Adventures in Jordan

View from the car around Amman

We just came back from an amazing vacation in Jordan, full of adventure and history.  We started in Jerash and Amman where we toured ancient ruins, some of which are dated back 2,000 years ago.  Jerash was fascinating because many of the ruins are still yet to be unearthed.  Our tour guide even told us that most of the ancient city was still underground when he was a child, and he had camping trips there with his friends.  That same spot today is now full of ancient markets, houses, buildings, streets, temples, and a theatre.  We really enjoyed the theatre because the girls got on stage for a while to do a little dance.  Then, some local men dressed in traditional clothes came out and played Scotland the Brave on bagpipes.  We definitely were not expecting that, but it was a unique and fun experience!

In Amman, we also went to ancient sites, including the forum, markets, housing, and theatre.  There was a museum at one of the sites where we saw skeletons of people from thousands of years ago.  The girls were especially interested in a baby skeleton and the skulls that showed the old practice of trepanning where holes were drilled into a head to relieve someone of bad ailments.

The  day was more of a Biblical journey as we went to the site where Jesus was baptized and then on to where Moses viewed the Promised Land and eventually died.  At the baptism site, we first viewed the exact location that is believed to be where John the Baptist baptized Jesus.  Then we walked a little further down the path to where the River Jordan now currently runs.  There we had a chance to put our feet in the water and also witnessed someone else getting baptized in the river from the other side.  This river separates Jordan from Israel, and there were serious military men present to prove it.  We did, however, manage to get a picture from the Jordan side with the Israeli flag in the background.  To view the Promised Land, our driver then took us up to the top of a mountain where it is believed that the Israelites travelled to get to the land.  At the top, we got a glimpse of the view, but it was pretty foggy.

Afterward, we headed to Petra to see the infamous rock-carved treasury building from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  We soon found out, though, that this area was an entire village at one point, full of markets, temples, and homes for the wealthy and poor.  This trip entailed a lot of hiking, and our guide brought us off the beaten path a bit to actually go into some of the caves that were once homes.  We were essentially alone with our guide for the entire time and got some amazing photos all around Petra.  After about three hours of hiking, we gave the girls a break and rented mules to take us up a rocking mountain to an ancient sanctuary.  The ride was an adventure, full of gorgeous cliff-side views and bumpy terrain.  Once we got to the top, we took a rest at a cafe where we found several other teachers from our school.  Finally, we hiked back down on foot and made our way out of Petra to our hotel.  In total, we were there for five hours!  To celebrate the day, we enjoyed some Movenpick ice cream at our Movenpick hotel.  This was a truly amazing experience for us all and the best day of the trip.

The next day we headed to Wadi Rum to go camping with the traditional Bedouin people.  They took us on a jeep ride through the desert dunes where we were surrounded by beautiful rock formations.  At one point, we got out of the jeep to climb to the top of a steep, tall dune.  Once the girls got to the top, Justin and I each grabbed a hand and ran down with the girls.  They loved that even though they both ended up falling at the bottom.  That night, we also rented camels and rode them into the desert to watch the sunset.  One the way back to camp, Justin walked alongside us so that Taelyn could have her own camel for the first time.  Then we hung at the camp while the Bedouins cooked and served dinner with the traditional method on burying the food underground and heating the mound; it was very good.  To top off the evening, we slept in our tent which was really more like a wooded shack with a tent top and four beds inside.

Our next destination was to the beach in Aqaba.  We stayed at a 5-star beach resort where we spent most of our time relaxing at the pool, on the beach, and in lounge chairs.  The girls found a cat with four little kittens, and they spent hours of their day playing with them.  We also walked down the road to meet up with friends from our school and had a great time at their pool with a waterslide, enjoying happy hour.

We finished the trip by stopping by the Dead Sea on the way back to Amman.  It was quite the unique experience.  The water felt almost like oil because it contained so much salt.  Taelyn, Justin, and I enjoyed sitting back in the water while our bodies completely floated, but Kaelia didn't like all of the salt and quickly waited on shore.  We also scrubbed our arms with Dead Sea mud and felt it tingle all over.  Then we took a quick rinse off shower, swam in the resort pool next to the sea with slides and play structures in the water, and called it a day.  Our driver took us back to Amman where we flew out the next morning back to Doha.

Jordan was an incredible adventure, full of a diverse range of activities.  We are so glad we had the opportunity to go there while we are in the Middle East.

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