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JORDAN
(Amman, Petra, Wadi Rum & Aqaba)We were in Jordan on two occassions, this being a good base to visit the Middle Eastern countries. The first time we were here, we spend two weeks in Egypt and another week in Syria, starting and ending in Amman. The second time, we covered Jerusalem and Turkey starting and ending also in Amman.
Amman the capital of Jordan is a bustling modern city with good basic infrastructure. We arrived in morning and began touring this quaint town which were once part of the Roman and Ottoman empire. Right in the middle of town, we visited a Roman theatre. This is next to a bustling market area and also the town square, a good place for people watching.
We spend two days here sorting out our ticketing and arranging the next stop. We took a bus to the town of Moses Springs, purportedly where water gushed out when Prophet Moses struck the ground with his wooden staff. This is also the base for visiting Petra, this stunning city carved out of rocks, once the capital of the Nabeteaeans kings. It became more famous in recent times when it appeared on the "Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade" movie. Petra is sited in a hidden valley and is a huge complex of temples, tombs, Roman cities and lots more.
The next day we moved on to Aqaba, the southernmost town in Jordan. This port town located on the Red Sea boasts of clear waters , good for diving. We went for a snokling trip but the corals were not that impressive. From Aqaba, one could see vibrant lights of Eilat in Israel. We boarded a ferry with passengers filling up almost every available space. This took us over to Egypt where we started an arduous 12 hour bus ride to Cairo. After 10 days in Egypt, we back-tracked to Aman. From here we went over to Syria for a period of 10 days.
On another trip a few years later, we headed first for Jerusalemn. Upon exiting the border, we hired a van as we had brought our families. Our first stop was the town of Madaba, a former Christian Byzantine town which houses the world famous mosaic map of Palestine including the oldest map of Jerusalem. From St George's Church on a nearby hill one can also see the land of Israel, the so-called 'promised land' of the Jews..
Later we proceeded to Petra for a second visit. A day later, we moved on to Wadi Rum, made famous by another movie "Lawrece of Arabia". In fact, this was also where Lawrence spend much of his time commandeering the Desert Petrol Corps. LP commented that this place has some of the most spectacular desert scenery in the world. We went on a guided 4-WD ride and trek accross the desert, which is owned and run by the local Bedouins.
From Wadi Rum, we drove to the Dead Sea, with the intention of having a nice soak and float. The sea is so salty here that one cannot sink into the water. Unfortunately we had time contraints and was only able to have a short stop before rushing off to the airport for our flight home. Well perhaps next time!
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