Petra (U)

Here are some photos that I took as we were traveling to Petra.  Most were  taken from the bus window to show the desert landscape of Jordan. 

Jordanian Gas Station

Camels in the Field

A Small Herd of Goats

No vegetation for miles just sandy soil and small groups of houses dotting the landscape
Our guide told us that Jordan's land is 75% sand but I didn't see any sand just a lot of barren soil.

This area is starting to have small bushes growing in the barren land.  This tractor was the only thing a could see for miles.

I think this makes an artistic scene with the towels hanging out to dry.

Lots of delicious fruit and vegetables in Jordan.

This is a popular  men's attire in Jordan.

But some men do wear pants instead of the long, long shirt but they all have their red and white neck shawls (Kaffiyyeh) that are wrapped around their heads and held on by a black rope called an Igal.

The soil is plowed and ready to plant.

Jordan had a snow storm a few weeks before we traveled there and this is a strip that hadn't melted yet. It seemed strange to see  snow in an area you associate with being very hot.

We left the flat land and started to drive up into a mountainous area and could see the Petra mountains in the background.

Jordanian Flag

PETRA

It was exciting to finally get the chance to see the city of Petra. This city is located 262 km south of Amman. Petra was established by the Arabian Nomads called Nabataeans  around the 3rd century BC.  Petra evolved into a commercial center. By the 1st century BC the Nabataeans had acquired control of the incense and spice trade throughout the Arabian Peninsula.  Camel caravans passed through loaded with spices, incense and textiles from the Mediterranean and the Near East, Africa and India. 

The Nabataeans carved temples, tombs and other buildings out of the sandstone cliffs to memorialize their kings and leaders. 

The Nabataean created an amazing water system of waterways to provide  Petra with enough water. Petra's aqueduct system is estimated to have carried about 12 million gallons of fresh spring water per day.

Petra was discovered by the Western world when a Swiss explorer, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, in 1812 saw Petra for the first time.

Ron decided to ride a horse drawn buggy through the Sig, the narrow gorge leading into the sandstone ancient city of Petra.  The rest of our group walked and met Ron at the famous Treasury in Petra.

Off they go!

                                                                       

One of the 26 Djinn Blocks in and around Petra.  It is thought that these monuments served as tombs and memorials to the dead. The block tombs may be symbols of the god Dushara, who in Nabataean times was represented as a block of stone.

The Obelisk Tomb that guards the entrance to the Siq, a gorge that leads to the city of Petra. The tomb is perched above the dark entrance to a big cave called Babel-Siq Trictinium, a dedicated hall where banquets were held in honor of the dead.

A House Cave

The entrance to the Siq  meaning the "shaft"

It is exciting to finally be able to walk through this gorge and end up at the ancient city of Petra.

The rocks along the Siq  and in Petra are shades of reds, browns, yellows and pinks because of  being stained by iron oxide carried by water.

At the bottom of this photo shows the  carved water channels that are on both sides of the Siq.

Amazing colored sand stones

Carved places a long the Siq to hold statues of gods


The rock walls of the Siq were so amazing that I took lots of photos.  Here are a few of them.

The Nabatean Offering Place in the Siq

                                             

                                                                     

It is remarkable that the dead- looking tree grew planted in this rock and now it has new growth!

This rock formation looks like a fish but when you walk past it and look back at the same formation you see an elephant.

Elephant Formation

More places to place statues a long the Siq

A carving of a camel caravan in the Siq. It is hard to see but easy to make out the body of the person who was leading the camels.

This is how dad went through the Siq. I rode back on the buggy with him when we left Petra and boy was it a wild bumpy ride. The driver was making the horse go fast and by the time we finished the ride the poor horse was wet with sweat.

                                                         

One of the dams that were built to hold the spring water.

           

When you walk around the final bend in the Siq, you get your first view of the most preserved and famous monument in Petra,  Al-Khasneh Farum which means "Treasury of Pharaoh."

It is hard to believe the detailed carvings of the treasury that have been preserved for thousands of years.

You see a lot Bedouin children as you enter Petra.  They come to barter with the tourists and are very persistent salesmen who don't accept "no" for an answer but give you better prices and try to convince you of the value of the silver bracelet or whatever they are selling. When we found Ron, he had bought a shawl (Kaffiyyeh) and made good friends with this Bedouin boy.  He was waiting patiently for Ron's wife to come so I could buy a silver bracelet from him which I did after some bargaining.

Bedouin are nomadic Arabs who live by rearing sheep and camels.  The word bedouin means  "inhabitant of the desert."

Donkeys waiting for someone to ride them.

There are a lot of tombs carved into the rock in Petra. These openings are not all tombs but some are houses.

Uneishu Tomb

Street of Facades- over 40 tombs in this area

Bedouin waiting to sell rides to tourists.

 The Theatre Ruins

When the theatre was carved it could seat between 7,000 and 8,500 people in 40 rows cut from the rock. It had great acoustics with the high cliffs for a back drop. 

                                                 

The City of Petra extends to the high country that I didn't have time or energy to explore.  It would take many days to see all this ancient city.

Ron asked me if I wanted a camel ride but I declined but now wished I had had the experience of getting on this very tall animal. It was entertaining to watch the camels fold their legs especially their back lets to get into a  position with their bellies on the ground so tourists could get on their backs.

You can go into these tombs but there is just a big room with a blackened ceiling.  For many years the Bedoiums lived in these rooms and built fires to cook and keep warm.

There are some shops by the visitor's center about a mile before you enter the Sig. Indiana Jones was made famous here when part of the film, The Last Crusade, was filmed in Petra. They almost got the spelling of his name correct. 

Our Nice Hotel Near Petra

 A welcome sight after a long day of walking

Outside our Hotel Room

Buffet Breakfast 

Ron waiting outside our hotel for the bus to pick us up.

Drive into Jordan, The Dacapolis (Jerash) and Amman (T)

Jordanian Flag

It was quite the experience to cross over into Jordan from Israel. Lots of security steps to go through. We walked across and had our luggage scanned, paid fees,  showed our past ports several times and finally boarded a Jordanian bus and met our new tour guide. A tourism police with a gun was on our bus for the whole  trip through Jordan. I was surprised to see such large mountains as we drove north of Amman in the fertile heights of the Gilead.

The mountainous region east of the Jordan River.  This area is called Gilead or The Mount of Gilead. It is mentioned many times in the Bible. This area was divided among the tribes of Gad, Manasseh and Ruben. Gen. 31:21,22 and 25, Numbers 32:40 and Deut. 3:12-13 are a few of the places in the Bible that you can find the word Gilead.

Jordanian Children

A home we saw from the bus as we drove through the Gilead region.

A MountainTown in Gilead

More of the Gilead Region

This man was making bread and cooking it in an outside oven outside the restaurant where we ate lunch.

 Artemis Restaurant for Lunch
Jordanians know how to fix delicious salads like the Israelis.
We had mostly Spanish people on our bus so they had a guide that spoke Spanish and we had an English speaking guide for just the five of us. Kristin is sitting by dad and her mother Jane is in the brown coat and her very good friend is next to her.  I admired these brave souls because they  rented a car in Israel and explored the sites on their own. They decided to join our tour group to see Jordan.  They were fun to get to know. Jane is an adventurous person and was excited to know we had gone to Calcutta and seen the children in Mother Teresa's orphanage because she had spent a year there helping to take care of the orphan children.             

It was thrilling to see this sight from the bus window.

The ancient city of Jerash(Gerasa) is one of the cities  of Dacapolis (Ten Cities) which the Romans built in the Middle East. These ruins are the best preserved Roman ruins in the region. .Jerash is 30 miles north of the capital of Jordan, Amman.

The South Gate of the ancient city Decapolis

             

The Cardo

                   

Colonnade

It is amazing to see ruins that are 2,000 years old.

This Jordanian Scottish Pipe Band performed for us in the South Theatre.  After they finished, I got a photo with the group.

                                           

Standing by the bag pipe  player is our Jordanian guide, James.

The south Theatre can seat more than 3,000 spectator.  

The theater has incredible acoustics. I spoke into one of these circles to Kristin who had her ear up to another circle clear across on the other side of the theatre.  It was amazing how she could hear every word I said even though I wasn't talking very loud.

These seats in the South Theatre are for important people because they have backs on the seats and this area is shaded in the afternoon.

Jordanians passing through the Roman Ruins

The Arch of Hadrian was built to honor the visit of Emperor Hadrian to Jerash in 130 AD

                 

The Hippodrome was used for horse and chariot races.

             

Sun set in Jerash

Our 5 Star Hotel Room
During our trip we were up graded to 5 star hotels to help make up the cost of  canceling out on our trip to Egypt. We couldn't get  a refund because we backed out to close to the start of the Egyptian trip. 

It was fun to see the Christmas decorations in the hotel.

                                                         

                     We traveled to Amman, the capitol of Jordan.  This city is the political, cultured and       commercial center of Jordan. A lot of multinational corporations set up regional offices in Amman. This city is located in a hilly area north-western Jordan

Jordanian Road Sign

There are a lot of cars in Amman and at this corner there is a special man that directs traffic. 

                                                                 

The people driving through this intersection do not obey the traffic lights but this man's hand signals  that cause the traffic  to move more smoothly.  He tried to retire but the people persuaded him to return to his job of telling drivers when to go through the intersection and when to stop to let others go through.

Amman is a modern city.

 A home we saw driving through Amman.

                                                                 

A  Jordanian License Plate 

The King Abdullah, Mosque in Amman built in 1989 as a memorial by the late King Hussein to his grandfather.  The mosque can house up to 7,000 worshippers inside and another 3,000 in the courtyard.

People waiting outside the Syrian embassy. 

The largest home in Jordan and is located in Amman.  It has 63 rooms with 8 people living in the house.