Saturday and Sunday, Sept 28 & 29th

On Saturday morning the start from our hotel in Aqaba was at a reasonable time even though we had a long day of travel back to Amman for the end of our tour.

The day was pretty uneventful other than getting to enjoy the changing scenery as we headed north from the Red Sea, through the desert areas, into the agricultural areas, along the Dead Sea, and north into Amman.

Our only stop aside from bathroom breaks today was for lunch at one of G Adventures projects supported by their Planeterra Foundation. Numeira Environmental Association is a not-for-profit working in Jordan to create a sustainable future for a small community south of the Dead Sea. They raise money from providing lunches for G Adventures tour groups to support their environmental education projects for children, and promote sustainable farming practices. They provide desperately needed jobs and training to people in the community.

We visited another Planeterra project in Morocco, at the beginning of this adventure where divorced women with children are supported through programs and assistance also funded by providing tourist lunches. Two of the best meals we’ve had have been at these stops. G Adventures has over 100 such initiatives all over the world, and this and the fact that they are so conscious of sustainable tourism make it an easy decision to decide to travel with them.

We arrived back at our hotel in Amman around 2 pm and spent the afternoon resting and getting re-packed for our long journey home. Then it was out for our Farewell Dinner at a really cool restaurant across the street from our hotel. The food was fabulous and it had a really nice atmosphere. I had a Jordanian specialty, Lemon-Mint juice, which I’ve come to really enjoy and for dinner I had a traditional meal of chicken and vegetables cooked in a pottery container and then broken apart at the table.

And then it was time to say goodbye to Hakam, our guide as he was headed home to Jarash to spend only one night with his family before heading out tomorrow with another group to do the trip all over again. But as he pointed out, “it’s only the beginning” of us knowing each other and he encouraged us to stay in touch and to let him know if we knew of anyone coming to the region and if he could be of any service.

And it was time to say goodbye to our fellow travellers. It has been a great group of people in Jordan, with no whiners, and no one chronically late. We’ve shared each other’s pictures on our What’s App group and by airdropping to each other, we’ve helped each other up the side of sand stone cliffs, we’ve challenged each other to jump off the top deck of our boat, and we’ve kept each other company on the bus drives. And now our little family are scattering all over the globe.

Nanci and I have made it to Frankfurt once again, on a red eye from Amman that went smoothly, and we’ll be here for another couple of hours before catching our flight to Ottawa.

I have to admit that after a month on the road, with changing locations most days, a pretty intense schedule and visiting countries where the culture is very different than our own, that I’ll be glad to be home. To sleep in my own bed, to have some quiet time to myself, to start to detox from so many carbs and too much food in general, and get back into my exercise routine, all sounds amazing. And of course to be able to hug Gill, Phyl and Benny………..

I’ll put together an epilogue post and add some pictures to the past week entries once I’m home and have had a chance to decompress a little. It’s been an amazing adventure. As always, thanks for your interest and coming along for the ride.

Friday, September 27

Imagine waking up at 4:30 am or so, as you normally do because you have to pee. Then realize that you’re in the desert and the lights have all been turned off, and the toilette is across the camp and behind the row of tents on the other side of the camp. Also realize that it was hot when you went to bed so you’re not wearing a lot. That’s how my Friday started and it made me realize how incredibly lucky I am that this is an adventure for me and not my everyday life.

Around 6:15 am, the group that was camel riding this morning were up and out to meet their rides. Nanci and I opted not to join them, having had the fantastic experience we did in Morocco riding camels as the sun went down over the Sahara. We slept in til 7:00 and then with a glass of tea and some bread in our bellies, jumped in the 4X4s to head back to base camp for breakfast. Enroute we met up with the camel travellers and they squished into the 4x4s with us for the last 10 minutes of the trip back.

After breakfast, we joined up with our trusty bus again to traverse the short distance from Wadi Rum to Aqaba on the Red Sea and our planned snorkelling outing. What an amazing transition.

We dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and threw on our swim suits, grabbed our sun screen and jumped back on the bus for our afternoon of sun and fun, and lunch on board a lovely boat equipped for snorkelling and scuba diving.

This was my first time in the Red Sea and was one of the main reasons we chose the Highlights of Jordan trip instead of the National Geographic one which doesn’t get as far south as Aqaba. Aqaba is one of only 2 ports that Jordan has along the tiny slice of access they have on the Red Sea, wedged in between Israel and Saudi Arabia It’s a bustling beach destination for Jordanians with lots of hotels, restaurants, bars and night clubs. Yes, night clubs in a Muslim country, primarily visited by foreigners.

Once on the boat, Hakam pointed out to us the unbelievable views of the countries we could see from our location: Jordan; Israel; Egypt; and on a clear day Saudi Arabia.

Our first snorkelling stop was called the Japanese garden. It’s an area of beautiful coral in many shapes, sizes and colours of white, pink, blue, and fluorescent yellow. I’ve been lucky enough to snorkel at some great spots in the world, and the fish life here was not that exciting but the coral was really lovely. The water was warm and clear, with good visibility.

The snorkelling guide was really helpful for anyone that needed help and in particular for one of our group who had never snorkelled. When I jumped in, the air tube came off my mask and thankfully one of our group saw it go down and was able to grab it for me. The dive guide was able to re-attach it for me in the water. He did a great job of herding cats and keeping us all together and safe.

After 30 minutes or so in the warm water we moved to another site to see an airplane that had been submerged for divers to explore. But for snorkelers, or this one at least, it was not that exciting. Some of the fellows with Go Pros spent some time trying to capture each other underwater with the plane in the background. I enjoyed just bobbing around in the small waves and watching the others play. Before long we were back on board enjoying our lunch of chicken and the regular accompaniments of rice, pita, hummus, etc.

After lunch we had some free swim time and got into jumping off the upper deck of the boat. Tom definitely won the prize for style, doing back flips in, and Thomas did a horrendous belly flop that must have hurt but only a few of us were brave enough to make the jump. And of course you know I was one of them. When am I going to start acting my age?

After our excursion, we had some down time at the hotel and then walked down the road to a seafood restaurant for our dinner. I had fish and chips and for the first time ever, the fish was sea bass. It was delicious but the fries were better in Morocco.

Some of the group went out to a bar on the rooftop of a major chain that had a great view and a DJ playing music. I was exhausted and to be honest getting tired of being with people 24/7 so I begged off and spent the time working on my blogs and catching up on FB, Instagram and surfing in the hotel lobby.

As you will know, time spent on the water is always special time for me, and this day is one of the highlights of our Jordan week.

Thursday, September 26

We’ve seen Petra and you might think we would now be coasting to the end of the week here in Jordan, but Hakam worked hard at keeping up the momentum. We’ve come to know that one of his favourite expressions is, “it’s just the beginning”, and he’s used it liberally in the last couple of days as some of us started to think about nearing the end of our adventure.

And it wasn’t hard for him to keep the momentum going because today we head to the desert for the second time in our month in MENA. Because of our early start yesterday we lazed about a bit this morning and didn’t get on the road until 10:30 am. We only had a couple of hours drive to our next destination and it was strategic that we not arrive too early so as to avoid the hottest part of the day.

Hakam hasn’t given us as much background as the tour guides on the G Adventure/National Geographic tours, but when he does speak to us about the places we’re visiting he has a lot of knowledge and answers our questions patiently. He did give us some background on the way to Wadi Rum. One of the interesting points he raised was that Jordan actually exports sand to Saudi Arabia because of the high silicon content, I am assuming to make glass, but he didn’t really say. Seems a tad bizarre that Saudi Arabia would have to buy sand. We saw wind turbines along the way and Hakam noted that the Jordanian government has gone with wind turbines rather than solar panels because the initials costs are less. He said that they are starting to convert over to solar panels.

At a few points we saw remnants of a Turkish Ottoman railway that (if I got it right) ran from Istanbul through Turkey and in to Syria and Jordon and on into Saudi Arabia to Mecca and Medina. There were a few cars from a bygone era sitting on a siding that have apparently been used in a couple of movies. The movie Lawrence of Arabia was shot in many spots in this area.

Wadi Rum is a small town that has sprung up to service the desert camps. Some of the camps are right in town and others take a “two-hour 4×4 ride” to get to. We were booked into the later, and to spend the night in the dark desert gazing at the stars and talking around the campfire.

We had a late leisurely lunch and lounged around at the base camp in Wadi Rum until the heat of the day was starting to die down and then piled into the back of pickup trucks with benches on each side of the rear bed of the truck and with fabric sun shades overhead. Three truck loads of us headed off into the beautiful Arabian desert. The sand dunes are light and dark golden beige and red in some areas, moulded into ripples by the wind in places, like waves on a beach. Our little caravan stopped a few times for points of interest, and I think just to take up some time so we didn’t end up at the desert camp too early. I was getting pretty tired of climbing over the tail gate to get in and out multiple times.

Some of us opted for the additional 2 hours of 4X4 riding, since there really wan’t anything to do at the camp given the lack of electricity and the heat. And I’m glad we did as we made some interesting stops along the way.

One of our stops was to let anyone willing to roll down the sand dunes to give it a try. The sand is soft and dry so I’m sure it felt good to do, but the pragmatic side of me said, you have to go without a shower at the desert camp tonight, don’t add getting sandy on top of the heat and sun screen. A couple of our crew did give it a try. There are some natural arches near where we were staying and some of us climbed up on top of one of them. It was a team effort with myself and one other young woman getting help from a couple of the guys going up, because the footing on the sand stone was a little treacherous. Coming back down we slid a good portion of the way on our butts and I was praying the one pair of capris I had on this desert trek held together and they did. This was one of the many times on the trip that I was glad that I’ve been working out and had the strength and stamina to participate in these activities.

We then stopped by the local Bedouin tea dispensary and tourist goods shop in his tent in the middle of no where. He played for us on an ancient musical instrument whose name I missed, and served us tea with cardamon and sage. It was lovely. He lived in a typically black Bedouin tent which actually seemed to stay relatively cool despite the colour.

The ride in the 4x4s was mostly sedate, but from time to time the drivers gave us a little thrill like coming down a steep hill or swerving to and fro. One particular hill had us screaming like we were on a roller coaster. Then we stopped to watch the other 4X4 come over the hill. They were screaming and we were laughing and a pile of people had stopped to watch the action as it’s a regular stop on the desert trip track.

We asked to do the hill one more time, but Hakam said we needed to get to the spot to watch the sun go down. We, and other 4x4s coming from every direction, raced to a certain spot where the desert floor is quite flat and the mountains in the background provided a great backdrop for the setting sun. In a clear sky, the sunsets are often not terribly remarkable, and this was the case this evening. However I did enjoy the quiet of the evening with everyone scattered and sitting up on the rocks waiting for the sun to go down.

We then headed off for our desert camp in the wilderness, although I have to say that I’m pretty sure that the lights of Wadi Rum were just around the corner from the camp and the 4 hours in the desert were spent going in circles. Nonetheless, it felt like the middle of no where and with only minimal power in the camp supplied by solar panels, and no light in the tents where we bunked down. Right after arriving, we ate a huge feast along with an Italian group who were staying at a camp just around the corner from us. After they headed for their camp we all sat around the campfire and played word games. By 10 everyone was exhausted and headed off to bed, scrambling to find our clothes using only our head lamps. It wasn’t the best night sleep I’ve ever had but it wasn’t the worst either.

Wednesday, September 25

Most days I take notes about what we’re seeing, what the guide is telling us, and what I’m seeing. Today I took very few notes and to be honest, I took very few pictures. The reason – Petra is just so overwhelming and wonderful that it’s hard to put into words and I wanted to experience it without the encumbrances of either taking notes or pictures.

Our guide, Hakam, was determined to be first in line at the ticket booth this morning and so we were in the lobby by 5:45 am ready to head out and none of us minded. After all, today was the reason most of us are in Jordan. The big day, the money shot, the bucket list item. Petra.

Once on site, the road starts out quite wide and open and because we were one of the first into the site we had the advantage of being at the front of the pack and able to experience it without the mobs of people that would come later. After a while the canyon, or Al Seq in Arabic, narrows and it feels like the walls are coming in on you. At times, it’s quiet except for our footsteps. And the click of camera shutters.

 

First of all a little history. Petra was the capital of the Nabatean Kingdom dating to approximately 300 BC. It’s nick name is the Rose City and it’s easy to see why, given the red tint to the rock naturally occurring. We noticed many other colours in the cliffs as we explored the site. Petra thrived because of it’s strategic location along the travel route for those trading in frankincense, myrrh, and spices. The long canyon made it an excellent defensive position. The Romans later took over the site and it grew to about 30,000 inhabitants but much of it was destroyed by earthquakes in the 4th century AD. The Bedouin from the area continued to live there, as a few still do today, but otherwise it was pretty much abandoned.

It was “rediscovered” by a Swiss explorer, Johanne’s Burckhardt in 1812, and there are stories that he dressed up as an Arab to convince his Bedouin guide to take him to explore the city. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and visits to the area have continued to grow, driving tourism into the spotlight in Jordan. Interestingly we were reading on the BBC Website today that Saudi Arabia has announced it will open the country to tourism including reducing the clothing restrictions for women visitors. I’m sure the booming tourism industries in some of its Middle East and North Africa neighbours has had something to do with that. Not sure I’ll jump at the opportunity for travel there in the near future.

So back to our experience…… as we walked along our guide encouraged us to imagine we were visiting in the time of the Nabateans. I was doing fine trying to take it all in and imaging a former time until I saw an ancient Bedouin woman on her cell phone! Hakam worked at building the suspense for us as we got closer and closer to the moment when the canyon opens up to where the famous Treasury towers over the square at 40 meters in height. I have to admit to having a huge lump in my throat as we rounded the last corner with video rolling. I’m always a bit afraid when visiting these iconic sites that I’ll be disappointed when I finally see it in person, having seen it in pictures so many times. I remember feeling that way when I visiting Machu Picchu last year. But I wasn’t disappointed there and I certainly wasn’t at Petra either. Pictures just don’t do any of the site justice.

The Treasury facade is so well preserved it’s unbelievable. Its Corinthian columns, funeral urn and other features were carved out of the sand stone which erodes quite easily and we later saw the toll the wind and water had taken on some of the other structures. Hakam explained that the carving was done from the top down so as not to harm the work below had it been done the other way around. Amazing workmanship considering it was done in the 1st century. Originally there was some speculation that the Treasury was a calendar of some sort, given some of the structures, and early explorers were hoping to find treasure behind the facade, thus the name, but they were disappointed. Turns out it was a tomb for the VIPs of the time.

We took a multitude of pictures before carrying on, but given the facade was in full shade, the coloration wasn’t great, so we planned to try and be back to take pictures when it was in full sun, between 9 – 11am.

We tore ourselves away from the Treasury (or rather Hakam did with his “yella yella” which means “let’s go” in Arabic) and on to see some of the other structures on the site. We walked along the main walkway to see the Royal Tombs, the theatre (build in classic Roman style), and the Great temple, oh and a bunch of tourist trinket stalls.

To this point, we’d already walked 8 kilometers, but Nanci and I decided to attempt to make the trek to the Monastery, a further 2.5 km, rated as “hard” on the maps because it was all pretty much straight up hill. As time went on, the sun was getting higher in the sky which meant the shadows were disappearing, but we persevered and made it up to the huge Monastery. At 47 meters wide and 48 meters high, it’s clearly one of the largest on the site. Time, wind, sun and rain have take a toll on this one but it still is pretty magnificent.

After a short rest, we started down with the rest of our crew, who had been up at the top checking out some other view points for quite some time before we joined them. They went on ahead on the return trek and we took our time getting down. There are steps for part of the path, (although they appear to have been made for giants) but in some places it’s just the sandstone which, with loose sand on top, tends to be rather slippery. And on top of that we were constantly having to dodge donkey’s making their way up and down the pathway with visitors making the trek that way. They are amazingly sure footed.

We made it back to the Treasury, and what a difference. Hundreds of people were arriving in twos or fours or 50s. We took some more pictures around the mobs of people, camels and horse and donkey carts. We stopped for a local specialty, a Lime Mint drink which I’ve come to love, before the return trek through the canyon. I certainly wasn’t up for trekking up any of the other trails at that point, as all I could think about by then was the hotel pool on the roof top.

It was brilliant to get up so early because not only did we miss the crowds, but we missed the later part of the afternoon heat and were back in our hotel by noon or so. Although some of our crew did many of the other trails Nanci and I spent the afternoon at the pool or napping. Over 100 flights of stairs and 21,500 steps, much of it in the heat, was enough for me. We had a delicious supper in the hotel and after an excellent day we made it an early night.

Tuesday, September 24

Today we left the big city of Amman behind and headed out into the countryside and travelled down parts of the Desert Highway, and the Kings Highway.

This morning we had two places associated with mosaics on our itinerary. The first stop was at the top of Mount Nebo, to take in the views form there and to see the beautiful Moses Memorial Church. The Benedictine Monks own and operate this site which is at 2,680 feet above sea level. It is thought that Moses was buried on this hill after having ascended here to see the Land of Canaan although the exact location of his grave is not known. The views that he saw, like the ones that we saw today are fabulous. We lucked out and had a pretty clear day, with not much haze. We could easily see the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, and Jericho from the top, although they don’t show up in pictures very well. Like most churches in this part of the world, it has been built and rebuilt many times starting in the second half of the 4th century. The modern reconstruction is very simple and quite refreshing. The mosaics in the church are well preserved and visitors have excellent viewing of them while they are protected. Pope John Paul visited the church in 2000.

Madaba just down the road from Mount Nebo, is the mosaic centre of Jordan. The mosaics in the floor of the Greek Orthodox Church or Byantine Church of Saint George in Madaba is known to be the oldest map of the middle east and it’s in fantastic shape despite it’s hard life. It’s survived fire, neglect, and vandalism and now is incredibly accessible to visitors with just stantions and a velvet rope separating it from the visitors.

We stopped in to a mosaic workshop to see how these mosaics were made. They used all natural stone in various colours that is cut with huge saws into widths needed to make the specific designs. Then the pieces are cut and placed by hand on to a traced design and glued down. Once the design is cured, cement is added and the glue dissolves. It’s incredibly painstaking work, and this work shop is sponsored by the Queen of Jordan to employ those who are mobility challenged, to provide work for them and to keep the craft alive.

As we left Madaba the driver picked up shawarma (sorry Phyl) and falafel sandwiches for us to eat in the bus since we had long distance to drive today. These shawarmas were very different than others we’ve seen or tasted, but they were delicious and hot the spot.

Further south was our stop at Karak Castle. Something new for us in Jordan. This Crusader castle with it’s typical moat around it, was built in the 12th century but various bits and pieces were added on over time. There were some really neat winding passages through both commercial and residential areas of the castle. Built strategically on a hill, near the Dead Sea, the castle location was able to control Bedouins and other trader routes in the area. It changed hands several times over history and even suffered a modern day terrorist attack in 2016 which killed 14 people including a Canadian.

Then it was back on the bus heading south once again, destination Wadi Musa (or Moses Valley). It was a long afternoon of driving but before stopping at our destination, some of us took an optional tour of an area called Little Petra to wet our appetite for the main event tomorrow. Little Petra was a Nabatean town on the main trade route and the traders spent time at Little Petra celebrating their successful business dealings. Also, animals were not allowed in Petra and so they were bunked down here.

We didn’t really do that much today but I’m tired and our enthusiastic guide has us leaving the hotel at 5:45 am tomorrow to try and be first in line to get in to Petra. He did a great job of getting us into the places we stopped at today without any crowds, although they seemed to be only 30 minutes to an hour behind us.

 

Monday, September 23

Today is our first full day in Jordan and we’ve got a full agenda.

We met our other 4 fellow travellers, who were joining us last evening from their tour of Egypt. The retired father and 2 sons from the UK and a mid-aged Australian woman all loved the Egypt trip. So the UK is cleaning up in this group. Nanci and I are the lone Canadians.

Our first stop are the Roman Ruins of Jerash, or Jarash about an hour outside of Amman and only 30 minutes by road from the Syrian border. Although a 7am departure was early, we got to the site before any other buses and had the place to ourselves for the first little while. As you can see there aren’t too many people in the pictures.

These ruins are amazing and if not for a festival being held annually on the site, they would likely be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. They are supposedly the most intact outside of Rome despite the multiple earthquakes that has hit the region. Seems a little short sighted of officials to stop the progress on getting the UNESCO designation because of an annual festival.

The oval hippodrome could seat 16,000, and there are two theatres, one holding 2000 and one 3000. There are some huge chucks granite on the site that had been brought to Jerash from Aswan Egypt but most of the construction is lime stone. The Artemis Temple is undergoing some reconstruction work.

There is so much to see, and 75% of what’s there is original and not restored. I found it much more interesting than Ephesus in Turkey. We spent 2 hours there with the guide and with some free time. As we were leaving, we ran in to the group that we travelled with in Israel. They were just arriving and talked to our guide and new we were there. Certainly was strange to be walking across the site and hearing my name shouted out!

Then we headed for the Dead Sea for the second time in two weeks but obviously on the Jordanian side this time. Since we bobbed around last week, I didn’t go into the Sea today, but I did remember to get a shot of my toes which I forgot to do last week. It was the first time for everyone else and I think they all enjoyed it. This beach club had a swimming pool which people enjoyed for a while and it included a lunch buffet. The entry into the water was a little easier than we had on the Israeli side because it was more gradual.

We had a bit of a break back at the hotel and then jumped in Ubers that Hakam had organized and we were off to a cool restaurant on top of a book store on one of the hills that had a phenomenal view. We were able to see the light leave the sky, the lights come on and listen to the Call to Prayer echoing across the city and I tried a specialty of the region, a mint lemonade. It was fabulous. Our food took a long time but it was worth the wait.

Some bits of info garnered from chats with Hakam today:

There are 9 million people in Jordan, 6.5 Jordanians and the rest immigrants, and the bulk of them refugees from Syria, Lebanon, and other places. The refugees are putting a strain on the economy of Jordan and it is significantly in debt.

The main export is olive oil and the olive tree is the national symbol of Jordan as the altitude in the hills is just right.

They have little in the way of natural resources except potash and uranium.

The unemployment rates is high with more than 50% of those working in the government. The average wage is $US 400-600 per month and average rent is $500 in Amman.

Sunday, September 22nd

Catching up with some blog posts now that we’ve got some semblance of wifi. Pics still not loading but will try later.

We left our cute little boutique hotel in Tel Aviv, where we had a short stay, at 5:00 am to get to the airport for our 8:30 am flight. The flight itself took only 25 minutes and we landed at the very modern and efficient airport in Amman, Jordan. We had been given the option by our travel agent to fill out a bunch of forms and give the Jordanian embassy our passports for 3 days to get a visa, or to purchase it at the airport. Since we had lots of time upon our arrival in Jordan we opted to wait. It took all of 2 minutes to get the visa at arrivals before passport control. We hadn’t even gotten to passport control when a tour company representative sent by G Adventures met us to help us through passport control. It was an easy process taking only a couple of minutes, and we arrived at the baggage area to find our suitcases already on the belt. Outside of the baggage claim area our G Adventures contact was waiting for us to take us to our hotel where thankfully our room was ready for us. It took all of about 10 minutes including a bathroom stop.

On the way to our hotel, our driver told us that a lot of students from the other Arabic countries come to Amman for language and religious studies and judging by the number of colleges and universities we saw along the highway we could believe that. He also told us that tourism is growing rapidly since Petra was named as one of the new 7 wonders of the world 6 year ago. Since Jordan has no oil they rely on foreign investment and agriculture to feed the economy. Apparently more than 50% of the people work for the government or government institutions and unemployment is at 30% or so.

When we came through the new part of Amman on our way from the airport we were impressed with the cleanliness and beautiful houses and buildings of the new part of the city. Oh, and they have an IKEA.

Our hotel is located about a 15 minute walk from the old city, but the downside is that those 15 minutes are either up or down hill depending on your direction. Amman was originally built on 7 hills and as it expands it’s taking up more and more of the hillsides.

We kept it pretty simple today because of our lack of sleep, busy previous week, and anticipate busy week ahead.

This evening we met most of our group (4 will be arriving late tonight from Egypt and they will join up with us tomorrow), and it’s an eclectic group. A couple around my age from France but living in Liverpool, two from London living in the countryside now, a young man from Scotland, a young man from NYC, a young couple from NYC, and a young man from London. Our guide Hakam seems to be much less serious than our other guides so the jury is still out on him.

After our introductory meeting we went out for a welcoming dinner at a popular spot called Hashem Restaurant. We had pita with falafel, hummus, and a bunch of dips and made a meal out of it, all for $5 US each. Then we went on a short walk of the old city to take in the atmosphere and see the Roman coliseum. We didn’t go in because we’ll see a similar one in Jerash tomorrow.

So on to the next adventure, Jordan!

Saturday, September 21

It’s already our last full day in Israel. The time has gone by so incredibly fast and sadly tonight we said goodbye to our fellow travellers this past week and new friends and to our great CEO Jalal (and driver Mo). Tomorrow a couple of the group will travel home to NYC and 11 will carry on with National Geographic Tours by G Adventures to Jordan. We will do much the same tour in Jordan, however, we will be taking a Classic tour by G Adventures so that we can get to Aqaba to snorkel in the Red Sea which was not offered on the National Geographic itinerary. But I’m getting ahead of myself again.

Today was a little less frantic pace than previous days, but no less enjoyable.

We left the Sea of Galilee behind and headed west toward Nazareth where we stopped to see the relatively new Church of the Annunciation built around a cave where it’s said the angels told Mary that she was with child. It was one of my favourites of all the churches we’ve seen.

The collection of various country’s depiction of the Madonna is fabulous. Canada and the United States’ pieces were prominently displayed, but my favourite was a stained glass depiction from Brazil. We also stopped in to see nearby St. Joseph’s Church which, as is typical, was built over the remains of older churches.

Then we headed west towards the Mediterranean and the city of Haifa, the 3rd largest city in Israel after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The city is a blend of Jews and Arabs and appears to be very prosperous and modern from the parts we saw. After spending so much time in the ancient parts of cities and ruins for the past week, it’s a striking contrast. After a quick lunch (yes Phyl, Shawarma was again available) we stopped to take pictures from near the Sea up toward the Shrine of the Bab and the Baha’i Gardens a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The sight was pretty breathtaking even from so far away, with the manicured grass terraces making quite the splash up the mountain side. We jumped back on the bus and headed up to the top to see if from above and the gardens with the harbour of this busy port in the background was pretty spectacular. The shrine is the burial place of the founder of the Baha’i Faith, a religion I don’t know anything about and which will be one of my research projects in the winter months ahead.

While waiting for the group to reconvene at this stop Jalal told us that the genesis of our written numbers were the Arabs. Each number represents the number of angles in that particular number, or maybe not. Some articles I reviewed disagreed with that premise. More mid-winter research.

We headed south along the Mediterranean coastal road to the ancient ruins at Caesarea. King Herod was busy once again building in this area, including one of the busiest ports of the time. Pontius Pilatus, the prefect who presided over the trial of Jesus, is believed to have lived here, and there is a boulder with his name on it which we saw in the Archeological Museum that was taken from this site. This site was unique in all the ruins we’ve seen in that the decision has been taken to animate the site by building restaurants, shops and bars into the ruins. I’m not sure how I feel about that. It certainly does animate the site but does it take away from the site in doing so?

Something I haven’t seen in ruins before was a Hippodrome. No, not where you keep your hippopotamuses but rather a stadium for horse or chariot racing. It was long and fairly narrow with seating looking across the field and out to the Mediterranean. Would have been quite the sight.

We then made our way along the ocean to Tel Aviv, our final stop in Israel. If I thought Haifa was modern compared to the other places we’ve been, Tel Aviv took it up a notch. Even though it is the Sabbath here, the city was hopping. The streets in downtown and the outdoor patios of restaurants, bars and coffee shops were teeming with lots of young people. There are lots of english signs, and we even saw a motorcycle delivering Dominos pizza.

We stopped briefly at the spot where on November 4th,1995 at 9:40, Nobel Peace Prize winner, Yitzhak Rabin was killed on his way back from a celebration of the signing of the peace accord. There is a simple memorial that looks like blocks of stone that are uneven, like they were unsettled in an earthquake representing how the assassination shook the country.

After a brief rest at the hotel where we’ll spend a portion of the night (we have a VERY early flight tomorrow morning) we had a reservation at a restaurant in the Jaffa area to the south of Tel Aviv. Mo, our fantastic driver, took us along the ocean route and we were able to see the beautiful beaches that went on for kilometers, with all sorts of facilities along the beach. Families and couples, runners, bicyclists and people meandering all were enjoying the sunset.

We walked a short bit in Jaffa to a plaza where our restaurant awaited. It was a fabulous “cozy” seafood restaurant (although I had chicken) where we totally confused the poor wait-staff. For our dining enjoyment, (well, not really just for us) there was a stage set up on the plaza were there was an opera performance by 4 women. We had our own balcony view of the stage and were able to enjoy the accompaniment while we reminisced about a great week.

My head is still bursting with all I’ve seen, experienced and learned, and for me the best part, as it normally is when I travel, was the people. The people who spoke to us about the conflict in this region, with passion, from their perspective, the woman in the refugee camp doing so much for the people there, and the lovely lady who showed us around the kibbutz. The people we travelled with, who added so much to the experience. Our guide, Jalal, who did such a good job of keeping us on time, throwing in extra experiences when possible, adjusting the schedule when the election got in the way and to take advantage of less crowded times. And the random people we interacted with along the way.

Fun memories of cooking classes and dancing on a boat and shopping and walking, and walking, and walking, and the sad but important memories of The Holocaust Museum. And about a million pictures to sort through. Another winter project. Farewell, Israel, and on to another adventure in Jordan.

Friday, September 20

So, today we got on and off the bus no less than a gazillion times. I’m not even sure I can recount what we did. Especially since the guide added some things and moved some things around. I will try and remember as accurately as I can.

We started the day at Kinneret Kibbutz who own and operate the hotel where we’re staying here in Tiberius. It was interesting to hear how the Kibbutz has evolved since it started operation in the early 1900s. It started as a pure communal community, with all meals being held in the dining hall, and everyone working at something on the Kibbutz and sharing in the fruits of the collective. But now it sounds more like my condo association. Each of the 400 members put the same amount in to the administration and running of the kibbutz, but they are free to work off the kibbutz, own their own cars, they must pay for services, etc. It’s seen by many to be just a cheaper way to live. One of the things that will stay with me is that after showing us the bomb shelters throughout the kibbutz, they told us that each new home being built in Israel must have a bomb shelter room, reinforced concrete, to meet code. Imagine living in that fear.

 

 

We then went to the “alternative site” of the baptism of Jesus on the Jordan River. Turns out the “real” spot is in Jordan. So the stop became a place to try letting the fish give us a pedicure (they eat the dead skin off your feet). I could hardly stand to put my feet in the water long enough to get a toe picture taken never mind standing in it for long enough to have the fish peck at my feet.

Next it was off to the Golan Heights to visit a winery there. Turns out it was their semi-annual sale in preparation for Rosh Hashanah that is next week. So the place was chaos and the wine was literally rolling out by the cart load. We were able to try all their wines to the tunes of a 5 piece band that could have been playing in New Orleans. It was a little surreal. Most of our group bought at least one bottle but of course you know I didn’t. I have to admit when I looked at the map and how close we were to Syria I was a little nervous, and then we saw tanks at a round about, which the guide said where there in case of a missile attack. But he said not to worry as G Adventures would not send us into a situation where there was danger.

Then off to Capernaum, a Roman city where Jesus spent much of his time teaching and living with Apostle Peter for 3 years. The site they believe to have been St. Peter’s home has a modern church built over top of it, and next to it was a synagogue thought to have been built from stones from another site and brought to this site in the 4th century. (Perhaps as a tourist destination?)

And then we went to St Peter’s Primacy, or Mensa Christi, or Church of Multiplication where Jesus multiplied the fish and loaves of bread and where we had access to the Sea of Galilee.

We had one last church to top off our day and that was to the Church of the Beatitudes which is up on a hill with beautiful views of the Sea of Galilee and where it is believed Jesus gave his “Sermon from the Mount” speech.

We were “churched out” and it was over 100 F so we were really glad when the next activity was a delightful 45 minute boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. It was quite breezy but the air felt lovely after the warm day of visiting churches. Our guide initiated a dance lesson for us, by the boat’s captain and we all danced to Hava Negela.

Next it was a stop at a diamond distributor to learn about diamond production, and more importantly for the shop for us to see their huge show room and salespeople ready to pounce on us. I walked right through and out the exit.

Tonight in the dining room at the hotel we celebrated the birthday of our only male fellow traveller. His partner had let us know that it was his birthday and he didn’t want to make a fuss so of course we did.

That’s it in a nut shell. Off to pack. And once again, I hope I haven’t butchered all the Biblical references with my lack of education on the subject.

Thursday, Sept 19 (wow, this week is flying by!)

We are settled in at our hotel beside the Sea of Galilee in Tiberius, run by a Kibbutz, which we’ll learn about tomorrow, but back to today………

We started the day in Jerusalem (at 754 meters above sea level) and travelled pretty much downhill, on the same road that Jesus took to get to Jericho, to get to the base of the mountain where Masada stood. We saw a few changes in topography along the way and soon were travelling along side the Dead Sea, with Jordan barely showing through the mist on the other side of the Sea. The Dead Sea is part of the Great Riff Valley and is 430 or so meters below sea level (we’ve seen several different references to the actual meters below sea level) at the lowest point on earth. The Dead Sea is shrinking by approximately an metre a year because of the use of evaporation pools to capture various minerals from the water such as potash, and boron.

The land just outside Jerusalem is very arid but as we travelled along we saw acres of date palms laden with almost ripe fruit, mostly covered in bags to keep the insects off as the dates ripen enough to be picked. The Israeli’s invented drip irrigation systems and these systems are really effectively used in this arid area. Cherry tomatoes is another Israeli invention and they have produced all sorts of other varieties as well.

We saw some tents on the hills just outside of Jerusalem and were told that they were Palestinians protesting the plans by the Israeli government to build an industrial park to be named Area E which will effectively split the West Bank in half, and causing even more travel restrictions and delays for the Palestinians travelling between their communities.

Our first stop today was at the Masada National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2001. Masada, built originally by King Herod of Judea in 66 AD, was the last stand of the Jewish freedom fighters against the Romans and it turned out rather badly. After a 3 year siege when it was obvious that the Romans were finally going to over take the Jewish fighters, they made the desperate and sad decision to kill themselves rather than be taken as slaves by the Romans. Since suicide is against their faith, 10 men killed all of the other people and then one man was chosen to take the other 9 men’s lives and then fall on his own sword. The heroism and symbol of the struggle to overcome oppression have made it a site of great significance to the Jewish people.

There are some great ruins here, and the park service has put in metal models of what the rooms would have looked like and a model demonstration how the water system worked, which seems brilliant. The rain water was collected as it ran down the mountain sides where it ran by gravity into cisterns at two different levels and when needed was carted up to the top of the hill, making the fortress self sufficient and able to withstand the siege for so long. And allowing King Herod to fill his olympic sized swimming pool on the top of the mountain.

Next we were on to our date for a float in the Dead Sea. We stopped at a place called Kalia Beach where we changed into our bathing suits and headed down to the water. We quickly discovered the mud around the Sea (actually a lake) was as hot as we had been told it would be, and so we didn’t dawdle getting in to the water. It was quite the experience. I float well at the worst of times, so in this high salt content body (34% higher than the oceans) it took no effort to float, and in fact getting my feet on to the sea bed was quite difficult. The water felt almost oily from all the minerals in it, and we didn’t stay in too long for fear of getting dehydrated. It was a unique experience. We’ll get a chance to do it again on the Jordan side of the Sea on Monday of next week during our Jordan tour.

There are many skin care products made from the mud from the Dead Sea and we stopped at a factory after our bobbing to see what they had to offer. I didn’t buy anything but many in our group sure did. Yikes! The bags of stuff coming out the door was amazing.

We retraced some of our steps to get back up north to the Sea of Galilee and a hotel run by a kibbutz where we’re staying for tonight, but made a diversion to stop in what they claim is the oldest city in the world, Jericho, to see the Mount of Temptation where Jesus is said to have been tempted by the devil. There is now a monastery, which we could barely see in the afternoon light, built into the side of the mountain.

On our way out of the city, we did a drive-by of a place where you could see only the foundations of the walls of Jericho, which as you’ll no doubt recall from the song, came tumbling down. It was either from Joshua tromping up and down with rams horns for 7 days or according to some, an earthquake. I’ll try adding the video of our group singing with Mount Temptation in the background.

We passed through another check point to get back from the Palestinian Authority land in the West Bank to the Israeli side and at this one, they came on board the bus to check our passports. Even with travel documents no Palestinians are allowed on this particular road, which is unusual, so maybe that’s why they were stricter at this crossing. There were two border police, and the fierce look on the face of the woman doing the checks and the size of the automatic looking weapon being held by the other made us instantly aware that they weren’t fooling around. There was no fuss and we carried on our way. Unlike Palestinians whose movements are very restricted and controlled.

I have lost track of where exactly, but we passed by the ancient town of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in caves up in the mountains.

Our hotel for the night is very comfortable although the wifi is a little flakey. It’s next to the Sea of Galilee where Jesus spent some time ministering. Israel gets 1/3 of it’s water from a desalination process using reverse osmosis and the rest if from the Sea of Galilee.

We had a buffet dinner at the hotel and it was great to get almost home cooking once again.