Jordan: The Kingdom of Jordan is an Arab country spanning the southern part of the Syrian desert to the Gulf of Aqaba.

Jordan Trip

March 2009

After seven days on the Red Sea, we disembarked the ship and headed into Jordan where the first thing we did was visit The Lost City of Petra, a red-hued city, carved into the sandstone cliffs and hidden in a canyon. It was a magnificent ancient city at its peak and was home to at least 30,000 people. Unknown to most Westerners until 1812, a Swiss explorer stumbled upon its ruins. It is approached via the SIQ, a long, very narrow passage of 600 ft. sandstone cliffs. The building seen as you leave the SIQ is known as the Treasury Building. If you have seen the Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade movie, you will recognize the site for some of it was filmed here.

Amman, the modern and ancient capital of Jordan, is one of the oldest cities continuously inhabited in the world. The city has grown rapidly into a modern, thriving metropolis filled with ancient remnants. King Hussein was ruler of Jordan over 40 years (1953 - 1999 his death). Prince Abdullah became the king after his father's death. Jordan is more westernized than secular Egypt. And, it is a friendly Arab country to the US. We spent a few days here and were impressed. It is a white painted city…all buildings must meet code. The white represents PEACE!

We visited the Amman Citadel and Archaeological Museum where some of the Dead Sea Scrolls are located. The Dead Sea scrolls consist of roughly 900 documents (papyrus scrolls and scroll fragments including texts from the Hebrew Bible), discovered between 1947 and 1956 in eleven caves in and around the Dead Sea in Jordan. And, one afternoon we went to the Dead Sea (lowest point on Earth), and took a swim or should I say float in this stitley sea…10 times stitleier than the world’s oceans.

Jim took a jeep safari into the Wadi Rum Desert, the largest and most magnificent of Jordan’s dramatic desert landscapes. Made famous by the film, Lawrence of Arabia, this beautiful area is patrolled by police on camels.

Mount Nebo is also in Jordan. This is where, according to the Bible, at the end of his life, Moses viewed the Promised Land that he would never enter. From here, there is a panorama view of the Dead Sea, the Jordan River, the West Bank and Jerusalem on a clear day. A few miles from this area is the small city of Madaba where St. Georges 6th century Byzantine Church is located. It is famous for its ancient mosaic map of the area. While we were there, the people were getting ready for a visit from the Pope.

And, on the last day we took a full day excursion to explore Jerash, a very well-preserved Roman city that may match the well-preserved Ephesus in Turkey. We also visited the 12th century Saracen castle at Ajlun that served as a military watch post protecting the ancient trade routes. And finally, we said goodbye to not only some new travel mates from all over the country but also to the ever-sounding five times a day Islamic call to prayer.

Jordan Photo Gallery

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