Oh dear.  It is REALLY REALLY gorgeous here too!

I have never seen water like this in my life. So incredibly blue.  Even more stunning than the beaches of Thailand, Australia or Malaysia….is that possible? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with Kevin that it reminds us of Vancouver with the snow capped mountains peaking out across the ocean bay, with many luxurious sailboats and yachts floating by. Except the water of the Pacific cannot compare, nor are there high rise condos in view here.

We walk down the road for about 15 minutes and come to an area where are hundreds of huge sailboats (60 to 200ft) being repaired, and new boats being built. They are just jammed up on the shore and are being dragged out of the water and pulled right across the road where small team of men are working, sanding cutting, pasting away. Just a wonderous sight.  Looking around you can ‘t help but question where the money for these boats is coming from?! Economic crisis?,,, apparently not in Turkey.  There are the cutest little catering trucks here too, with the little Muslim lady and her husband cooking up a storm on a charcoal hibachi. The smell was incredible, and I walked by looking in, and the gentleman waved me over to come. He doesn’t speak any English but tells me “Kokorec” shows me the roll of meat looks like a very fatty pancetta, and he is slicing it and griling it and offers me a taste test. Smells awesome! And I give it a try.  Eh-hem, not my favourite.  The next day I am talking about it with Aaron who tells me he saw that guy and he told him it was sheep intestines! I look it up in the book and the description of the rolled dish indeed he is correct… (bah, I am glad I didn’t order the full meal!)

We have renamed the city “Papa Mike Dreamtown”, as Kev’s Dad loves the seaside life, having a place in Miami, and built his own boat back in the day. “Dad, just bring your palm sander, and have a ball!”.  My Dad would absolutely love it too! In fact, this area is the “new Spain” for the U.K. folk, as you can see all the middle age to retiree Brits, sitting in cafes and taking boat cruises. 

We went to the “Tuesday market” yesterday. It must cover a few square kilometres and sell everything from belts, veggies, T-shirts, shoes, etc… and of course our favourite item, goat cheese, wrapped in the hairy goat skin! Mmmmm! It actually is delicious though. We are pretty marketed out and they are all starting to look the same now. 

Should also mention, that while wandering around town yesterday Aaron decided to get his haircut. Kevin and I continued browsing and met up with him later to discover he had shaved his head! Apparently there was a bit lost in translation during the process, so Aaron just “went with it”.  Just wanted to note this, as we don’t want the Grandmas’ to worry that he has joined the army or anything when they see the pictures.

We also took a 45 minute bus to Oludeniz beach yesterday, as we heard it was one of the most photographed beaches in the world.  The water was really cold, but it was lovely and we enjoyed relaxing an watching many paragliders  landing every few minutes, just metres away. 

Upon our return to our hotel, we were shocked to find out that in fact while at the beach we didn’t make the 5 minute walk around the corner of the beach to the actual cove was that is the “awe” of the place, and the reason it was recommended to us for visiting. Ah well, we enjoyed ourselves none the less. 

Something cool, is that there is a fish market here that we can buy fish and bring it to your pick of adjoining restaurants for cooking, and you pay an extra $3 per person for the cooking, a salad, and bread. We met one young lady who was filling in as chef for her Dad at their little restaurant, (really more of a booth, resembling one in the St. Lawrence Market) and said she made the best calamari in town. We took her up on her offer to cook for us and she came shopping with us to buy the prawns, calamari and a small sea bass. MMM, MMmmmm! Out of this spot came THE most delicious meal we have had on the trip. We actually go back 2 days later for the calamari again, and laugh when there are 6 people there eating whom we had previously recommended to try it. Wow, the power of word of mouth! Of course the young lady is grateful for promoting her. We have a lovely chat with her and have a lovely chat and asks “where you go next?”. We tell her Bergama, and a quizzical look comes over her face, saying “why?…not typical for tourists, mostly Turkish people”. Ah, not to worry we assure her. We are travelers not tourists, and we are certainly not typical.

Who knew?!!… We were so focused on ensuring we had all our plans in place for our esteemed and beloved friends (Beth, Jesse and Mike) that we hadn’t even thought much about our Turkey plans thereafter. So a quick look in the guide book and we thought we would head south to the Mediterranean, specifically  Olympos.

So off we went on a 10 hour overnight bus ride from Goreme. What a fantastic surprise. We prebooked at one of the many “tree house”, sorta’ backpacker type places. The price was right (about $80 Cdn per day included breakfast and dinner), so didn’t really expect much. Again, what a lovely surprise. We are probably about 500M walk from the Olympos ruins, and the mediterranean beach! 

The room is awesome, basic and clean, the bungalows are in the middle of a lemon and orange orchard in full bloom. You walk down the path to your room, and the smell of the blossoms is almost overwhelming, and the entire place is buzzing with bees! (Really comforting I am sure to poor Kev, with his bee allergies!)  The common areas are full of young back packers, lounging on platforms of pillows, smoking hookahs, bonfires in the evening, and the energy is wonderful, just like the hostels in Aussie-NZealand.  And it is maybe ¼ full so we are able to spread out, lounge at our leisure. Hmmm, our” good luck” just never ends………

During the afternoon we make our way down the path to view the ruins of Olympos, and then continue just a few more metres to the beach. The water is just as you would expect of any Mediterranean beach… GORGEOUS, blue, and crystal clear. The only drawback is that the water is freezing, even for us Canucks!  But we all brave it even if just for a minute. (Sorry, Beth! My beach bunny friend… I hate to say it but it is SO hot on the beach we have to go in to cool off!) 

Blissful! Tomorrow we leave for another place where we have heard, gulp,…, that the beaches are fantastic. Who knew!? Not me, I swear. (Sorry Beth, Mike and Jesse).

To be in Turkey is awesome. To be in Turkey with my family and my friend Beth…Priceless.

We spent our final day touring the underground cities of Cappadocia, walking another beautiful valley which ended sitting on comfy cushions beside the stream enjoying a lovely lunch in the sun. Glorious!

Our friends were due to leave us in Cappadocia and spend their last night in Istanbul and hopefully see some more of the big city.

With a heavy heart we say goodbye to Beth, Mike and Jesse and we are feeling all refreshed and loved. “If distance were measured in terms of the heart we’d never be more than a minute apart.” We had a wonderful time in their company and just hope we didn’t bore them to tears with our stories of “round the world”, but for the moment it feels like all we know. (Hang on to your hats those of you at home. You too will be subjected!)

We have decided to head south tomorrow, as it has only rained and near snowed here in Goreme since Beth left! Kinda suits my mood.

Sing with me people…”Flintstones,… MEET the Flintstones!..”  We have flown to the Cappadocia region, and are now living in a cave! What an awesome place. Literally our room is built into the side of the cave in Goreme, a  peaceful little village where donkeys and other local domestic animals still play their slowly disappearing part in daily life. Exactly what I had hoped for our visitors.

The cave hotel Elif Star we are staying in, has the most lovely view from our room, (not to mention the most delicious breakfasts!). Certainly, the most interesting landscape we will ever see. If you remember the land of the Sand People in Star Wars?..Well this is where that scene was shot. The region was covered by sedimentary rocks formed in lakes and streams, and deposits erupted from ancient volcanoes approximately 9 to 3 million years ago  The rocks then eroded into hundreds of spectacular pillars forms that the people of the villages at the heart of the Cappadocia Region carved out to form houses, churches, monasteries. Here in Göreme, the town we are staying in, the first Christians hid in them to escape persecution of the Roman Empire in the 2nd century B.C..

Hiking Through The Valley of Love

We did quite of bit of walking around town and through various valleys during our 4 day stay including a 90 minute hike to the Göreme Open Air Museum. Getting there had us walk thorugh the town, and then making our way through the “Valley of  Love” (!?? You will understand when you see the pics,) where we put some miles on the cameras! If the walk itself wasn’t enough, the museum we arrived at was great too. The Open Air Museum is the most visited site of the monastic communities in Cappadocia and is one of the most famous sites in central Turkey. It’s a complex comprising more than 30 rock-carved churches and chapels containing some superb frescoes, dating from the 9th to the 11th centuries. 

A Beautiful View

Another afternoon, we got a ride to a neighboring town, where we did a bit of sightseeing and stopped for a drink in a beautiful little café up on one of the highest points in Cappadocia. On our way back Beth and I walked down the highway for quite sometime before we noticed our hotel just across the valley. Our great minds think alike, Hmmm… why walk on the road when you can walk through a valley! Ya, let’s just cut through. So we walk to the edge of the cliff, (yes I said “cliff”,) and both agree there must be a way down, the hotel is right there,.. I can see it!,… ya me too! There is nothing but a small souvenir vendor nearby, so we ask him for assistance. English is not his strong suit, but he manages to show point us to a path, heading straight down, I am sure the locals took many centuries ago. I keep asking, you sure?, it is okay? Safe? ..yes, yes, no problem he says. We get half way down the treacherous path of death, and Beth howling with nervous laughter all the way, while I spend most of the trek down on my behind, sliding, stopping, sliding…etc.  We get a natural exfoliation of the hands on the course rock, and I am doing everything I can to avoid ripping the butt out of my pants, and getting the same exfoliation of the “arse”. And there was no turning back,  I had visions of being stranded there, waiting for night fall, curled up in a crevice with Beth, being airlifted out! Too embarrassing,… must go on! So we did. For the next few days Beth and I giggle continuously every time we look out from our hotel, to the starting point of our little adventure in awe. (Hehehe……)

Easter morning we wake up and Beth has hidden chocolate coins and eggs in the hotels common area (something’s never get old). It is also, Jesse’s 15th birthday and we have picked him up a very cool hookah (just for his room of course!) They are everywhere here in Turkey.  Beth arranged for the sweetest guy at our hotel Rahmi, to get us a cake to surprise Jess. Rahmi’s English not being the best, she wrote instructions on the paper to bring to the bakery. It was a beautiful cake, and one Jess will never forget as written in icing was “Happy Birthday Jesse 15 for Sunday” . Ha!!!

Of course while in Turkey we had to indulge in a visit to the Turkish Bath, where Brendan and Jesse experience their first massage and the boys remark that they think they are cleaner than we have been since we left on our trip.  

Last but not least we attend a “Turkish Fun Night” which truly was fun.  Amongst bus loads of tourists, in a giant cave style room we dined and watched Turkish dancers and musicians. It felt a bit ”Vegas-y” but was really entertaining. We ate lots of mezzes and FREE drinks. It really felt like being at a Turkish Wedding. By the end of the night we were all on the dancefloor.  Much to my surprise my feet remember how to boogie, even off Canadian soil! Good times!

We take an early flight into Selcuk. We are spending 2 days here. Selçuk is one of the most visited touristic destinations within Turkey, known for its closeness to the ancient city of Ephesus. Selcuk is the site of Ephesus, famed for the temple of Artemis and one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. We have seen many ruins, but they are always impressive (to us adults anyway,… the boys have usually had it after about 90 minutes.) Just walking around and considering this home to the Romans back in 500BC boggles my mind.

With the vast majority of tourists only using Selçuk as a stopping point for Ephesus and not visiting the town itself, the old quarter of Selçuk remains generally undisturbed and undeveloped, retaining traditional Turkish culture and locality.  We are staying at the ANZ guesthouse… a hostel place. It is nice and basic enough to give our guests a small taste of hostel-life. (Turkey is a lot more expensive than we anticipated!)  We walk through the narrow winding streets, closer to the kind of setting I had envisioned to be in Turkey. We see chubby little Turkish Grandma’s sitting at there foorways and gates, having tea on a little box, knitting, and just socializing. It is quiet, simple and lovely.

But it is afterall our friends vacation, so we can’t do it all backpacker-ish, and so we do go to Kusadasi, a lovely ocean port, which is closeby and much more touristy. We had a chance to see one of the many cruise ships depart, go for a short hike, and spend time in the markets. In these markets there are statues, t-shirts, fridge magnets, etc.. everywhere depicting this guy with a giant penis. We are thinking what the heck!?…. Ah, it is Priapo, the “fertility god”! Seems, there is a god for everything…One for love, one for wind, one for prosperity, one for nature,  health, etc., etc.,  How do they know who to pray to ??? And I pray to the One and Only in gratitude to know that I need only Him, only one name…just one.  

We also take time while here to go to the House of the Virgin Mary, believed to be the place where she lived the final years on earth, and  6th century basilica of St. John the Apostle, which some claim, is built on the site of the Apostle’s tomb, also inside the town.

Kevin and Mike get up early one morning and take a long bike ride to the sea, and are back in time for breakfast. Later in the day we stroll out through the town, and end up having a late night dinner (sans kids!). On the way home Kev and Mike both decide to get a shave at the local barber (?). Well it turns out to be more of a circus act. First it is 11pm, and I just had a date with Captain Morgan so I am thinking a straight razor shave sounds kinda dangerous, especially when it ends the barber lighting a small ball on a stick on fire and tapping them with it about the face, scorching off hair on the cheeks and nostrils…Yeeeow!  Kids, do not try this at home!

Anyway, it was a good chuckle, and a nice ending to a couple days in Selcuk.

We arrive in Istanbul on time, I had a little cry on the plane in anticipation of seeing Beth! As we deplane, we immediately begin to look for the Beth-Jess-Mike plane which is to arrive within 5 minutes of ours! And although we can’t be sure it is their’s, we see a KLM flight at a departure gate. We are not even through customs ourselves, but walk around the airport ducking and weaving hoping to spot Beth, Jesse and Mike before they spot us! (They would never expect to see us in this secured area and think we are at the hotel waiting for  them.)  I was sure we would be arrested for suspicious behaviour in the airport! Brendan sees them! I run up and hide behind a post and wait for them to pass, and then run up behind them, screaming! What perfect timing! Hugs all around.  We finally meet Mike, and can’t believe how much Jesse is grown. How great to be in familiar company again!

After lots of questions and sharing of as much info as we can exchange 30 minutes flat, we get to our hotel. It is a nice little place on a quiet little laneway in Istanbul. After unpacking we have just enough time to pop out for a quick dinner. While chatting with a couple locals we find out that Obama is visiting Istanbul tomorrow, and so most of the historical monuments and buildings of significance are being closed for his private viewing. Oh No! I didn’t plan for that! So in  light of this info we make a quick detour after dinner to the Blue Mosque for some sight seeing. Known for it’s blue tiled interior, this was built in the 1600’s. It is grand, but we have only about 30 minutes to take it in before it closes.

Back to our hotel all is quiet until about 10pm that is, at which time they start pouring concrete on a adjacent building, rattling our place until 1am. This was then followed by our visitor’s first rude introduction to the muslim call to prayer. This came before sunrise, and in stereo! Although, we Spiers slept through it having heard call to prayer everyday for the past 6 months, it can be a bit alarming if you aren’t prepared for it at 4:15 am! There are over 2700 mosques in Istanbul (compared to 130 churches), so when call to prayer comes it is quite something. Of course our hotel of course was right between two of them, and the call to prayer was belting out the loud speakers in warbled stereo.  So, ya,…. welcome Beth, Jess and Mike! But everyone was troopers, and we got on with our next day our touring Istanbul regardless of our little sleep and our poor visitors jet lag.

Regardlesss we rise and shine, and continue to head to the Grand Bazaar and Spice Markets. The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest covered markets in the world with more than 58 streets, over 1,200 shops, and has between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. It is well known for its jewelry, pottery, spice, and carpet shops.. The amount of stuff being pushed is just incredible! Even the building it is housed in built in the mid 1400’s is fantastic. It is a great place to learn to haggle, as the vendors are really pushy, and there is lots of competition. The boys have lots of fun teaching Jesse how to bargain, and he is pleased to make some purchases at great prices.

We continue through the winding streets enjoying shwarma sandwiches, and making our way to the Bosporus river, where there is a lot of police presence and we notice the roads are blocked off. Obama is suppose to be leaving… Yeah! That means some of the monuments may be reopening! We wait around for a bit, watching snipers in the towers and helicopters whizzing by… perfect boy stuff!  Finally a precession of about 4 black Escalades pour by at about 120kmh, but we see nothing, but with all the window tint it is impossible to know if  Obama was there or not, but it does mean, we can go to see the monuments now!

The Hagia Sofia is back on the agenda. The Church of the Holy Wisdom, known as Hagia Sophia a former Byzantine church and former Ottoman mosque, now a museum. As you enter you can easily understand why this is universally acknowledged as one of the great buildings of the world. It was rebuilt in it’s  present form between 532 and 537 under the personal supervision of Emperor Justinian I.

Hard to believe something this awesome and intricate could have been built without the use of proper machinery of todays times.  It is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture, rich with mosaics and marble pillars and coverings.  They have only just started to do major restorations on this building since 1993. The Christian mosaics are spectacular, regardless of there somewhat deteriorated state. I can’t imagine what it must of looked like back in the day.

Buncha Turkeys in Front of the Blue Mosque

Unfortunately we don’t have a lot more time in Istanbul before we head out to explore more of Turkey with our friends. Regardless of the fact we have only seen a TINY fraction of the historical sights it has to offer, we feel we have a sense of it’s rich history.

Wooo Hoo………..My best friend is coming across the world to visit with us in Turkey in a couple days. I cannot wait! But first, we have a few more days in Jordan, and are heading to the RUM!  Wadi Rum that is,… with Wadi meaning a valley in the desert. Specifically this wadi is the setting for Lawrence of Arabia. In fact we see the place known as Lawrence’s house which is now mostly a pile of rubble, but regardless this area is (again!) one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Wadi Rum offers fantastic landscapes, little-to-no tourists, and interesting adventure activities that only a desert can dish out. We started our journey in a beat-up old Toyota Land Cruiser and buzzed around through the sand visiting incredible rock formations, giant sand dunes, ancient carvings of the Nabatean people, and the remains of old desert residential dwellings. We stop during the day to roll down huge dunes, go for a number of short hikes and climbs. Our favourite stop is to sit down under a huge rock that our driver makes on a small fire he has built, and sip tea while he takes time to cleanse and pray towards Mecca.

Brendan Takes in Wadi Rum at Sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had spent time in the desert in Jaisalmer, India also, but the desert scene there was much different, more vast, covered in rolling dunes of creamy white sand, compared to this flatter desert of deep red sand that every so often gives birth to multitude of rock formations. The views from climbing up are just ridiculously beautiful..  At one point there was a rater steep climb up to a rock bridge so I was discouraging the boys from going. Brendan was so disappointed, our driver “Audi” hiked up his long throbe, tucking it into his shorts and lead Brendan straight up. Of course, Bren wass thrilled as he defiantly stood high up on the bridge waving to me. I can’t help but laugh.

During the tour, we stopped by the remains of the home of T.E. Lawrence, author, adventurer and inspiration behind the famous film “Lawrence of Arabia”. In fact the entire movie was shot throughout the Wadi Rum desert, very fitting considering it was the same place he called home. For nearly the past 2000 years, Wadi Rum has been inhabited by the Bedouin people, a large group of nomadic tribesmen who now live scattered through the deserts of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Their nomadic lifestyles consist mainly of raising goats and moving around the desert during different times of year where they can find the scarce food and water necessary to raise their animals. They live in tents woven from goat’s hair, drink lots of insanely sweet tea, and tattoo their wives faces. While some of their customs are certainly very different from ours, their hospitality and welcoming-nature is legendary throughout the Middle East. The basic premise behind their warmth to strangers is really quite simple: today a guest may visit who needs food and shelter, tomorrow they may be visiting another family who in turn will offer them food and shelter. “Give and thou shall receive”. We have arranged to stay in a traditional  Bedouin camp, with tents made of goat-hair, eating traditional arabian food and listening to bedouin music.

We stay only one night although you could easily explore this desert area for days, but we need to get a move on!  I am too excited to hang for long there, as it is only a day until we meet Beth in Turkey. And, Beth is bringing Jesse and new friend Mike whom we are thrilled to meet. 

We are flying from Amman to Istanbul and the plan was perfect, in that we had booked to arrive in Istanbul the day before Beth et gang. So we arrive at the airport a couple hours early for our for our 11am flight. We walk up to check-in and the attendant with furrowed brow looks at us, looks at the screen, looks at the print out, at the screen,…..finally he says, “Hmmm,…Eet hees a right flight, but plane has gone, 3 hours h-ago… 6am, …but I don’t know why?” and he scoots away holding our ticket info(?)

Apparently, they had changed the time of the flight about 3 weeks prior but failed to let us know. (And we neglected to web check in, a newly adopted practice for us.) Anyway, he comes back saying yes, they had changed the flight, but the carrier, Royal Jordanian, would have notified us. We assure him they did not notify us. He says “sorry”, but provides no further explanation or solution. He then informs us that the next flight tomorrow is full with 8 people wait listed. I am ready to cry. All I keep thinking is that Beth is coming to Turkey and we won’ t be there.   Time to talk to the manager. While waiting for the manager to come, I discover that we are not alone in or missed plane saga. There is another couple, also Canadian, also travelling on the flight who also have a one world ticket and weren’t notified of this change. Thank goodnesss! Misery loves company, so we join forces and approch the manager to plead our case. After volleying arguments back and forth fo some time, we are provided tickets on the following days plane, AND free accommodations at a nearby hotel for the evening. Ah, but what of our meeting with Beth? I check our flight times, and see that we are to arrive in Istanbul 5 minutes before their flight! Perfect. She is thinking we have sent her a car to pick them up, but hopefully we can meet surprise them at the airport. Can’t wait to see them!………did I mention that already?

We hired a driver for the two hour trip to Petra. It is easy to see why the Desert Highway is also known as the “Death Highway”. The roads are open and wide, with no barriers between the oncoming traffic. Soon we enter the city of Wadi Musa, the town above the City of Petra. We drive down the long winding road and catch a few glimpses of Petra, and they are fantastic. The Petra Moon Hotel which is our home for the next 2 nights is not so fantastic, but will do. As we have found with most cities or towns attached to the high tourist destinations (ie. Taj Mahal, Great Wall,Petra etc.) the accommodations are usually 5 star or 1 star with little in between. Petra Moon hotel is good enough.

 For dinner we decide to head back up the hill by taxi to check out a few Shwarma shacks. (Shwarma is our Jordanian food of choice. Another name for the Gyro or rotisserie meat wrap filled with tomatoes, lettuce onions and pickles, But here the meat is real, stacked beef or chicken vs. the molded tube of rotisserie goo they try to sell us back home.   After getting our fill we head back to the hotel as we have a big day tomorrow exploring Petra, one of The Seven Wonders of the World.

Our hotel is a short 5 minute walk to the main entrance to Petra. Upon arrival at the ticket gate we are pleasantly surprised to find out that Brendan is FREE!

Petra was inhabited by the Nabataeans ,Arab people who settled in the area around 6th century BC, turned it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome. Simply put, the Nabateans came and carved a vast, unique city into the sheer rock face.

As we enter many Arabian men on horseback, ride up beside us asking us if we want to ride a horse to the city entrance, or take a horse and buggy, but we are walking. Once we start walking along the Siq ( main entrance way ) you start to remember seeing this in Raiders of the Lost Ark movie. The Siq is a narrow gorge, over 1 kilometre in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80 metres high cliffs. Just walking through the Siq is an experience in itself. The colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling. Most people think this deep winding gorge was made by a raging river , but in fact it was formed by the separation of tectonic plates. Spectacular!

Only One of Hundreds of Facades

The Siq takes us to the most famous and photographed building in Petra , The Treasury. Our first views are breathtaking and we just stand in awe of this site. The Treasury is just the first of the many wonders that make up Petra, and as we enter the Petra valley we are overwhelmed by the natural beauty of this place.  There are hundreds of elaborate rock-cut tombs with intricate carvings – unlike the houses, which were destroyed mostly by earthquakes, the tombs were carved to last throughout the afterlife and 500 have survived, empty but bewitching as we file past their dark openings. There are too many to count!

It is bizarre, as you see these incredible huge carvings on the rock face, only to find a relatively small entrance ways into small carved out rooms. (Even in ancient times seems “image was everything!”).  There are so many sights to see here.  We pass by the Amphitheatre and many of the other tomb Facades. To end day one Our climb our way up to the Monastery should take bout 45 minutes but we handle it in 25 minutes (thanks to our Nepal training perhaps!).  The Monastery façade is dwarfs you as you stand in front of it.   Again more pictures, as we  sit out in the desert sipping our  apple tea. 

 Day two at Petra is much the same… exploring, exploring, climbing, exploring. You can easily spend 5 days here, although we are only here for two, (much to Brendans dismay. He loves the climbing.)  The most memorable moment of Petra is when we climb up to the High Holy Place, find our own bit of paradise there, and unpacking some fruit and nuts and just enjoy lunch overlooking this amazing ancient city. From here we see camps of the indigenous Bedouin People in the distance and hundreds more facades in remote areas of the desert. Incredible.

Today we prepare for a real live history lesson touring significant places of Jordan.

We have hired a driver for the day, and our first stop is Mount Nebo, one of the most revered holy sites of Jordan. This is where Moses stood viewing the Promise Land, a land from which he was forbidden to enter. He is also buried on this area. The views from atop the mountain are spectacular. You have sweeping views of the ancient lands of Gilead, Judah, Jericho, the Jordan River, Jerusalem and the Negev-the Promise Land, as well as the Dead Sea.

The Promised Land

We walk around and just take it all in, and find it hard to imagine we are here where Moses and Jesus stood.

A short drive down the mountain and we are in Bethany. It has been identified by archaeologists as the place where John the Baptist preached, and where Jesus was baptized by John. The river has drastically receded, and a small set of stairs once used to walk down into the Jordan River when flowed abundantly, now sit awkwardly on dry land. From where we are standing we are only about 20 feet from the Israel border. We take time to ponder the incredible significance of where we stand, and Kim and Aaron walk down to wash their hands in the river.

Next Stop the Dead Sea, the lowest body of water on earth, the lowest point on earth, and the world’s richest source of natural salts. The salt content is four times that of most world’s oceans, you can float in the Dead Sea without even trying: the only place in the world where you can recline on the water to read a newspaper. It’s an intense blue lake enclosed by red and browns of the surrounding desert hills. 

As we get out of the water and the sun dries us, a noticeable coat of salt forms on our bodies. A quick shower and we are all silky smooth! They sell Dead Sea therapeutic skin products everywhere, but we decide against buying any as no one is willing to carry them around.

 Tomorrow we are heading to Petra, one the seven wonders of the world… yahoo!!!!!!!

Mosaic Map of the Holy Land

Today we leave India, after a 16 hour sleepover in the Delhi airport, where Kim and I watch a full season of Dexter on the laptop.  We all manage to stay awake the whole time, until almost the hour before take off, when Brendan passes out in in the lounge. We can wake him up just enough to have him stagger to the Royal Jordanian plane. The plane is brand new and we have great big comfy seats, and Brendan is asleep again before the plane even takes off. We are going to Jordan where we have decided to stop for 10 days. We know little of this country (as we do of many places we’ve been) and it was never on our radar to visit, but we had to connect our flight to Turkey, so thought it would give us a taste of the middle east.

The flight starts off great, but soon the pilot tell us and the crew to buckle up. Over the next 6 hours we experience some of the worst turbulence we have ever experienced. Some passengers let out gasps from time to time, but we are taking it in stride. Brendan has slipped into a coma, so he doesn’t even notice. This is now our 21st flight since August, we’re pros.

Soon we land, despite a rough ride we get a textbook smooth landing and are in Amman Jordan. The scenery is vast desert land with patches of green pastures. We have decided to stay in the Roman Byzantine town of Madaba vs. the larger city of Amman. Our driver from the Mosaic City Hotel greets us as we arrive. The first thing we notice is the big new, (or not battered) vehicles which is a change from our time in India and Nepal. And they drive on the right side of the road, just like back home, which oddly enough seems wrong to us now.

We just can’t get over how smooth the road is, and and we see very little, if not any garbage. It is really not that spectacular in hindsight, but at the time it was so weird.  Upon coming into Madaba, the city we are basing out of in Jordan, it looks clean and safe, and our hotel looks brand new.

It’s a gorgeous place we are staying in, and we can’t wait to take a hot shower and eat. Our room has a king and 2 singles, and is great. We all agree its the best quality hotel we have stayed in since we have left. Its not because of the scenery, but the room and hotel itself. Madaba is known as the”Mosaic City ” and has lots to offer in way of sites. Being a Muslim area, there are many mosques in the area, and so we hear the call to prayer many times each day. We are so used to it now we can almost sing along!

We are starving so we seek out a falafel and chicken shwarma joint, and all eat great sandwiches each for about $1.50 CDN. The food is a nice change from Nepal and India as we have been eating vegetarian for about 7 weeks. Aaron and Brendan dig into the chicken and beef wraps and want more. The food is fantastic and i’m sure we will love it all here.

Well we all need a good sleep, so hit the rack early and getting ready for sightseeing tomorrow.

After a great sleep in beds where we don’t turn down the sheets to look for bugs, we head for breakfast. Yum, hard boiled eggs, fresh bread, Jordan style cream cheese, fresh cut tomatoes, olives,  green peppers coffee tea and juice. A welcome change from toast and cereal.

 We go on a walking tour of the city, heading to the Madaba Museum. Since we are the only ones there, the gate guy becomes our tour guide. Its amazing to walk around and see items dating back as far as 2000 BC and all within reach of us. In fact, the guide lets us into where there are huge mosaics on the floor and we can touch them. This is something that would not happen back home. The area would be roped off with guards all over.

 Next stop, we walk over to the St. Georges Greek Orthodox Church which houses an impressive mosaic map on the floor depicting the major biblical sites of the Middle East. The mosaic was constructed in AD 560 and was originally around 25m long and 6m wide. It once contained more than 2 million pieces but only one-third of the original mosaic has been restored.

 We continue to walk the the streets just to take in the local culture. The Church of the Apostles is next up, and we are again the only ones there. The church houses yet ANOTHER remarkable mosaic dedicated to the 12 apostles and was created in AD 568. The ticket man doesn’t care that we don’t have tickets to enter, he just says ‘welcome to Jordan”. He walks us around inviting us under the roped off area(?) to see the mosaic up close. At one point he picks up a few loose pieces of the mosaic and offers them to us to keep. Weird, but true. Now we are off to the Archaeological Park where we were to buy our tickets in the first place to see the historical sites we have already attended(?)

The cost is minimal, at only $3 each except Brendan who is free. Now Aaron needs food as does Brendan, and from the way they are growing it doesn’t surprise us. We find a great little place and order chicken shwarmas and water. Talk to the cook for awhile who reminds of a WWF wrestler.

A quick walk home and we chill for a while on the laptop and do some reading on our next planned stops in Jordan…. Mt. Nebo, Dead Sea,  Petra and Wadi Rum.