Urrrgh. I hate drama. Hate stress. Blah.
Breakfast at this hotel was ok - the nicest thing was meats at breakfast!! Haven't had meat at breakfast this whole trip (except for some tuna on the first day).
Loaded up in the coach and got driven through the most affluent part of Amman, with the tour guide doing a whole PR spiel for the country.
Skyscraper in Amman
Photo by Dad
Fancy houses in the richest part of Amman
Our first stop was the "Memorial of Moses" on Mount Nebo - possibly the place that Moses came up to see into the Promised Land before he died. There were a couple of nice mosaics there and you could just barely see Jerusalem through the haze.
Memorial of Moses stone
Mosaic at Mount Nebo
Photo by Dad
Mosaic at Mount Nebo
Caduceus at Mount Nebo - Brazen Serpent by Giovanni Fantoni
Photo by Dad
View towards the northern end of the Dead Sea from Mount Nebo
View towards Jerusalem from Mount Nebo
View northwest towards the Jordan River valley from Mount Nebo
Came down from there and stopped at a mosaic-making workshop where they make some stunning mosaics from cut stone. They can take months to complete, depending on the size of stones and intricacy.
Handcrafting a mosaic in Handicraft Centre Mosaic Workshop
Photo by Mum
Handcrafting mosaics in Handicraft Centre Mosaic Workshop
Photo by Mum
Mosaic egg in Handicraft Centre Mosaic Workshop
Mosaic eggs in Handicraft Centre Mosaic Workshop
Photo by Mum
Mosaic table in Handicraft Centre Mosaic Workshop
Mosaic in Handicraft Centre Mosaic Workshop
Mosaic in Handicraft Centre Mosaic Workshop
Photo by Dad
Madaba Map mosaic in Handicraft Centre Mosaic Workshop
Stones used to make the mosaics
Then into Madaba. Traffic was a little crazy as traffic lights were out, and did I mention they don't really have road rules here?
Double parked ute in Madaba
We parked and walked up to see St George's Church and the amazing mosaic they have of the middle east something like 1500 years ago. But the buttheads decided to build a church on top of it, and stuck a supporting pillar *right in the middle of the mosaic* !?!?!? Idiots.
St George's Church
Photo by Mum
Madaba Map of the Holy Land guide
Inside St George's Church
Madaba Map of the Holy Land mosaic
Photo by Mum
Madaba Map of the Holy Land mosaic
Jerusalem in the Madaba Map mosaic
Why would you put a column right in the middle of the map?
And then back to the bus back through the market street.
For some reason this town had a nice feel to it. Maybe because the shops looked more familiar (a lot of English and selling more western products), maybe because the locals were friendly and waving, maybe because the vendors weren't aggressive. Who knows.
Headed a way out of town to a new restaurant for lunch and it was really nice (with nice clean free toilets - a major bonus in this country!). They even had this camel milk custard dessert!
Next up - another one of Herod's palaces at Mukawer, traditionally the location that they beheaded John the Baptist. A good little climb up and a great view.
Fortress of Machaerus
View towards the Dead Sea
Fortress of Machaerus
Fortress of Machaerus
Fortress of Machaerus
Fortress of Machaerus
Me and Dad at the Fortress of Machaerus
Photo by Mum
Fortress of Machaerus
Fortress of Machaerus
Fortress of Machaerus
Tombs? At Machaerus
Photo by Dad
Jordanian flag
This country is amazingly water poor, but we did see a couple of interesting things. One thing was temporary water tanks with tubing to irrigate roadside trees they're trying to grow. At another point we saw a burst water pipe on the side of a mountain gushing water in a huge geyser half way down the side of the mountain.
Jordanian countryside
Burst water pipe watering the hillside
Then to the "Grand Canyon of Jordan" - Wadi Mujib.
Wadi Mujib - the Grand Canyon of Jordan
Wadi Mujib - the Grand Canyon of Jordan
Wadi Mujib Dam
Wadi Mujib - the Grand Canyon of Jordan
Route 35 heading down in to Wadi Mujib canyon
Then headed south. The landscape changed dramatically from farmland to semi-arid.
Jordanian countryside
Had a pitsop along the way, but had to pay for the toilets here.
Continued south (then west) to Petra (Wadi Musa), arriving just on sunset (behind the clouds anyway).
Hazy sunset over Jordan near Petra
Navigating this hotel is a drama. You have to take two separate lifts, but there's only two at each site, and they only hold six people at a very tight squeeze. Found some stairs and decided they were much easier and faster.
Dinner was a total drama. First the parents arguing about which way up or down the table to move to not leave odd seats, so abanonded them. But then getting food was a *massive* drama because of a bunch of rude Europeans (Italian I think but could have been French - both are in the building) pushing in and making everything take longer. Hate.
Internet is $5 for the whole stay, but another couple gave me a couple of dollars to use it briefly. But it's so slow I may not be able to get my blog entries online anyway. Plus the only place you can use it is in the lobby, and that's where all the Europeans come to smoke :( *sigh*
Now it's stoopidly late because we got here late and have to get up stoopidly early. Which means my chances of getting any decent sleep tonight are about zero..
Distance covered on the GPS: 351.5
Steps walked: 16414, but I'm taking off 5000 due to bumpy roads screwing up the count
Photos on the Canon: 335
Photos on the Sony: 49
Videos: 11
USD Spent: 5-2
JD Spent: 0.5+2