Jordan....Even the God stuff is good!

Do you recognize this shot? Think Indianna Jones...... and welcome to Jordan!

Temples? Tombs? No one really knows.

We were walking down the Siq (a narrow canyon) into Petra and my finely tuned Canadian accent antenna jumped to a conversation between a couple walking in front of us. Yes. From Drumheller, in Jordan for ten days and working their way south from Amman. We were working our way north to Amman, so there were travel tips and adventure stories to share. Us to them: “Wadi Rum? Absolutely, it is a bit like the Bad Lands of Alberta if you added a whole lot of sand! Don’t pay for the official jeep tour at the ticket booth, go down to the village and ask around for a private driver”. Them to us: “Go ahead and rent a car, the signs are subtitled in English, the roads are good and there’s no public transportation along the Dead Sea shore. Shawbeck is the best Crusader castle. Don’t miss Bethany, the site where Jesus was baptized.”. Us to them: “Are you enjoying the trip?” Them to us: “It’s fantastic. We’re not God people, but even the God stuff is good!”

There are a few sights in Jordan that are so famous I was almost afraid to visit for fear for a let down. Petra is the place where the final scenes of an Indiana Jones movie were filmed (the one where he has to identify the holy grail and save his father’s life). The Dead Sea is the place where all those pictures of people floating on their backs and reading newspapers, the place where you can't sink, right? Then there are the Crusader Castles, and the Roman Ruins, and the awesome landscapes. Nothing about Jordan was a disappointment, in fact I'd recommend it to anyone who has ten days to travel and a sense of adventure.

The village around Petra is called Wadi Musa. That means Moses’ Valley, and you can visit the place where he created the spring by hitting the rocks with his staff. Inside Petra you can climb (if you are very, very fit) to the top of Aaron’s Mountain to visit his tomb. Every bend of the road leads to another view of the land where Old Testament stories are set and where Jesus and his disciples began their mission. You can be skeptical, or you can be faithful, or you can just go along for the tour, but there is no way to avoid “the God stuff” in Jordan.

Petra is pretty amazing, even full of tourists and touts. Early morning starts are not the usual thing for the Cobra Family, but we made sure to get to Petra early. It takes about half an hour to walk in through the Siq, and the Treasury appears suddenly, just as it does in the movie. For folks who want to climb there are lots of trails and mountain hikes at every fitness level, and for those who can't climb there are horse-and-buggy taxis that go to all the major sights. We did some hiking, and got our share of great views and amazing photos.

River Jordan....not so deep and wide!

We rented a car for the last four days of our time in Jordan, it was great to be independent again and set our own schedule. Our first stop was Bethany, the place where archeologists have agreed theologians have agreed that Jesus was baptized. It's right in the no-man's-land between Jordan and Israel, from the Jordan side we could see the site of Jericho, the lights of Jerusalem, other names familiar from bible stories. Nelson would like to tell Monty Anderson that someone needs to rework the lyrics to "River Jordan is deep and wide" because it's not! At least not anymore, now that so much of the water is diverted for irrigation. There's only a couple of metres between the "baptism site" on the Jordan side the the equivalent site on the Israeli side.

Looking cool while floating in the Dead Sea....not much like Kootenay Lake!

Next stop was the lowest place on earth.... when we arrived at the Dead Sea beach we started chatting to an English speaking German woman who was at the water-side bench getting ready to leave. After a moment or two she said, "I am going to stay so I can be here when you start to laugh!". So we walked in up to our knees....nothing. We walked in up to our waists....nothing. We walked in up to our shoulders....and our feet left the bottom, but our shoulders did not go under. There's no way to sink...and we did laugh, it was so strange and so fun. After the Dead Sea swim we rinsed off the salt at a place where there's a hot-water water-fall, Nelson and I agreed that it is as good as Liard Hot Springs in northern BC....maybe even better!

What else? Crusader castles, Roman ruins, great food, friendly people, and road signs in English. A budget hotel with air conditioning and soft pillows. Jordan was definately a success.

Local family at the Roman ruins in Jaresh. The majority of the women do not dress like this, but many do. Check out the cool running shoes and the state-of-the-art video camera.

Oh, and I forgot to mention Wadi Rum, where the "private driver" let John drive the jeep in the desert!