After checking out this morning from our Petra hotel at 8am we drove for about an hour to Mt. Nebo. A historic Biblical site where God showed Moses the Holy Land but told him he could not go there. After hiking for 40 years in the Moab Mnts (beautiful, but def wouldn't want to hike there for 40 years in sandals), I can't even imagine how upset he must have been! It is written that he died there, even though no one knows the location of his grave site. From Mnt Nebo we were able to see the "border" of Israel. I say "border" because Aziz explained to us that when Jordan lost ownership of the west bank it was so it could become part of the future Palestine. However, because there has not been a formation of the Palestinian nation, it is patrolled by Israeli soldiers and until the creation of the Palestinian nation Jordan will not recognize it as Israel. While Mnt Nebo is a religious site for many, I think it will stay in my mind for the beautiful view of the mountains and the Jordan River, but also for the "Tebow on Nebo" (see pics).
After short 10min drive, we arrived at a mosaic school in Madeba. Jordan used to be worldly know for their beautiful mosaics (a theme for the day). The government has recently been encouraging locals to start creating again. This school is supported through the government to teach everyone, including those with disabilities, how to form mosaics. By "painting by number", small hand cut pieces for naturally colored stones are arranged face down to create an image. The stones are glued with a flour and water mix before being coated with a cement and shalack. The stone are placed in upside down so that the surface is always flat when finished. The pieces are very durable and will not fade with rain, sun, or snow because the color of the stones is natural. Due to it being the "off season" many in our group were able to strike fair deals with the artists. Personally I was pretty proud of being able to talk an artist down from 100JD for one 20cm X 20cm piece to 2 20cm X 20cm pieces :-) They were also selling beautiful hand made rugs and olive wood boxes inlaid with mother of pearl shell. Aziz told us that this art can cause asthma because of the dust from sawing the mother of pearl shell (apparently very though stuff). So while the boxes were beautiful, I didn't want anyone risking their lungs for my choski.
A 5min drive to the city of Madeba to visit St George's Cathedral, home to the world's oldest map of the Holy Land. A 3rd century mosaic of Israel, Jordan and Egypt showed the Jordan River, Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Gaza, Moa, and the Medeterranian. Apparently this map was accurate enough that archeologists were able to use it to find ruins of ancient churches. While most of it has been destroyed over the years due to earthquakes and flooding from heavy rains, it was still interesting to see the detail (for example, Gaza was a large city showing an amphitheater and gladiator arena).
Following Madeba, another QUICK 30min luch at a local establishment. April and I had the Jordanian nation dish, mansaf, slow cooked lamb, rice and a yogurt sauce; very delicious even though my stomach was a little sour afterwards. I think my body is rejecting the idea of eating in 30mins ;-)
After driving for an other hour we visited the castle of Shouback. Our agenda had us visiting Kerack, a crusader castle, but due to local protests we were unable to visit. Shouback was one of the largest castle ruin sites we had visited and there wasn't much of the castle left to see. Since it was late in the day, we enjoyed the STUNNING 360 views of the mountains and strolled around the rubble.
45mins later we entered the city of Petra. A small town of 65 hotels (obviously thriving on tourism) and checked into our "Bedouin" style hotel. While not a true bedouin style (no tents and carpets), it is a pretty neat place that reminds me of a villa. Our room is cement walls covered in plaster with accents of logs in the ceiling (see pics). They have a well priced Turkish Bath here, which I think I am getting talked into trying. Our dinner for the night was included and we dinned buffet style with the group. Many delicious foods and desserts, but over eating at EVERY meal is starting to get to us. Breakfast is at 7am, lunch at 2pm, and dinner at 7 or 8pm...its hard to be hungry! It's early to bed tonight because tomorrow is the BIG day in PETRA! We will leave at 8am and not return to the bus until 5pm. Aziz told us to expect to walk 9km and if we go to the optional monetarist visit we will have to take 90 stairs up and 90 stairs back (that Turkish bath is sounding better and better!). Sweet dreams :-) Tomorrow's Thanksgiving in Petra!
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