Tien and Paul's Travels: Jordan

In April 2018, we went to Jordan for two weeks and to Istanbul for five days. These were two countries on our "Bucket List" we wanted to checkoff.

When talking about visiting Jordan, the first thing that came to our mind was Petra. However, Jordan has a lot more interesting tourist attractions and historic sites to offer besides Petra. There were many Roman ruins spreading across the country, the famous Dead Sea, many historical biblical sites that we look forward to visit. Jordan is an amazing country. We enjoyed our two week journey throughtout the country.

We flew into Amman and spent a few days there. We took UBER from Amman to the Dead Sea. After the Dead Sea, we rented a car and drove to Petra, Aqaba, and back to Amman.

The city of Amman is quite interesting itself. The Citadel of Amman, situated at the top of the hill overlooking modern-day Amman is within walking distance from our hotel. The central market is next to this Roman ruin. We spent the first day exploring the famous Roman Temple of Hercules site in the Citadel, the Roman amphitheater and the present day central market.

Roman Amphitheater viewed from Citadel Hill of Amman.

Top of Citadel Hill.

Citadel Hill

The Hand, only remain of the Hercules statue

Inside Roman Amphitheater

King Abdullah Mosque. Only Mosque in Jordan that is open to everyone. Our hotel is behind the mosque

JERASH

We spent a day visiting Jerash, Jordan's largest and most interesting Roman ruins. On the way to Jerash, we stopped by Ajlun Castle, a 12th century Muslim Castle. We used our hotel's private driver and car for the day and it worked out well.

View from Ajlun Castle, a 12th century ruin.

Inside the castle.

Inside Ajlun Castle walls.

Jerash has been occupied for over 7000 years. The Romans ruled this city from 65 BC. It is one of the best preserved Roman sites outside of Italy.

Hadrian Arch. The main gate to enter Jerash.

Oval Plaza.

Nyphaeum (fountain)

Northern Gate to enter Jerash.

Colonnaded Street

Main Street Jerash

South Gate of Jerash

Stairs leading to the top of The Temple of Artemis.

Top of the Temple of Artemis

THE DEAD SEA

After Amman, we left for the Dead Sea. We had hoped to take public transportation, but it was very inconvenient. Our next option was Uber. Only later did we find out that Uber was illegal in Jordan. We made it to the Dead Sea without any problem, but decided not to use Uber any more while in Jordan.

On the way to the Dead Sea. We are at sea level.

Sign showing the shrinkage of the Dead Sea.

First time floating in the Dead Sea or anywhere :)-.

Mud treatment-skin therapy

Along the rocky Dead Sea beach.

Sunset view of the Dead Sea from our hotel room. Across the Dead Sea is Israel.

Another view of sunset from our resort.

BETHANY UPON JORDAN

We took the half day excursion from our resort to Bethany upon Jordan, the place where Jesus was baptized. The Jordan River has changed course over the years. The steps leading down to where the Jordan River used to be are still there.
There is a rope going down the middle of the river to show the boundary between Jordan and Israel.
If you want to be baptized here in the Jordan River, you need to bring your own pastor.
This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

This is were the Jordan River used to flow. Supposedly the spot where Jesus was baptized.

Jordan River. It's quite murky.

Behind us is Israel. There were a lot of pilgrims on the Israeli side with baptismal ceremonies in progress

Baptismal font at the River Jordan

New Christian Church at the Baptism site.

After our experience with Uber, we decided out best travel option would be to rent a car to get to Petra. There just happened to be a car rental company at the Dead Sea resort where we stayed. I was somewhat hesitant driving since we did not have a GPS to guide us.

Before we picked up our rental car, I had gone on to Google Maps to plan out our route to Petra. The people at the car rental agency told me there was a shortcut which wasn't on the map. They told me to drive down the road that went in front our resort for 120 Km and I would see a bus stop with an unmarked road going off to my left. I was told to take that road, I couldn't miss it. We found the road and it was very windy and steep. We were the only car on the road. Eventually we did make it to Petra.

Our "Valentine" car. Very basic and has no GPS.

Some of the street signs could be challenging. Hope this is the right direction to Petra.

Watch out for camels.

Going to market.

Finally a sign we recognize just as we pull into Petra.

On the back road to Petra. This is Bedouin country.

PETRA

We arrived in Petra early afternoon. After checking in to our Petra hotel, we decided to spend some time in the park before it closed for the day. It was a long walk from our hotel to the gate of the park. But, we still had most of the afternoon in the park. We could hardly wait to see the Treasury that first day! It was a long walk but a rather easy one. We had a leisure and enjoyable walk through the beautiful and interesting Siq. The siq was a long, narrow, winding passage to the ancient city of Petra. We spent almost five hours to get to the Treasury and back. The second day we hiked from our hotel, passed the Treasury all the way to the end of the park at the Monastery. A hard working/walking day paid off when we reached our destination at Monastery. We checked off "Petra" from our bucket list.

This is referred to as the Pyramid. Along the way to the Siq.

It was a long walk from our hotel to the entrance of the Siq.

The Siq about 1.5 miles long.

At the end of the Siq where we had the first glimpse of the Treasury.

The Treasury.

Camel for rent.

Some scenic view on the way to Monastery

Near "Little" Petra

Resting

Military checkpoint

The long walk up to the Monastery.

The Monastery....Finally!

Camel/taxi for rent.

Dinner with friends: Rich and Monse (we met in Amman) at "My Mom's Recipe" restaurant. Bedouin's cusine!.

AQABA

From Petra, we drove to the southern port city of Aqaba. Aqaba is at the northern point of the Gulf of Aqaba. Egypt, Israel & Saudi Arabia are in close proximity. It is a busy port and Jordan's only access to the sea.

Promenade along the water front.

Beautiful beaches.

Along the promenade we met some young Jordanians who had lived in the US.

Aqaba Castle. It was built in the 12th century by the Crusaders.

Anwar Mecca Bakery. We tried some bread right out of the oven. About ten cents a loaf.

Tien helping the bakers.

We had a baked fish for dinner our last night in Aqaba.

MOUNT NEBO

We left Aqaba to go back north to Amman, Our next stop was Mt Nebo. The view from the summit provides a panoramic view of the Holy Land. Supposedly, this is where Moses died.

Farmers market on the way to Mt. Nebo

We think this is a sign for Mt. Nebo.

Mt. Nebo, where Moses viewed the "Promised Land"

Rolling Stone-a fortified door.

View of the "Promised Land" from Mt. Nebo..

View from Mt. Nebo. On a clear day you can see the Dead Sea, Jordan River Valley, Jericho, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

Observation marker.

"The Serpent and Cross" monument on top of Mt. Nebo.

MADABA

Not far from Mt. Nebo is Madaba, the City of Mosaics. The Shrine of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist and St. George Church are two famous churches in Madaba.

Shrine of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist.

Inside Shrine of St John the Baptist

Inside St. George Church known for its mosaic floor.

Inside the Byzantine church of St George is a mosaic map of the Middle East from the 6th century. The map was originally 60 feet by 20 feet with over two million pieces. It is the oldest known map of the Holy Land especially Jerusalem.