Jordan

Jordan is a stunning country that is often overlooked because it's surrounded by Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Israel. It's either lumped in with all these other "dangerous" countries, rife with violence and terrorism, or dismissed for its relative lack of history compared to Damascus and Jerusalem for example. However, Jordan has a myriad of places to visit, all on par, in my opinion, with the surrounding lands. First and foremost of course, is Petra, the "rose red city" as it has come to be known due to a poem written by John William Burgon whose last line speaks of Petra as "A rose-red city half as old as Time".

Petra is a stunning display of architecture built initially by the Nabateans and subsequently influenced by the Byzantines and Romans. It is a place you would never expect to find as you drive into the hills that surround it and that was the beauty of its discovery by the Nabateans. Easily defensible and well watered, it was the perfect place to build a city through which traders passed from all directions. The sandstone is stunning and the minerals in the rock lend themselves to incredible colors and striations.

Unfortunately, Petra was named one of the new 7 Wonders of the World and although it was only rediscovered in 1812 by a Swiss guy named Jean Louis Burckhardt, interest in the city has since grown exponentially. The Jordanian government has recognized the need to promote Petra for its tourism draw and they have invested a great deal of money and effort into preserving the site for obvious reasons. Jordan, in a sweeping irony of bad luck, has no oil, instead relying on mining of phosphates and tourism to bolster its economy. Petra is a major underpinning of its tourist business. What this means is that it's impossible to soak in Petra as it should be - a quiet, rose-red city with wind whistling through the narrow canyons and gorges. Instead, there are gazillions of tourists, Bedouins hawking cheap trinkets and herds of camels, donkeys and horses on hand to give a lift to the out of shape, fat tourists who can't make the short hot hike through the valley. One can still appreciate the sheer enormity of what it must have taken to build this city but to me, it was marred significantly by the hoards of tourists. Hypocritical I know, since I was one of those tourists but I can still dream!

The natural caves the Nabateans took advantage of and made their homes.

Al-Khazeh, Arabic for The Treasury and the most famous of the Petra facades. It's actually a tomb and not a Treasury. The myth persisted because the Arabs came to believe that the urn at the top contained riches.

The Nabateans were forced to build from the top down due to the nature of the sandstone. The fine, crumbly grit fell into their eyes as they tried to build from the bottom up so they were forced to climb ledges to the starting point and work down.

The incredible colors and striations of the rock in Petra.

Petra requires about 3 days to fully explore and see all the sites. It actually covers 42 square km which is far bigger than most people anticipate. Alas, we only had one afternoon as the horses awaited us but it was worth every minute. On the way home, I read a fascinating book called "Married to a Bedouin" that is well worth the time, regardless of whether one has ever been to Petra. The author speaks of a much simpler, quieter time when she lived in a cave in Petra in the 1970's when the Bedouin were still allowed to live in the caves. They have since been forcibly moved to government housing in order to accommodate tourism.





The second place in Jordan which captures many people's imagination is Wadi Rum. This is a huge area in the south of the country that is now a protected region. In it, Bedouin roam and live in their goat hair tents, driving herds of sheep, camels and goats. The enormous, stunning rock formations and canyons are part of the Great Rift Valley that extends all the way down to Kenya and east Africa. It's impossible to depict in my photos, the sheer size and scope of this landscape. I thought Namibia was immense and jaw dropping in its splendor but I'm afraid Wadi Rum has easily topped the Namibian landscape. By far my preferred place in Jordan and a place I could easily live. I can think of no better life than being in the saddle all day, wandering through the desert scape and sleeping outside every night.

A Bedouin driving his camel flock. April is breeding season so there were babies everywhere!

The Bedouin rode into our lunch camp one day, selling our cook cigarettes. The Bedouin have mastered mixing their ancient, traditional lives with adaption to a new century. They all have cell phones, usually a car or two and can seamlessly transition between desert and city as needed.

The highlight of the trip is always the horses. After all, this is the reason I go! This year, they were mostly Arab-Turk crosses with a couple being pure Arab. My first concern is always the health and treatment of the horses and I was enormously impressed with the health and quality of these horses. The program is run by a native Petran, Rami and his Dutch wife, Jessica. Rami has a long family history of raising horses and he is wonderful with them. Jessica, whom we only me the first night, was busy at the office and unfortunately could not join us on the trail. She was a lovely lady, always happy and smiling, her enthusiasm for Jordan and the horses was boundless.

I was chosen to ride Nomas, a huge white stallion who was an ex-race horse. Of the last 4 years of riding holidays, he was my favorite of all my horses. He was intelligent, always alert and watching, incredibly fast and well behaved. The exhilaration of riding a horse as fast as he was made the entire trip for me! His love of the land, of working and of running made this holiday a perfect one for me.

Nomas, in all his glory. Our freckles matched!

Rami, our guide and his horse Asaf. Asaf was Nomas' son and Nomas did not take kindly to this upstart! They had to be kept separate as Nomas is the alpha of the herd and intended things to stay that way!

My tent the second night. This was our first night in Wadi Rum. Truly a room with a view.

One of the sheer rocks that once held a bridge of stone. This was the terminus of the Burra Canyon.

Our horse tour ended at the Dead Sea where the sudden change from desert living to the 5 star Marriott gave me a severe case of culture shock. My room had a view across the Dead Sea to Palestine and the West Bank. It was hard to believe a land of such troubles can be separated from Jordan, a land of peace, stability and safety by a few miles. The border with Israel runs down the center of the Dead Sea.

The West Bank facing Jerusalem which sits higher on the cliffs of the West Bank. Jerusalem is 35 km by car from the Marriott.

I did not realize there was nothing but hideous resorts, theme-park like hotels on the Dead Sea. The lack of even a small town left me with 2 days of screaming children, 5 swimming pools and nothing to do at this 5 star compound. So I arranged to go to Mt. Nebo and Madaba located in the hills above the Dead Sea. Mt. Nebo is the hilltop where Moses is believed to have gazed upon the Holy Land after 40 years of leading the Israelites through the desert. Here at Mt. Nebo, God supposedly showed the Promised Land to Moses and he died shortly thereafter. There is debate amongst the religions as to whether or not Moses is actually buried here. Although I am not religious nor do I subscribe to any religion, it is hard not to feel some kind of belief or presence of a God in this land. The symbolism, history and the ancient tales that come from this land seem to permeate everything. Regardless of whether you are Muslim, Christian or Jew, there is an overwhelming sense of wonder as you look out across the Dead Sea to Israel, Jerusalem, Jericho and Ramallah.

Looking west to Israel from Mt. Nebo. The map shows Hebron, Jericho, Jerusalem, Ramallah and the Dead Sea.

We then drove from Mt. Nebo to Madaba which is famous for its mosaics. Madaba contains St. George's Church, a Greek Orthodox church which has a very large, very famous mosaic inlaid into the floor that depicts the world as it was known then. The mosaics have lasted for centuries and are a wonder to behold.

The names of countries are written in Aramaic but with Greek symbols.

I was forced to part with a large sum of money for a stunning mosaic of the tree of life and the cycle of life. In keeping with my determination to buy only handmade items that are produced in local shops and which benefit women or the disenfranchised, with the help of my driver, I found a shop which is run by the Jordanian government for disabled people. They are trained to become artisans, producing high quality local arts and crafts and they receive a large portion of the proceeds. It is sometimes difficult to find shops like this when I travel but this shop fit the bill exactly. Here, the artisans work painstakingly on mosaics:

This piece will take about 6 months to complete.

My mosaic purchased from the artisans. The craftsmanship is extraordinary.

Alas, when I got home, the Polar Bear was not impressed with my photos or my gorgeous mosaic.

Were you gone? I didn't notice...

The Polar Bear likes to pretend he was abused and starved by my parents when I come to pick him up. In this case, he actually looked like he was starved, so thin did he appear to me. I instantly panicked thinking he had cancer or some disease that was causing him to waste away as he lost so much weight so fast. My mom assured me he had been eating every last morsel as well as every treat that came his way. The mystery was solved when I took him for a walk the next day and found that he is full of tapeworms. So off to the vet for some expensive little pills and some expensive flea control medication. Although I can't see any fleas on him, the worms were caused by his ingesting a flea so we are taking no chances. That was the monster's way of saying welcome home! And now PB and the kittenzillas are thrilled to have me back 24/7 due to my surgery yesterday. They cram onto the sofa and fight for the best spot, making up for my recent absence. And to add to the fun, I found Akbash-Maremma puppies in a shelter in the Tri-Cities area that are calling my name. Will I be able to resist? Stay tuned...