On to Jordan

Car Trouble

The sun is shining and it is 12 degrees. It’s 8am. We move through security and baggage claim in under an hour. 

Mabada

The roads meander and curve over the flat ground for no particular reason. Speed bumps seem to be haphazardly placed without warning signs or paint markings on the road causing unexpected jolts. Some guy passes us while driving on the wrong side of the road. There don’t seem to be any stop signs and very few street lights. John is doing a great job driving. After finally getting used to driving on the left in Cyprus he does turn the windshield wipers on a few times instead of his turn signals as these are reversed. Other than that, he makes the transition from driving on the left to the right seamlessly.

Madaba is a small town just outside of Jordan’s capital, Amman. Madaba is home to one of Jordan’s largest communities of Christians.

Parking is a bit of a challenge. There are no signs to tell you where you can park and where you can’t. We park at the side of the road where other cars are parked, cross our fingers and walk to Saint Georges Church. We see the lady with the florescent outfit from the plane and say hi.

Madaba’s claim to fame is its Byzantine mosaics, including the Madaba Map (in St Georges Church) which is a mosaic from the 6th century showing Jerusalem and parts of the Holy Land.

A short walk away is the Burnt Palace. They don’t know if it was ever a palace but knew for sure that someone really rich had lived there. We walk upon the old Roman road which is in the palace area. The mosaics are gorgeous.

Mount Nebo

Next we drive up and up to Mount Nebo. This is where Moses saw the Promised Land of Canaan just before he died.

It starts to rain just as we get out of the car. It then pours down but we are close to an area with an ancient covered mosaic. It quickly stops. Unfortunately our view of the countryside leaves a bit to be desired. The sign says that on a clear day  people can see all the way to Jerusalem. Not so much today.

I see the florescent outfit lady again. She is hard to miss.

On to Bethany

The road down Mount Nebo twists and turns. There is a lack of guard rails and numerous steep drops. We pass a number of shepherds with their herds on goats and sheep.

Both in the mountains and in the low areas there are lots of plastics bags lying around and moving with the breeze. We do not see any speed limit signs anywhere.

The mountain does not go straight up, it’s more of a rising collection of rough, rocky hills that rise and rise out of the sandy ground.

We pass areas where people are living in tents. Some are store bought tents and others are makeshift. There are clothes lines with laundry near many of these homes.

We head to Bethany which was where Jesus was baptized. This was also where John the Baptist had his first ministry.

The GPS says that Christ’s baptismal site is still 4 km away so when John asks what the big parking lot is that we are passing, I reply, “Thats not it”.

We continue until we get to a gate with two guards holding machine guns. I’m a little freaked. We open the window.

They are really friendly…one is quite jovial. They inform us that we are supposed to enter on the bus with a guide that we catch back at that parking lot.

We wait for 45 minutes and catch the last bus of the day at 3:00pm. On the way in we pass a number of churches all of different denominations. The guide points out where Jericho and Jerusalem are…the Left Bank is much closer than I expected.

The River Jordan is the boundary between Israel/West Bank and Jordan. 

We walk to the place where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. This is also where John the Baptist had his ministry. John and Jesus were cousins and close in age. Now the actual baptismal spot is more like a pond because over hundreds of years, the river has moved.

We move on to a place where we can actually put our hands in the river. Some people are dipping crosses and rosary beads into the water. Across the river, less than a stones throw away, is Israel.

Our guide next takes us to a cave in the mountain where Byzantine monks used to live. Our shoes/boots get caked in mud on our way to and from. There is a Russian woman who is wearing  all white, including shoes…not a good choice for today’s venture.

Holiday Inn Dead Sea Resort

We make our way back to the bus and the parking lot. The sun has just set at 4:30pm as we start to drive to our hotel. When you miss your turn off, in most cases you have to do a u-turn on the highway to get back. We did a few of those as there are few markings or signs.

We are staying at the Holiday Inn Dead Sea. We have to stop at the gate house and are questioned about our reservation and vaccination status before they open the gates for us to drive in. Our luggage is put through an  ex-ray machine and we walk through a metal detector. Reminders of the troubles that can plague the Middle East.  They find our bottle of wine and the guard smiles and tells us not to drink it in the open.

Our room is gorgeous and we can walk out to one of the many pools or a little further into the Dead Sea. John has outdone himself in finding this place.

I love all the beautiful Dead Sea toiletries which I immediately use when I shower.

My chest is feeling a bit tight. Even with the mask, I am bothered by all the smokers. I am also wondering if there is some air pollution. I use my puffers.

We are now on our way out to supper. The warm night breeze carries the calls to prayer. Jordan is a cat place, they are all over.

We go for the buffet. I find lots of fish and veggie options. Unfortunately for my waistline , I also find lots of dessert options.