On to Jordan

Sunday morning and we are in a taxi, not in church, heading for Jordan. The cab was at our hotel on time and took us to the King Hussein (aka Allenby Bridge) crossing. Check point one took twenty minutes.  After a couple more check points, without requiring passport, we arrived at Israeli customs. Out of the cab, into the customhouse, $104 paid for VIP service (recommended for the complicated border crossing, although overpriced in our view), including a soft chair, coffee, hot chocolate, a bottle of water each and not having to stand in a fairly long line as two people handle our papers. Ten minutes later, we are taken through customs, no problem, then into a shuttle. Shuttle races through barren land and then another custom house, where we got coffee, sat in big chairs, had our passports checked and watched others come into and go out of the room. After almost an hour, Mark decided to inquire about our next step. We are so glad he did, for our guide and driver had been waiting outside for us for about 45 minutes of that hour. They had already started calling to see if we had cancelled.

This is a new experience for us, as we are the only two with a guide and driver as long as we are in Jordan. They are both very nice. Our guide lived in Dallas, Texas, for about seven years. He speaks English well and is animated and funny.

Our tour guide doubles as a picture taker.

Our first stop was Mt. Nebo, where a Franciscan church and monastery sit to commemorate Moses, as it was from this mount that God allowed Moses to see Canaan though he was not to go into it.

Portion of the mosaic

From there we headed to Madaba, where there is a large and impressive mosaic dating from the middle of the 6^th century. Having seen reproductions of this mosaic in Jerusalem, seeing the original was wonderful.

Jordan scene from highway.

The scenery surrounding us for most of the ride today looks like this picture. There is so little green. 

Ready for the second story.

Also so many of the homes we saw looked like the one pictured below. We asked about the concrete posts with steel rebar protruding from almost every roof. Our guide explained that the families do not have enough money to build two floors immediately but look ahead when they will have more children and more money. This gives them a start on that step. He also told us they are not allowed in Amman, Jordan, probably because they are not that attractive.

We also stopped at a mosaic studio and had a tour with demonstrations of creating the mosaics and painting pottery vases to look like mosaics. Queen Noor, former American and widow of King Hussein, has been a big supporter of the arts as an industry in Jordan, including mosaics, ceramics, quilts, small weavings and banners, all very beautifully done.

Shobak from a distance.

Shobak from a cool inside passageway.

Our last stop of the day was at Shobak, a castle high on a hill begun by the first Crusader king, and expanded later by Turks and Mamelukes. It was re-discovered in 1884 and Jordan is in the process of refurbishing this site. It was fun walking around it.

We are now at a fine hotel in Petra and will spend most of tomorrow walking through that archeological treasure. (Sorry for all the blank spaces in this post. Posting the pictures seems to put those in.)