2010 #1 - Jordan in 48 hours from Cairo

Well it's Feb 26 and I am just getting to updating my Blog with anything substantial. It's been an amazing 2010 so far and time seems to be moving differently. I experience time shifting all the time. And I can't even really say what that means, except that a day can feel a year and 2 months can feel like a day.

Because so much has happened over the last 2 months, I am going to update in three different installments. this is #1 - Jordan. more to come soon on my trip to Dahkla . . .

I returned to Cairo on Jan 15 and just 2 weeks later I went with a group via bus, boat, and more bus to experience the country of Jordan. To the left you see a part of Petra known as the treasury - made famous by Harrison Ford in Indiana Jones and the last crusade. Petra is a beautiful part of Jordan and is considered one of the new 7 wonders of the world.

We took an overnight bus from Cairo to Taba on the coast of the Sinai and then took a ferry, not unlike the hi-line in Hyannis across the Gulf of Aquaba to Jordan (Aquaba). Then we took a bus up into the mountains through ice and snow (seriously!) to finally arrive in Petra in which there was flooding and temperatures in the 30's (F).

In this picture on the right I am walking through the Siq on the way to see the facade. You can see the water rushing at our feet and the amazing natural cut rocks with rose color. truly gorgeous and inspiring!

After this journey, we made our way to Amman - the capital city and enjoyed Jordanian hospitality at a hotel. After Egypt, we were all overwhelmed by the food, cleanliness, and overall good service. it was funny to see how shocked we all were.

The next day in Amman, we went to the citadel which is sort of an outdoor museum. The city of Jordan had many names. Here are some pictures showing the lineage of names - it was once called Philadelphia - something I never knew.

From the citadel, we had a great view of Amman which actually exists over 7 hills. While touring on our bus we were also shown the "beverly hills" of Amman. Pretty amazing amounts of wealth and beautiful looking homes. Jordan is governed by a king and is much smaller than Egypt. It was a great experience and gave me interesting perspective on the whole region.

On our way back from Amman to Aquaba (to get the boat back to the bus), we stopped at the Dead Sea. This experience was rather surreal. We stopped at a hotel that was overflowing in commercial abundance and clearly marketing itself as a resort and spa vacation spot. Here we were on the coast of the Dead Sea miles from where the stories of John the Baptist and his radical preaching of anti-establishment that ultimately led to his beheading, sipping juices and looking at marketing packets.

Across the way, we could see Israel, though to get there from here, feels not so easy given politics. Our Jordanian guide called Jordan "the switzerland of the middle east" meaning it gets along with everyone. I was definitely feeling the swiss vibe at the swiss owned movenpick complete with this view over the dead sea.

When I was home for Christmas I got a flip video hand me down as a gift from my big bro. So, I have started a youtube channel to post videos of my adventure. Here is some from the Jordan trip. enjoy!