Jordan - Jerash

Our last day in Jordan was spent in Jerash, which are some amazing ruins in the north, near Syria.  The hardest part about Jerash is that it's clearly not being very well cared for (our guide told our kids to keep pieces of mosaic and pottery that they found, and some guys tried to sell us old coins they'd found which apparently come to the surface when it rains).  However, 80% of the site is still buried and at this point that's a good thing.

The kids had a great time; basically treating this place as one huge playground.  And, I suppose if it has lasted two thousand years, T & L probably can't hurt it too badly.  Right?

Below is the forum, you can see the lighter colored stones on the inside of the oval which were placed by the Greeks.  The Romans expanded the forum with flatter, bigger stones that are more of a pinkish color.

Lizzie on the main road, or Cardo.

A manhole cover!  The sewage when under the road.

This is the stone from the butcher's shop.  See all the cuts in the stone? 

Look!  Eli was there, too.  (But seriously:  I'm so grateful he takes photos of everything.  I LOVE having them.)

The smaller of two theatres.  The wooden flooring on the stage is new.

This is a photo on our drive back to Amman.  You can see to the left and rear of the photo,
a large used-to-be-refugee camp for Palestinians.  It has now turned into a proper town.

Jordan - Petra

Petra is stunning.  It is a place to see, if you are able.  (And you do need to be in decent physical condition to manage it.)  Petra was built over two thousand years ago by the Nabateans.  The two pictures below are how you enter Petra -- you walk about a kilometer in this narrow passage called the Siq and then, you get a glimpse of the Treasury, which is the first tomb.


See the Treasury behind the kids in the above photos?

You walk out of the Siq into this area - which has a coffee shop and plenty of shopping opportunities.  You can pay for one of those horse/wagon combos to take you up and down the Siq, and you also have the opportunity to buy a donkey or horse to carry you around once you are through the Siq.  HOWEVER, these are shockingly mistreated animals and I would never pay one of their handlers to ride on one of them.  In my view, it is propping up an industry that shouldn't exist.  And, while the Jordanians realize they have this problem, they ask the tourists to (1) report mistreated animals, and (2) not ride on animals that can't support them.  All this to say, Petra is not perfect, AND we were beat when we finished because we gave Lulu a few piggy back rides toward the end of the day.  BUT, don't let this stop you from going as it is truly amazing -- just don't ride on animals.

Hiking up to the "Monastery" which sits  800 steps up on the mountains above the rest of the city.

The Monastery

Christmas 2016

We had a lovely Christmas in Muscat.  On Christmas Eve, we had dinner at a local place with a nice woman from Eli's work, and on Christmas day we spent the afternoon and had dinner with our very good friends.  The big news is that Santa brought the kids' bikes PLUS one bike for a grown up (Santa must know how much Eli works?) and so we have spent a lot of time on our bicycles since Christmas.

Eli got a go pro, and I have included a few photos taken with it - for fun.

We went to the Al Bustan to decorate gingerbread houses on December 23rd, and took a photo in front of their pretty tree.  (When we left for Jordan, I asked Aileen to take the Gingerbread houses away, and the kids have never asked me about them.  So they didn't even eat them :) )

Christmas Eve dinner at Kargeen

Tommy got a new nerf gun.  He loves it; me, not so much.

Eli got a new camera - this is a test photo that I love

Go pro photos.  And for the record:  if you wear contacts, you can't open your eyes under water.  However,
I hadn't realized I was doing so much to develop wrinkles around my eyes when I close them...

Christmas afternoon on the beach

The feast and a truly lovely expression on my face

Jordan - the Dead Sea and Jesus' Baptism Site

Our first day in Jordan, we went to the site of Jesus' baptism, and swam in the Dead Sea.  In retrospect, it wasn't one of the most impressive days of our trip, which says a lot because it was actually quite impressive.

The site of Jesus' baptism is on the River Jordan which happens to be a somewhat important and contentious international border, and so you are packed onto a bus with other sightseers and driven there, rather than driving in your own car or taxi directly to the site.  The picture below is before we got onto the bus, but is included because her feet aren't touching the ground and her smile is wide.

This was our first site of the Jordan. It's not as impressive as you would expect in most parts, which is apparently due to agriculture.  Also:  the water looks more like dirt than water.

This is the relatively recently discovered site of Jesus' actual baptism. The river no longer flows here, but did. There are lots of reasons that they are certain that this is the actual site. The guide offered to let me go down and touch the stones but I didn't feel like giving him any money so I declined.

THIS is the most fascinating part of the experience. See all those people?  They are in ISRAEL.  We could have easily spoken to each other.  But.  The river is the border so we are in different countries.  See the people baptising themselves in the water? They wear big white t-shirts.  And it was cold!

See Jericho behind them and to the left?

This is - obviously - the Dead Sea.  It is such a strange experience to swim there, because you can't actually swim...You just sort of bob around.

Rubbing dead sea mud on ourselves...

or throwing dead sea mud.

See all the salt??