The HUGE Jordanian flag proudly waves over the port.
This is part of the palace in the city. It is in ruins now. This is
where the little craft store was (to the left beyond that wall.)
JORDAN! THE MIDDLE EAST.
Today we have left Egypt and are moving north
into Jordan. We must first cross the border back into Israel. We
will then cross over into Jordan. You can see below the area we are
in.
Immigration and customs takes up a bit of our time. It was not too bad
though. The Jordanian Officials were friendly and happy to see
tourists. It was not nearly as intrusive as entering Israel. We have
to go through about five points before we are able to enter Israel. We
only had to go through about three for Jordan. It was a long walk between
the Israel side and the Jordanian side. There is a large area that is
nothing but desert. It is almost like a DMZ zone of sorts. It was
fun though.
Our first stop is Aqaba. It is a
beautiful city that rests on the Red Sea. The water is an amazing
blue color. The hue of this blue is something I have rarely ever
seen. The closest thing that I can compare it to would be the water near
Cancun, Mexico. It is definitely a magical blue! There are not many
places like this in the world. A massive flag waves over the city - it
reminds me of the HUGE flag in Cancun, Mexico. I love it! I enjoy
seeing the flags of other countries. It is especially nice to see one so
large.
The HUGE Jordanian flag proudly waves over the port.
This is part of the palace in the city. It is in ruins now. This is
where the little craft store was (to the left beyond that wall.)
One of the symbols of the Muslim
world.
You will find this atop all of their
religious buildings.
We stop in at an Old Palace, which is located right on the sea. We take a
few photos here but of more interest was a little craft store near the
location. This store is run by the Queens Foundation (charity.)
There was a lady there that runs the place. She showed us a large book
that was made up of hundreds of photographs of King Hussein of Jordan. For
those who do not know who King Hussein was then you should look it up on
Google. He was a very loved and admired man. Many countries around
the world adored him. He certainly had a lot of friends. The book
that she shows us is filled with wonderful photos of his life. I am definitely
going to try and order it once I get back to Israel. It is too large to
bring with us on this trip. I was mesmerized by the beauty of all of the
black and white photographs. The woman told us a lot of stories about some
of the photos. David pointed out a photograph of the King playing with his
ham radio equipment. David's dad had talked with King Hussein once through
his ham radio.
We stopped off to eat at a little cafe/restaurant located within the city.
We had a wonderful Jordanian meal. We did get a lot of looks from the
local people. I think because we were a bit out of "our"
area. The atmosphere was amazing. Very nice.
Ok well onward we travel...
One might ask themselves how a desert can be beautiful. Nothing but sand...right? :) WELLLL Going from atop Mt Sinai and then below the sea and now into the desert! I think we are experiencing something different each and every day!
The desert is amazing. I am already in
love with this country! Our guide takes us around the desert in the 4x4
jeep. He shows us a number of sites. Natural bridges and so
on. It is a relaxing day. We walked in the desert for awhile.
I took my sandals off and enjoyed the feel of the sand between my toes. It
is funny to watch the sand blow around. It is almost like drifting
snow. It snakes along for miles and miles and miles. An endless
journey in itself.
Journey to the sandstone area of Wadi
Rum
Through the windshield of the truck. We were driving off-road.
There was some pretty impressive hills and valleys that we
went through. The truck handled it pretty well!
One of hundreds of kewl rock formations scattered throughout the area.
It is hot outside! It is a dry hear though. I think we are definitely
getting
a tan!
This is the truck that the guide drove.
David by the truck. This was a kewl little area with a
natural bridge above us. We had tea here. Some local
residents showed up on camels. They made tea for us. :)
Jordan Desert - lots and lots of sandstone!
Our guides brother drove his truck up on the natural bridge. heh
Group of people we met from Australian. They have been
touring the Middle East for awhile now.
The Australian group that we met along the way to our camp.
One of the large natural bridges.
Sandstone.
Some more camels in the desert. These
belong to some locals.
Lunch in the desert.
After spending the day in the desert we head
for our camping area. This is called a Bedouin camp site. I can't
really explain what Bedouin means. The closest thing that I can think of
is Nomads. I will have to work on a new definition. Anyway these are
people that live in small camps and communities. The one near the camp has
about 300 people. As we approach the camp we see dozens of little and big dust whirls.
There is a small dust storm going on. I am impressed! It feels like
we are chasing tornadoes or something. You can see them whirl up in front
of us. Some of them extend upwards more than 100 feet!
One of the LARGE dust devils swirling
around in
the desert.
This is the place we will camp for the night!
The camp is pretty small. I would say
there was probably no more than 20 tents. Our guide takes us into a small
Bedouin village. The village is located right next to the camp. He
takes us to a concrete house. Some children come outside to greet
us. One come up to the gate and says "Welcome
Welcome." All three of us get out of the jeep and go inside
their house. They welcome us with greetings and hot tea. As you
enter the house you see two large rugs on the floor. These are rugs with
Middle Eastern type of designs on them. Against the wall are places that
you can sit on the floor. This is the room where people meet and talk with
each other. It is like a living room of sorts. It all reminds me of
something you would see on Aladdin.
This is the house where the family of eight live.
The oldest boy (who was probably no older than
13) brings us tiny cups of hot tea. It is mint tea. His two sisters,
who are younger than him, sit on the couch and play some sort of game on
paper. There are also two younger brothers. One of them sits next to
David and occasionally looks and smiles. He wears glasses. He is
watching everything that is going on around him. The very youngest brother
(who is prob 4) is shy and bashful. He doesn't come into the room at
first. He does occasionally peek from around the curtain though and looks
at us. They do have a television set in the room. It is playing
Iraqi music videos! I guess kids are the same everywhere. I couldn't
understand what they were singing. It sounded nice though.
David breaks the ice by allowing the kid next to him to play a video game on his
Blackberry. All the kids come over and watch. The kid just smiles
and laughs and his you could tell that he was thrilled to be playing. His
sisters wait patiently to try this skills at the game. Eventually I ask if
I may take some photographs. The mother says yes. I go and get the
camera. The kids love it! The kid with glasses says that he wants
his photo taken. He hops on his bike (which is sitting in the living room)
and smiles. I take his photo. He rushes over to check it out on the
digital screen. The other kids then want their photo taken. They
take me outside and away we go. The oldest wants his photograph taken in
front of the 4 x 4 truck. The sisters want their photo taken
together. Then all of the kids want a photo of the group. I tell
them that I will mail them copies of the photographs.
The middle boy on his bike. This boy reminds me of Tyler. He
constantly wanted his photograph taken and then would run over
and check it out.
Kids are the same EVERYWHERE.
Two sisters.
The older boy - the one that brought us tea.
The middle boy with his puppy.
Oldest boy by our four by four. You notice how the smiles of children
look the same - whether they are Christian or Muslim.
:) This is the youngest
brother. He is shy.
This is the mother of the children.
BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE...
It makes me very sad to think about all
of the struggles that this region is going through. EVERYWHERE we go we
hear the same thing - we want peace. The people want peace. The
governments do not seem to see things that way. People are the same no
matter where you go. They want to be happy and they want to be free.
They want to take care of their children and see them well. It is
simple...or should be.
What a blast we had visiting this Muslim Family. I was so happy to have the experience!
Before we leave the house I ask the kids if
they know who Superman is? I tell them that I am from Metropolis,
Illinois. The kid with glasses immediately gets this look on his face and
says "YOU ARE SUPERMAN?????" I laugh and smile! I tell him
no - but that I live where Superman is from. I am going to send them some
Superman T-Shirts and comics! I am sure they will love that!!!!!
So on to the camp we head. We watched the sun setting from atop the
mountain behind the camp. We walked to the top of it. It wasn't too
long of a walk! Well worth the effort.
Sunset in the Jordan Desert! Awesome!!!!! :) :) :) :) :)
SIGH
It is dusty out here. Starting to get some dust on the lens! Hopefully it won't be difficult to clean.
We could see SOOOOO many stars! Millions and millions of little lights in the sky. We kept watching for a falling star. I never did see one though. Maybe next time! I got chilly the next morning. It gets cold in the desert at night. There is nothing to hold the heat in.
We go to Petra tomorrow. I am worn out but ready to keep moving!
The whole camp experience was amazing. It is hard to even try to explain in words. FUN FUN FUN! Memories that will last FOREVER.
OK WELL I ACTUALLY HAVE TO STILL POST THE PHOTOS FROM PETRA. I AM TIRED THOUGH. WE ARE HEADING FOR TEL AVIV! WE ARE GOING TO WATCH STAR WARS OVER THERE. I MAY NOT POST TOO MUCH. I WILL HAVE TO WORK ON THE PETRA PHOTOS. THERE ARE SOME GOOD ONES.
MISS EVERYONE BACK HOME. CAN'T WAIT TO ACTUALLY TELL YOU IN PERSON SOME OF THESE ADVENTURES.
MORE LATER...
TURN THE PAGE FOR TEL AVIV :) CLICK HERE
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