Middle East Part 2 - Jordan

This post I'll tackle 10 items from the country Jordan (listed in the order I thought them - not a ranking).  I was pleasantly surprised by Jordan and felt safe even when going with a complete stranger "who was someone's cousin" for some day trip.

Jerash
Jerash (or Gerasa) is one of the highlights of Jordan in my opinion.  First off the history is just so amazing with it being inhabited as early as the Bronze age (that's really old-like 3200BC possibly) and one of the Decapolis cities.  It's the birthplace of Nocomachus, a famous mathematician for the geeks out there.  Really, its just that so much is still there, it is very well preserved and if it hadn't been for the earthquake of 749AD it would be "pristine."  One general note is that just about everywhere we went on our trip there was signage saying, "this was standing until the earthquake of 749AD."  That earthquake must have been a doozy!

I digress.  The fact is that this city, which is about an hour north of Amman, took all day to explore had amazing ruins. We were lucky enough to see Chariot Races going that day because there was some school group there (I even ran into my cousin's daughter while there which was fun).  While I thought it was going to be cheesy it was fun to see it acted out and they even provided a bit of historical facts to go with the display.  If you are lucky enough to be there when they have the races I would definitely suggest doing it.

Ha - I got 'em!  Whose laughing now?

Dead Sea
Living near the Great Salt Lake I have always wondered what it would be like to float in water.  Every time I tried to go out to the Great Salt Lake the brine shrimp were doing something so it smelled really, really gross and I just couldn't get myself into the water.  I was afraid this would be the same sort of scenario at the Dead Sea but I really wanted to experience the density of the water and what it felt like.  Thankfully, the water was pretty clean and didn't smell at all!  In order to be able to shower after your dip (which is really necessary even though the water is clean) you have to pay.  Most of the hotels cost upwards of 40JD and that just seemed ridiculous. At the end of the hotel row was Amman Beach which only charge 20JD for foreigners and it had everything you would need.

Floating in the Dead Sea was amazing.  I was a cork!  I stood straight up and down with my arms up and feet extended and I didn't sink below my chest.  It was the coolest thing!  We spent about an hour playing around trying to sink and also exfoliating with some Dead Sea mud (its suppose to be good for you - I'm not sure about that but it was fun to do).  Afterwards we had dinner at the Panoramic Restaurant which was totally amazing for sunset views and decent food too.

Hummus
Most Americans have eaten hummus.  Its basically ground up chickpeas, tahini and olive oil.  You would think...how hard can this be to make and how many varieties can there really be?  Let's just say that by the end of my trip I laughed at myself because I was a hummus snob.  Yep...it's true.  I could look at that chickpea dish and tell you whether it was "good" or not.  The best hummus in Jordan happens to be at Hasha's.  This is a little dive place in downtown Amman that the King of Jordan just happens to eat at as well.  It's cheap and some of the best food around.  Yum!

Yummy Hummus in Amman

Wadi Rum
Wadi means valley in Arabic and Wadi Rum means The Valley of the Moon.  This was our desert experience out in the Arabic desert.  It was really neat to ride a camel in the desert, to drive a jeep around the red sand and see massive rock formations.  But, I'm going to be blatantly honest...my friend and I had to laugh because we travelled half way around the world to see something that looks just like Lake Powell without the water.  Really!  I think our guide, Eid, was a little disappointed that we weren't awestruck by the two small arches he showed us.  My friend explained Arches National Park and he started to get the picture. 

So, the cool thing here was not the view but getting to know a Bedouin and asking a bunch of questions about their culture.  It was great to eat in a goat haired tent (although the hummus wasn't good - I was definitely differentiating by this point) and sleep under the stars far away from others.  I wasn't real keen on the Hookah that my guide had to smoke every stop we made or the fact that we "had" to take an hour nap after lunch.  This was definitely a 'forced slow down your pace' place. 

My silly camel ate everything in sight!

Camels and Hookahs
Ok...not camels as in animals, but cigarettes.  And, actually, not Camels, but Marlboro's.  Jordan (and Israel) is a nation which smokes like a chimney and interestingly people either smoke Marlboro's or hookahs.  This area alone keeps Marlboro in business.  Smoking is kind of disgusting to me and I'm allergic to it so this was definitely a negative 10 item.  You can't escape it anywhere; even in food shops. 

Eid, our guide, taking a hookah break

Petra

The magnificent Petra.  This was truly a spectacular spot.  You get the narrow slot canyon and red rock views.  You get incredible engineering feats of hewn ornate rock facades as well as developing water systems.  And, you get some rich history with neat ruins from the Nabataeans as well as the Romans.

We spent an afternoon and then a morning at the site.  By doing this we escaped the majority of the crowds and were able to get views and space away from the typical crowds.  The first day we hiked to the High Place of Sacrifice which gave us a view overlooking Wadi Musa (the town outside of Petra) and the royal tombs.  The view was amazing.  Like all the trails in Petra, there aren't many trail markers per say.  Instead, its a little Bedouin lady selling her wares in a tent.  Just beware of the sign at the bottom of some stairs saying, "best view in the world." We took a few of these that were definitely not the best view and definitely not worth the calories burned.

On day two we hiked to Ad Dier (the Monastery) which is another rock cut façade as well as a view of the region and Jabal Haroun (supposedly Aaron's tomb).   We ran into an archeology group digging and they happened to be from my alma mater, Brigham Young University.  It was really interesting talking with them as they were excavating the waterway systems.  I wanted to join them!  After learning more about the site we took a side trip up to the vista overlooking the Monastery as well as the regional view - this is well worth the extra few minutes.  And yes, there is someone selling something up there at the top!  Here's the funny thing however; they all have cell phones now. 

Each of these hikes were well worth it and weren't nearly as hard as the guide books indicated (I'll throw in a note that I live at 4500' and these hikes were closer to the 2000-3000' range) taking only an hour each way at most. 

Camel Riding
I just couldn't get over how crazy these animals are.  They make funny grunting noises and they are really tall!  Their legs hinge funny so they fold up real tight and they are bouncier than Tigger!  The minute they start walking even a hair faster than really slow you are going up and down as much as forward.  I'd put a video on it but you would get sick!  My hint for this one...lean way back when they stand up or you'll flop right on over their heads! (no, that didn't happen to me).

Amman City
Amman has ruins right in the city which justify at least a few hours of viewing.  They are the Citadel and the Roman Theatre.  My cousin had to laugh because last year when visiting him I was put on national Taiwanese TV (see this post: Chinese New Year Taiwan Style - Part 1).  This time I wasn't quite so famous; however, a young Muslim girl was amazed at how tall I was and had to take a picture of me.  Sadly, I was so enamored with being a celebrity that I forgot to get a picture of her. 

Diving in the Read Sea
Aqaba is way down south and way warm (like 100F warm).  While I was there it also happened to be WAY windy (like >25mph with higher gusts).  That caused some murkiness to the water (not to mention sand blasting when above ground) but overall the visibility was good.  I dove around a wreck for my first time and saw a ton of Lion Fish, Lizard Fish and other fish that have land based names but are really aquatic.  It was actually less expensive to dive there than at other places (I dove with http://www.aqabadivingcenter.com/ and would recommend them again).  I was surprised by how cold the water was and was thankful for a thick full wetsuit. 

Cute fish hiding in a Plume Worm

Ancient Things like Little Petra
Coming from the western US where anything over 100 years is old I had a hard time wrapping my brain around things that were thousands of years old.  Jerash, Petra, and all of these ruins are really old.  Little Petra is outside of Wadi Musa about a half hour.  It is some small ruins at a much smaller scale than Petra with no one there (except the Bedouin sellers of course).  What I thought was even neater was a short walk to a Neolithic village just outside of Little Petra showing that man built housing developments possibly around 9500BC - that's the last part of the Stone Ages!  Maybe Fred Flintstone was for real!?

Stay tuned for Part 3 of my trip - I will have a video showing some of my activities.  And, don't forget to check out the additional photographs HERE.

Middle East Part 1 - 10 Things about Israel

A friend and I went to visit our cousins (they happen to be married of all coincidences) who currently live in the middle east.  My cousin is providing many opportunities for me to go places that weren't on my bucket list; the most recent place being Jordan.  Being that close to the holy land I had to take advantage of going to Israel to check out a few sites as the political situation was decent in the area.  Below are 10 things about Israel...I'd like to say the top 10 things but not everything is a top item - rather, it might be an important item to know about or remember.  There's your truth in advertising.

Border Crossing - Allenby/King Hussein Bridge
Ok, this is the first item which is not a top 10 but important to know.  As someone who is very knowledgeable in project management I'd like to say that this is a prime example of what NOT to do.  This is one of the worst processes for border crossings I've seen (and I've been to 31 countries!).  They take your passport, which you don't see for a while, you then get it back from a large stack of collected passports.  You pay fees in this line and that line.  You wait in this line and that line.  You wait.  You take a bus.  You wait in this line and that line.  You get the picture?  It took us 5 hours to cross the border so plan accordingly!

Falafel Sandwiches
I figured since I just hammered something I better say something nice :).  This is definitely a top 10 item.  Israel has really tasty food and their falafel sandwiches are amazing!  They not only have hummus but also tahini dressing in them which just makes them tantalizing.  You can get them anywhere but I found the best (and interestingly cheapest place) was at the end of the Mahane Yehuda.  Thus, our next item on the list of 10 things about Israel is...

Not a clue what this says but I think it reads, "Best Falafel in Town"...or it should!

Mahane Yehuda
Just a short city transit ride and you are at Mahane Yehuda which is the local market for Jerusalem.  Here's where the real people shop (ok, real people shop everywhere but let's just say locals shop here) and it was great to wander the streets and buy fresh juice, pastry, breads, deserts and see the variety of vegetables.  I had no idea there were so many olives or eggplant varieties! 

 That's a lot of olives!

And that's even more eggplant varieties.

Hills - the city on the hill reference
Ok.  I knew that Jerusalem was on hill and knew that there were hills.  What I didn't know is that you are either walking up or walking down unless it's man made to be flat.  I couldn't believe how up and down it was.  Coming from the western US I hear of a valley and I think of a larger expanse (Salt Lake Valley is several miles wide) but here the hills are so close that there's a valley everywhere as well <g>.  Kidron Valley is only a few feet wide and back up you go to the Mt of Olives.  Remember that when you have to walk with your luggage from the Damascus Gate to the Jaffa Gate!

Capernaum
This was one of my favorite places.  I would highly recommend taking a tour of the Sea of Galilee area.  It is a long drive but well worth it as you get a better appreciation for the other parts of Israel.  The Sea of Galilee is so much bigger than I thought and Capernaum is a great place to see it with ruins along side. 

Bartering
This again is one of those items on the list of 10 things that is not necessarily a top 10.  Typically I really enjoy bartering but down in the Old City bartering is a whole level above most others.  They not only haggle hard but they won't stop and aren't the nicest people if you don't buy something from their shop after you walk in.  As tour guides get some exorbitant cut of the pie (I heard rumors of as much as 50% of the price) every tour is like Disneyland in that you go on a part of the tour and then they drop you off at a shop and the cycle just continues throughout the duration.  Know this going in for negotiating because if you go without your tour group the shops do tend to give you better prices.

Me bartering in the Old City...this item was bought happily.  And, why does everyone Muslim in Jerusalem know someone in Chicago?

Surprisingly this includes food sometimes!  Make sure that your restaurant in the Old City has a published menu with prices.  We went into one location and they only gave us a few options for food and then the price was double what we had agreed to and a big mess to straighten out. 

Bethlehem - Shepherd's Fields
As an American I like it when things are kept pristine.  Many of the religious sites about Jesus Christ have been turned into a relic for various Christian churches which means you see a church and not the actual site of the event.  One such pristine site is the Shepherd's fields.  I loved the Shepherd's fields because I could really imagine what it was like 2000 years ago and what those shepherds might have been looking at and doing.  It was great!  In fact, this was the highlight of my whole tour to Bethlehem. 

Old City - Pools of Bethesda
Again, this is another one of the pristine sites which brings you right back to Christ's time.  We read John 5 from the Old Testament and I could really visualize Carl Bloch's painting actually happening.   The ruins are interesting to walk around and the crusader's cathedral right next to it - St. Anne's Church is also one of my favorite churches with amazing acoustics.  Sadly there was an off-key off-kilter group singing when we arrived.  Afterwards, we tried ourselves (probably not better than the group we heard but we gave it a whirl!)

Old City - Austrian House
For one of the best free views of the rooftops go to the Austrian House in the Christian Quarters.  We grabbed some breads and went up to the top for an amazing view of the sunset and moonrise.  Interestingly there weren't many people up there and by the time the sun started setting everyone else had left so it was more secluded than you would think. 

One of the better free views in the Old City - Austrian House

Garden Tomb
As I have stated above, I like pristine.  Certainly one of the highlights of Israel for me, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, was to see where Jesus lived; where he performed so many miracles; where he died; and where he was raised again.  One possible location for Christ's tomb is the Garden Tomb which is run by a non-denominational organization which keeps things not only pristine but reverent.  It was a great experience to be able to go and see and have it be not so crowded that you couldn't feel as well. 

The flowers are out - and so is the sun at the Garden Tomb!

 

There you have it.  Ten things about Israel that you might or might not have known.  I have additional pictures on my gallery tabs under the tab "new" with details from Israel and Jordan.  Check it out!  And, stay tuned for part 2 of the Middle East.