Every day begins differently. That is what makes life exciting (and sometimes provides us with a good laugh!). Our scheduled departure from the hotel was for 8 AM, but we were delayed several minutes due to what will in the future be referred to as the "Jammie Incident". To make a long story short, Elizabeth had sent Ferrell’s jammies out to be laundered while we were in Jerusalem. Somehow, the PJ top returned, but the bottoms did not. So, a whole bus full of people waited while a special courier brought Ferrell’s PJ bottoms all the way across Jerusalem for a special delivery. (Insert your own joke here!) Some of the on-bus comments centered around whether or not the jammies had feet in them, etc.
We drove to the Jordanian boarder, and had been warned that it could take a while to clear security and cross from Israel into Jordan. Actually it took 2 ¾ hours. (Is there any sort of a record as to how long it took the Israelites to cross the Jordan River?) Once we were in Jordan, we were loaded on to a Jordanian bus with a driver and guide from Jordan. They suggested we call them "Ed" and "Sam" since their Jordanian names were a little difficult (impossible?) for us to pronounce. We also picked up two other passengers at the border…two "security policemen" (one in uniform and one in plain clothes) that would be with us the rest of the trip. We are certainly well-guarded. Ferrell jokingly told us that one of the guards was to keep Ed in line. (One of our tourmates suggested that the other one was to guard Ferrell’s pajama bottoms!)
In many ways Jordan is more primitive than Israel with houses and shops more run-down looking. Flocks of sheep and goats are here and there, and we passed numerous Bedouin settlements right beside the highway. We went first to Bethany Beyond Jordan. Jesus was probably baptized near this area. At this point the Jordan is narrow and extremely muddy, but we all posed for photos there, anyway.
It was a bit hazy once our bus finally climbed to the top of Mount Nebo. We could still see the Dead Sea, the surrounding hills, and with a little imagination we could see the town of Jericho on the other side of the Jordan River back in Israel. While we were returning to the bus from Nebo, we stopped and talked to a very friendly group of young Jordanian girls and their teacher, who had taught herself English by watching our movies and listening to our music. Isn’t that a scary thought?
It was 2:30 before we stopped for lunch (there is not a fast-food establishment on every corner here!). By this time we had already eaten our snacks so we walked around the area while the others ate. We stopped at a shop where they made wonderful mosaics, but, alas, our suitcases may already be overweight with all of the rocks and pottery shards we have picked up!
We drove the King’s Highway to the town of Madaba to see the sixth-century mosaic map of the Bible areas. The map is located in St. George’s church. We continued on through the land of Moab on the Trans-Jordan Plateau. Eventually we drove along the desert road toward Petra in south Jordan, where we will spend the night.
It was a long journey to Petra, and it got dark on us while we were still on our journey through the barren Jordanian desert. Someone suggested we sing while we were in route. The first suggestion, "In the Desert of Sorrow and Sin" was discarded because we did not think we would be able to sing some of the words without laughing. Words like "lo I faint as I journey along" and "my hope and faith nearly gone" seemed a little too perfect as we drove through the desert in the darkness. We did sing several other songs and eventually arrived in Petra for the night.
P.S. As you readers can probably tell, my new friend Stacey tried every trick in the book to get photos to load on to the blog. We finally determined that the system available at the hotel could not sustain the power to post the photos. (Even Ferrell said he was not able to post photos in Jerusalem!) We will continue to try to post the photos, and promise to get them all on eventually…even if it is after we return. (We vow NOT to be outdone by technology!)
We drove to the Jordanian boarder, and had been warned that it could take a while to clear security and cross from Israel into Jordan. Actually it took 2 ¾ hours. (Is there any sort of a record as to how long it took the Israelites to cross the Jordan River?) Once we were in Jordan, we were loaded on to a Jordanian bus with a driver and guide from Jordan. They suggested we call them "Ed" and "Sam" since their Jordanian names were a little difficult (impossible?) for us to pronounce. We also picked up two other passengers at the border…two "security policemen" (one in uniform and one in plain clothes) that would be with us the rest of the trip. We are certainly well-guarded. Ferrell jokingly told us that one of the guards was to keep Ed in line. (One of our tourmates suggested that the other one was to guard Ferrell’s pajama bottoms!)
In many ways Jordan is more primitive than Israel with houses and shops more run-down looking. Flocks of sheep and goats are here and there, and we passed numerous Bedouin settlements right beside the highway. We went first to Bethany Beyond Jordan. Jesus was probably baptized near this area. At this point the Jordan is narrow and extremely muddy, but we all posed for photos there, anyway.
It was a bit hazy once our bus finally climbed to the top of Mount Nebo. We could still see the Dead Sea, the surrounding hills, and with a little imagination we could see the town of Jericho on the other side of the Jordan River back in Israel. While we were returning to the bus from Nebo, we stopped and talked to a very friendly group of young Jordanian girls and their teacher, who had taught herself English by watching our movies and listening to our music. Isn’t that a scary thought?
It was 2:30 before we stopped for lunch (there is not a fast-food establishment on every corner here!). By this time we had already eaten our snacks so we walked around the area while the others ate. We stopped at a shop where they made wonderful mosaics, but, alas, our suitcases may already be overweight with all of the rocks and pottery shards we have picked up!
We drove the King’s Highway to the town of Madaba to see the sixth-century mosaic map of the Bible areas. The map is located in St. George’s church. We continued on through the land of Moab on the Trans-Jordan Plateau. Eventually we drove along the desert road toward Petra in south Jordan, where we will spend the night.
It was a long journey to Petra, and it got dark on us while we were still on our journey through the barren Jordanian desert. Someone suggested we sing while we were in route. The first suggestion, "In the Desert of Sorrow and Sin" was discarded because we did not think we would be able to sing some of the words without laughing. Words like "lo I faint as I journey along" and "my hope and faith nearly gone" seemed a little too perfect as we drove through the desert in the darkness. We did sing several other songs and eventually arrived in Petra for the night.
P.S. As you readers can probably tell, my new friend Stacey tried every trick in the book to get photos to load on to the blog. We finally determined that the system available at the hotel could not sustain the power to post the photos. (Even Ferrell said he was not able to post photos in Jerusalem!) We will continue to try to post the photos, and promise to get them all on eventually…even if it is after we return. (We vow NOT to be outdone by technology!)
UPDATE: Photos work from Petra! First photo is of the Jordan River; Frank at the Jordan River; Mike and Peggy at Mt. Nebo; Tim on Mt. Nebo standing on a platform that was built for one of the Popes to use during a visit to the area; Karen and the Jordanian lady who had taught herself English from TV and music.
It looks like you all are having a great trip! I'm really enjoying reading your journal and seeing your photos. Say a special hello to Mrs. Ida Nell Griffin who goes to church with us.
ReplyDeleteMarvella Adams