Artemis' Temple |
10/17/2012 - "Moses and the Dead Sea"
This morning we checked out of our hotel in Amman and headed South. Our first stop was Madaba. Madaba is the home of a very famous mosaic, which resides on the floor of St. George's Greek Orthodox Church. It is the oldest known map of Palestine in existence. The map was crafted in AD560 and has 157 captions (in Greek) depicting all the major Biblical sites of the Middle East from Egypt to Palestine. Following our view of the famous mosaic, we took a tour of the mosaic workshop. It was really interesting to see how they make them. I was tempted to buy a beautiful patio table, but I don't have a patio. Ha!!
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| A small piece of the famous mosaic. |
Our next stop was Mt. Nebo. Mount Nebo is the place where Moses looked over the holy land and the Dead Sea. It is also the place where he was seen for the last time and is considered his burial place. Unfortunately during our visit, they were rebuilding/expanding the Moses Memorial Church, but we were able to look out over Jerusalem, Jericho, and Bethlehem. It was also on Mount Nebo where we encountered our first Jordanian children. They love to practice their English with you and they want you to take their picture. Then, they want to see themselves on the digital screen. They were really cute.
Our final stop before heading to our hotel was the Dead Sea. Of course, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on Earth. It is 31% saline, or 9 times that of the ocean. But the concentration of salt has nothing to do with the Dead Sea being below Sea Level, but with the high evaporation rate. It is an intolerable environment for all but the most microscopic life forms. Because of its salinity, it has a high buoyancy rate. In fact, they say you don't swim in the Dead Sea so much as you bob. It was incredibly, incredibly hard to maneuver around in the water. To keep your legs down, you had to keep them moving constantly. As soon as you stopped moving your legs, they pop up to the surface. I didn't get a lot of pictures here because I didn't have a waterproof camera, but it was great fun to explore the Dead Sea.
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| Some of our fellow travelers show us the art form of "bobbing." On the far right, another visitor has taken part in the Dead Sea mud, which is supposed to be a miracle for your skin. |
We would spend the night in Petra. Tomorrow - the thing I looked forward to most on this trip - Petra!
10/18/2012 - "Petra!!"
I know a few people that have been to Petra, but I was only partially prepared for what I would experience. From our itinerary: "Petra was the meeting point of the Nabataean spice route which originated from the Persian Gulf, Western Arabia, and the Red Sea." But it is so much more...
When you arrive in Petra, you have quite a long walk before you actually arrive at the site. 800 meters through an area known as the "Bab as-Siq" takes you to the Siq. It is here that you begin to see the first signs of the ancient city. The Siq, with its 200m high walls, is not a canyon (a gorge carved out by water), but a single block that was torn apart by tectonic forces. Whatever it is, it is beautiful!!! I'm sure my mouth was on the ground the majority of my trek along the 1.2 km (about 1-mile) "gateway" to Petra. Towards the end of the Siq, you get this glimpse of the Treasury and it is so incredible! Joe hates the word "amazing" but I can't think of a better word to describe it.
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| Entrance to the Siq |
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| Bedouin Girl selling postcards |
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| The walls of the Siq |
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| First glimpse of the Treasury |
Carved out of iron-laden sandstone to serve as the tomb for Nabataean King, Aretas III, the treasury derives its name from the story that an Egyptian pharaoh hid his treasure here while pursuing the Israelis. The Treasury is the most famous building in Petra, but the site of it just gets you pumped up for what is to come. We stayed with the tour as walked down the Street of Facades, which is a row of Nabataean tombs and houses, and around to the theatre. It was there we stopped for a little refreshment before heading down to the Royal Tombs. In front of the Royal Tombs, we stopped and picked up a sack lunch because lunch was not provided and we would have some free time while we were there. We didn't actually go through the Royal Tombs, and I'm a little disappointed that we missed that. Apparently, the group that went the week before us and the tour guides decided that the route was too strenuous for some people. One of our fellow travelers, Judith, was not at all happy that our tour was pre-decided by another group, but I think the idea was that if you wanted to see the Royal Tombs, you could do that on your own. At any rate, I'll get to why we didn't in a bit.
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| Our first view of the Treasury |
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| Street of Facades |
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| The Theatre |
At the end of the canyon, there is a trail that leads to the Monastery. We would learn that the Monastery derived its name from the crosses carved on the inside walls, suggesting the building was once used as a church in the Byzantine times. It is similar in design to the Treasury, but is much bigger. Joe and I decided that we would hike up there. After all, we're scheduled to hike the Grand Canyon in 4 short months. The brochure said there were 800 steps, but for some reason, I didn't think it would be too bad. Judith ended up leaving us behind and that was a good idea because it allowed her to see the Royal Tombs (you see where this is going, right?). There was also a group of 4 - 2 couples, Jay and Paula and John and Carol that went ahead of us. Our favorite fellow travelers on the trip, Jerry and Lorine went too, but we ended up leaving them behind (they are in their 70s). For some reason, those 800 steps felt like 8,000! But, I was determined to make it and I was so glad I did. The Monastery is beautiful and due to the hike (although you can take a donkey), it is a little quieter than the Treasury. We spent some time admiring it and then we had our lunch. We were about to leave, thinking we might still have time to see the Royal Tombs when we saw Jerry and Lorine!!! We thought they had turned around, but they made it. Instead of leaving, we stayed with them until we absolutely had to leave to get back to the bus on time. And, believe me, we had to high-tail it!!! We went back down the trail, back through Petra, and back through the Siq. At times Lorine was walking so fast, I couldn't keep up with her! When we got to the end of the Siq (which we had NO time to admire on the way out), we still had 800m - uphill - to get to the parking lot. Jerry, Lorine, and I couldn't take any more, so we opted for a horse (even though Lorine had never ridden one!). Joe walked and actually beat us to the top. We literally got to the bus right on time!
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| The Monastery |
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| Looking back up at the trail as we were going down. |
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| Thank you, sweet horse!!! |
From Petra, we made our way to Aqaba for the night. Tomorrow - Wadi Rum!
10/19/2012 - "Wadi Rum"
Aqaba is on the Red Sea and you can see Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia from the public beach there. Our morning was free, so Joe and I chose to sleep in a little. We wanted to walk to the water, but I didn't feel comfortable putting on a bathing suit at a public beach in Jordan. The walk to the beach was short and uneventful. We ran in to some other people from our group who told us about a guy sitting on the beach with a very large gun beside him. We had no problem finding him and
I took the chance of taking a picture. In hindsight, I wonder if it was a toy gun, but in all honesty, I'm not at all sure.
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| Is that gun real or a toy? |
Our last stop was Wadi Rum. As much as I had looked forward to Petra, I have to say that Wadi Rum was a definite highlight for me. This is the real desert, with the soft sand and the dunes. We arrived at the visitor's center and watched a film about the area. Then we headed out on a 4WD tour. About halfway through the tour, we had the option of riding camels from there to the final stop, the Bedouin tent. At first I didn't want to, but then Jerry asked - when will I ever be there again? Darn good question, my friend!!! So, Jerry and I rode the camels to the tent where they served us tea. I had ridden a camel in Morocco, but it was literally in a circle. I knew the worst part was when they stand up. They stand on their back legs first, then raise their front legs. It's a bit of a roller coaster ride, but it was SO MUCH FUN!!!
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| Seven Pillars of Wisdom |
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| Wadi Rum |
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| My Bedouin guide thinks I'm funny getting up on the camel! |
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| He was a good camel! |
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| The Bedouin tent for tea. |
I loved our short adventure in Wadi Rum. After tea, we headed back to the visitor center and it even rained on us a little. I think it was Jordan crying because we had to leave (did I say that about the Maldvies as well?)
From Wadi Rum, we made our way back to Amman and said our final goodbyes to our travel friends and a fabulous trip.
10/20/2012 - "Making our way home..."
It was up early for us again as we decided to head back through London instead of taking the direct flight to Chicago with everyone else on Royal Jordanian. At the Amman airport, the BA staff was incredibly nice and they even upgraded us to Business class for the flight to Heathrow. Joe and I didn't really think we would make the connection because the flight was pretty full, but we figured if we didn't, we would roll to the next day when it looked better. When we got to London, we realized that a Chicago flight had been cancelled and then we really didn't think we were going to make it, but thanks to a horde of mis-connects, we not only made it, we got first class!!!
Jordan was an incredible experience. Joe's expectations were pretty low, so he was pleasantly surprised and said he would rate it a "hidden gem." That's pretty profound! I mostly just wanted to see Petra, but ended up loving every single thing we did during our tour. I think it was definitely a top 10 vacation for us. I'm just so glad we went!!!
Some parting thoughts...
Things I liked:
- Fascinating and different. We've never been to the Middle East and it was a unique experience.
- Friendly people. Everyone was quite friendly. One man even told me I was a very beautiful woman. Not sure what his angle was - he wasn't working for a tip.
- Good travel group - one of the best we've been with.
Things I didn't like:
- Flies. Holy cow. I didn't realize there were that many flies in the whole entire world.
- Smoking. Apparently there is no surgeon general in Jordan.
- Change. Why is it so hard to get change?? The first few days every time we tried to pay for something with a 10JD bill, they balked and asked for something smaller. It's 10JD (worth about $12), not 100JD!!
