The Middle East in the news

We woke up this morning to see two news stories this morning that were definitely unsettling, we feel very lucky in the timing of our visits:  The first story was of the escalated violence in the Gaza Strip and bombings near both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem from the militant group Hammas.  We feel extremely grateful that the middle east portion of our trip ended and we were far outside of Israel before this conflict began again.  When we were there we could definitely sense tension in the air, while we thought that was just the normal tension caused by the religions clashing going on in this part of the world, I can't help but wonder if perhaps it was intensified because this was on the verge, who knows.  The second story was about the violent protests occurring in Amman, Jordan in response to rising fuel costs, wherein the protesters are demanding the resignation of the king.  Needless to say, we are glad we were there last week, and not now. 

We truly did enjoy our time in the Middle East and it saddens me to see that there is so much conflict and hate in that part of the world. 

I have already posted a couple of times about our time in Israel, but I had a lot to say.  I haven't yet had a chance to post about visiting the ancient ruins of Masada (a fortress built by King Herod in the desert), the Dead Sea, and the ancient city of Petra.  I was planning to write about India today, but because of the news we heard this morning, my thoughts are on these places instead.

We took a day trip to Masada and the Dead Sea from Jerusalem, it was awesome.  The ruins of Masada are incredible to see, they are in remarkably good shape considering the fortress was built in the late 1st century B.C.  The fact that it is completely isolated in the desert and doesn't get much erosion from rain has left it in very good shape.  After visiting Masada we went to float in the Dead Sea.  I was excited to float in the Dead Sea and cover myself in black mud, but it was so much better than I had imagined.  Floating in that water is such a cool sensation, it's truly like nothing I have ever experienced.  The water does not feel like water at all.  Here are a few pictures:

Desert fortress of Masada

Floating in the Dead Sea

Famous black Dead Sea mud

The day after our excursion to Masada and the Dead Sea we had to cross the border from Israel into Jordan.  I was nervous, we had done tons of research, but we were doing it on our own and the idea of walking across the border from one country into the other seemed strange to me.  We took a bus from Jerusalem to Eilat, which is a small town on the Red Sea at the tip of Israel.  In Eilat we got off the bus and found a taxi driver to take us to the border crossing.  We arrived at the border crossing and paid our Israeli exit fee and received our exit stamps in our passports.  Then we walked out of Israel and into no man's land until we reached the gate with Jordanian border guards.  They checked our passports and pointed us to the security check point.  They put all of our bags through x-ray machines and waved us on to the visa terminal.  We had heard and read tons of various prices for the Jordan visa, they ranged from $20 - $65 per person.  We weren't sure how much it would be, but I had my USD ready.  The man examining our passports and issuing our visas asked me the meaning of my name, I was rather thrown by this question and told him I didn't know.  (Actually, we looked it up this summer, but I really could not remember and figured it wasn't all that important to memorize the meaning of my name...guess it might have proved useful in Jordan.)  The border agent then asked what my surname meant, I looked at Charles since Watson is his surname and he tried to explain the origin of the name, but neither of us knew the meaning.  The Jordanian guard then went on to tell us the meaning of his name and lectured us on how every word in Arabic has a distinct meaning and that knowing that meaning was very important.  We just stood their nodding and watched him fumble with our passports, and I waited for him to ask for money.  He never did.  He just handed them back to us and pointed towards the immigration check.  We handed over our passports again and I was ready with the money, they never asked for any.  They checked all of our stamps and visas and returned our passports and waved us towards the exit.  I just went with it, I thought at any second they would realize their mistake and come back to us asking for money, but it never happened.  We still aren't sure exactly what happened.  Our theory is that the agent preparing the visas was so concerned with the meanings of our names and explaining the importance that he forgot, which works great for us! 

Once we were safely in Jordan and in a cab to our hotel we relaxed.  It was much easier than I had imagined.  Our next task was to figure out how to get to Petra, which is about a 3 hour drive from the city of Aqaba where we were staying that night.  We inquired at the hotel and they recommended we talk to Hertz to rent a car or a driver and a car - it was ridiculously expensive.  Next we went to a tour operator and their quote was even more expensive.  I had read that many people just take a cab.  I figured it would be just as expensive, if not more than making arrangements with a tour group, but it was worth a shot.  There was a taxi right outside our hotel and we went up to him and asked him how much to drive us to Petra the next morning, he said he would do it for 50 Jordanian Dinars, which is about $70.  We were thrilled, we made the arrangements and he said he would arrive at 9:00 the next morning.  We did a little exploring of Petra that evening, the city of Aqaba is on the Red Sea and so we had to go and stick our feet in, we walked through the market and stopped into a few shops. 

Walking into Jordan

Red Sea in Aqaba

Had to stick my foot in...

Markets in Aqaba

Charles with a shop owner, he was a character

The next morning we got up early to head to Petra.  After a long drive through the desert in Jordan we finally made it.  We dropped our stuff in our hotel and made our way to the park.  Petra is incredible.  It was built around 312 B.C. and it is like nothing I have ever seen.  Truly amazing.  We met two Bedouin girls our first day in the park, they came to see what Charles was doing.  They were completely in awe of his paintings and loved all of them.  We spent an hour or so visiting with them, even being introduced to some of their family. 

In the Siq about to see the Treasury for the first time.

Treasury in Petra

Bedouin girls - so silly and funny

Our new friends

Charles showing them the bowtie

Monastery in Petra

Shopkeeper where we had lunch - he would yell out have a break, have a kit kat

Camels in Petra

We really loved Petra and are glad we planned two days there, we could have easily spent a few more.  I loved interacting with the kids in Petra, there are tons of them running around, but it made me sad to see them working and peddling things to tourists.  As you walk through Petra someone is always yelling some slogan or price to you in hopes that you will stop and spend your money.  Overall though, we really loved our time in Petra and in Jordan as a whole.