Jordan day 2

Funny morning - we were checking out and I'm doing my part of the tipping when I notice one of the students is having a rather heated discussion with the Front Desk. At dinner the previous evening, most every table ordered bottles of water - which most didn't pay for because they thought it was included. For some reason all of the bottles and 2 sodas got charged to this 1 student! They wouldn't let him check out without paying. Ha, ha! Fortunately for him, I carry lots of emergency money and the bill got paid.
So, best day of Jordan was Tuesday the 24th - Petra.

This was right by the front entrance - I couldn't resist! :)

Aren't these amazing?

This is the entrance to the Siq -- a slot canyon leading to the city itself

 There was another shop near the entrance to the Siq, in case anyone needed to stock up before entering - you know between here and the previous shop 10 minutes ago!

These are all altars to various Gods - there were many throughout the Siq

 Sights along the way

 Kent, Eric Huntsman, and one of our students, Stuart - it was very cold when we began the day, but warmed up just enough to be perfect weather!

The water system. Sometimes this ran low down, like this and sometimes it was higher up on the wall. This is the remains of an enclosed clay pipe.

He's thirsty!

As we got nearer to the city there was a "Welcome sign" for the caravansaries coming into the city. You can see the remains of a man's feet and part of his camel next to him.

First glimpse of the Treasury

Ta Da!

 

After the Treasury, everyone went their own way until lunch. Kent took the Bentleys up the High place of Sacrifice. Too many steep, uneven steps for me. But here are some pictures

I walked along and looked at all of the tombs and tried to ditch the little kids selling jewelry and "old" coins.

Look at all of these amazing tombs

Here is what the cardo, or main street, of the city would have looked like:

 This is what is NOW looks like

 Yes, you've got some Roman soldiers in there who will "let" you take a picture for a small price. :)

I reached the area of the restaurant with an hour yet to go, so I wandered, sat, and took pictures.

Lunch was amazing - including grilled chicken! Then we had to head back in order to be at the bus on time.

More Jordan

After Mt. Nebo we stopped at a place called Madaba. Here are some street scenes - obviously taken through the bus window:

Clothing stores

 Fruit stand

 Blanket store

 Meat market

 A guy in a hurry :)

Madaba is the place where a large Mosaic map was discovered that dates 542-570 A.D. It covers, from east to west: the Eastern Desert to the Mediterranean Sea and from north to south: Lebanon to the Nile Delta.

 Nile River

 This is the cardo in Jerusalem

After the visit to the map we went to a restaurant for lunch. The BEST part was this bread that they made on site! YUM!!

Next stop - well for faculty and students - I stayed on the bus: Machaerus. This is where John the Baptist lost his head.

See the students? See the top of the mountain/hill? Now you know why I stayed on the bus!!!

 Pictures on top, courtesy of Kent

The rest of the trip was a LOOOONG drive to Petra. We had a couple of rest stops along the way, but it was still LOOOONG! :) The Jordan buses are not nearly as roomy as the Jerusalem buses and my knees were killing me by the time we got to the hotel. :(

We stayed in a place called La Maison. The dinner was great but it was Freezing in the place. When I tried to take a shower there was a little dribble - at least it was warm - not all of our students were so lucky. Now, it is Winter in Jordan too - we even passed piles of snow along the sides of the highway coming into Petra - you would think they would be prepared for cold.  Ah well - welcome to the Middle East. :) At least there were blankets on the bed!!!