Sightseeing in Jordan

No post for weeks and then two in one day!!

In my previous post, I mentioned that we visited Jordan. A couple of the places we visited there; Mount Nebo and the Baptism site of the Jesus. According to Jews and Christians, Mount Nebo is where Moses was buried but whether the current site is the actual Mount Nebo that these faiths refer to remains a source of debate for scholars. Whatever the case, the view from the look-out point at Mt Nebo was amazing:

The Baptism site of Jesus we visited is considered by all major Christian traditions as being the authentic site where Jesus was baptised:

A short walk from the Baptism site is the Jordan river that divides the East Bank (Jordan's name until 1921) and the West Bank.

Then there's also "Lot's wife" - I'm not talking about the Monash Uni student rag...

In Christianity, Jusaism and Islam, Lot is recognised as the nephew of Abraham. In Islam he is recognised as a prophet. In the Bible (the Book of Genesis) there is a story of  Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt. Some believe this geological formation overlooking the Dead Sea to be Lot's wife:

But, a more popular theory is that the so-called Lot's wife is located at Mount Sodom in Israel.

...And that was sightseeing in Jordan 101:)

A glimpse of Petra

It's been a long time between posts.

The last couple of weeks were hectic as we made a short trip to Oz for a wedding and then returned to Bahrain via Thailand and Jordan. We got back to Bahrain a couple of nights ago and it's nice and cool now, there's a definite chill in the air and it's been raining too...the warm, balmy nights of just a couple of months ago seem like a distant memory.

In Bahrain, just a few raindrops can cause chaos on the roads and even minor flooding (the roads here weren't really built for wet conditions) so when a friend told us (just before we got back) that there was "lots of rain" - we were skeptical. It turns out the rain did wreak some havoc as we returned home to find our phone/internet and television out of order. Luckily, in Bahrain - tradesmen don't make you wait -even on weekends (clearly, there is a surplus of labour in the country - we're not complaining). So it's all fixed and we're back in business.

Anyway, getting back to our sightseeing - Petra in Jordan was definitely a highlight. Getting there was a bit of a disaster - it's a 3.5 hour car trip from the Dead Sea (where we stayed) - and we chose to take the scenic route up to Mt Hor (where Petra is located), which didn't really agree with poor H's tummy. So a couple of vomits later, we made it there to see this amazing site:

Also knows as the Rose City (because of its colour) or the Lost City (as it was unknown to the Western world until 1812), Petra was once home to the Nabatean people and provided a centre for their caravan trade around 100BC. My understanding is that Petra is also referred to in the Qur'an in Sura Al-Fajr where it is called "Thamud".

People say it usually takes up to 4-5 days to explore all of Petra - we were there just 4 hours!

Just a glimpse of our snaps...

Holiday's over - back to real life!