Monday, November 19, 2007
Questions
The best food we had in Egypt was probably the pita bread. There was also a dessert that I don't know the name of. It was like cream of wheat with a whole bunch of sugar mixed in and baked in a pan. Scott would probably say the Snickers bars.
Tanks at the Embassy
Yes, Reagan, there were people in the tanks with machine guns guarding the border of the American Embassy. I'm not sure but I would think that the guards were from our Army or Marines.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Day 21 Flying home
This morning we woke up, had breakfast and made our way to the airport. We were originally dropped off at the wrong terminal and had to flag down our driver and go to another terminal, which took another 20 minutes or so. I’m very glad he didn’t leave us.
I’m sitting on the plane right now typing up this last blog. We have about 5 more hours of the 11-hour flight. Flight and weather patterns make the return flight home one hour longer. Bummer.
Traveling is not always glamorous but it is always interesting. We have generally had a very good time on this trip. Scott and I were both very interested in the history of Egypt and had done some reading before we got here so we were pretty excited to see the sites and learn more of the history. We did have some logistical problems with our schedule and some of our guides but in the end, everything worked out pretty much the way we wanted. We definitely would have changed a few things if we could go back and start again.
Neither one of us knew much about the country of Jordan but it ended up being a wonderful surprise. We definitely liked the country of Jordan better than Egypt. A lot of that had to do with our driver because he was so friendly and really talked a lot to us about his country, his religion and his government. He is a true ambassador for the country and we wouldn’t hesitate to come back and do a more relaxing vacation in Jordan.
There are a few things that I try to remember when I’m traveling outside the United States. First and foremost, always carry toilet paper and be prepared to squat if necessary. If you find a real toilet, sometimes there isn’t a seat. The second, and equally as important, is to remember that you are in another country. Traditions and customs are different than what you are used to. Do not expect the people to conform to your way of thinking. Part of the travel experience is to go with their flow and do things like they do, even if it’s uncomfortable. Try to learn a few words in their language. Most people around the world speak English but we find that people are much more friendly and helpful when you try to speak their language.
Doing the blogs and taking the videos has been a lot of fun. I really hope you all learned things that you might not have learned from a textbook. We hope to meet you all in December.
I’m sitting on the plane right now typing up this last blog. We have about 5 more hours of the 11-hour flight. Flight and weather patterns make the return flight home one hour longer. Bummer.
Traveling is not always glamorous but it is always interesting. We have generally had a very good time on this trip. Scott and I were both very interested in the history of Egypt and had done some reading before we got here so we were pretty excited to see the sites and learn more of the history. We did have some logistical problems with our schedule and some of our guides but in the end, everything worked out pretty much the way we wanted. We definitely would have changed a few things if we could go back and start again.
Neither one of us knew much about the country of Jordan but it ended up being a wonderful surprise. We definitely liked the country of Jordan better than Egypt. A lot of that had to do with our driver because he was so friendly and really talked a lot to us about his country, his religion and his government. He is a true ambassador for the country and we wouldn’t hesitate to come back and do a more relaxing vacation in Jordan.
There are a few things that I try to remember when I’m traveling outside the United States. First and foremost, always carry toilet paper and be prepared to squat if necessary. If you find a real toilet, sometimes there isn’t a seat. The second, and equally as important, is to remember that you are in another country. Traditions and customs are different than what you are used to. Do not expect the people to conform to your way of thinking. Part of the travel experience is to go with their flow and do things like they do, even if it’s uncomfortable. Try to learn a few words in their language. Most people around the world speak English but we find that people are much more friendly and helpful when you try to speak their language.
Doing the blogs and taking the videos has been a lot of fun. I really hope you all learned things that you might not have learned from a textbook. We hope to meet you all in December.
Day 20 Jerash, Jordan and back to Cairo
We had a lazy morning this morning. We didn’t check out of the hotel until noon and pretty much spent the morning in the hotel room reading and packing. Our driver, Ala’a, picked us up at noon and we started our drive to Jerash. Jerash is the best preserved Roman city in the Middle East. This is the ancient city of Antioch. The Romans took it over in 106 AD. It is a huge site covering about 3 square kilometers that includes a massive central oval shaped forum surrounded by columns, a large temple devoted to Zeus (Jupiter), another large temple complex devoted to Artemis (Diana), Zeus’ daughter, and a more than ½ mile central road with sidewalks lined with columns. There is a large aquaduct and water system which provided water from the nearby river to the central area of town.
The columns that were built were earthquake proofed by putting holes in the bottom section and holes in the top section and then putting a metal piece in the holes to attach the two pieces of the columns. There was an interesting demonstration that someone had set up with a spoon between the column pieces. You can see the spoon moving which shows that the columns are actually moving. Here's the video:
The most impressive part of the city is the theatre. It is the best preserved Roman theatre in the entire world. The acoustics are incredible. We were able to stand in one spot in the middle of the theatre and hear our normal talking voice amplified throughout the entire theatre. They still hold concerts and plays here in July and August of every year.
From Jerash, we started making our way back to Amman and to the airport for our 7:30pm flight to Cairo. On the way, our driver took us to the upper class section of Amman. The houses were very large and some were very ornate. We also drove by the American Embassy. It is a huge complex that seemed to take up about 8 square city blocks. I tried to take a picture but I was quickly reminded that no photos were allowed. There were huge army tanks with armed guards surrounding the complex.
Our flight back to Cairo was pretty uneventful. We did end up eating at Pizza Hut, again, in the airport.
The first time we arrived in Cairo there was a man waiting for us right as we stepped into the terminal from the airplane. However, this time there was no one waiting for us. We were a bit upset but figured we knew what to do and where we were staying so we could probably find our way to the hotel. We got our entry visa (Egypt requires a $15 entry visa for each time you enter and exit the country so we had to have two) and went through the immigration line. We collected our luggage and made our way outside the terminal. At that point, we heard our driver, Josef, yelling my name. We were very relieved to see a familiar face once again.
The drive to our hotel took about an hour because the traffic was pretty bad – even with our speedster driver. We were pretty wiped out when we got to the hotel about 11pm. We had to be up and in the van back to the airport at 7am the next day for our 10:10am flight to JFK. We are almost home!!
The columns that were built were earthquake proofed by putting holes in the bottom section and holes in the top section and then putting a metal piece in the holes to attach the two pieces of the columns. There was an interesting demonstration that someone had set up with a spoon between the column pieces. You can see the spoon moving which shows that the columns are actually moving. Here's the video:
The most impressive part of the city is the theatre. It is the best preserved Roman theatre in the entire world. The acoustics are incredible. We were able to stand in one spot in the middle of the theatre and hear our normal talking voice amplified throughout the entire theatre. They still hold concerts and plays here in July and August of every year.
From Jerash, we started making our way back to Amman and to the airport for our 7:30pm flight to Cairo. On the way, our driver took us to the upper class section of Amman. The houses were very large and some were very ornate. We also drove by the American Embassy. It is a huge complex that seemed to take up about 8 square city blocks. I tried to take a picture but I was quickly reminded that no photos were allowed. There were huge army tanks with armed guards surrounding the complex.
Our flight back to Cairo was pretty uneventful. We did end up eating at Pizza Hut, again, in the airport.
The first time we arrived in Cairo there was a man waiting for us right as we stepped into the terminal from the airplane. However, this time there was no one waiting for us. We were a bit upset but figured we knew what to do and where we were staying so we could probably find our way to the hotel. We got our entry visa (Egypt requires a $15 entry visa for each time you enter and exit the country so we had to have two) and went through the immigration line. We collected our luggage and made our way outside the terminal. At that point, we heard our driver, Josef, yelling my name. We were very relieved to see a familiar face once again.
The drive to our hotel took about an hour because the traffic was pretty bad – even with our speedster driver. We were pretty wiped out when we got to the hotel about 11pm. We had to be up and in the van back to the airport at 7am the next day for our 10:10am flight to JFK. We are almost home!!
Local Customs in the Middle East
We asked our driver about some of the local customs in Jordan and the Middle East. Here are a few that we haven’t discussed with you all yet:
• The Muslim custom is to pray 5 times per day. The local mosques all have speakers that project prayers and readings from the Koran starting at about 4am.
• Almost everyone learns at least one other language during their schooling.
• The Jordanians buy their olives from roadside stands right off of the tree and then can (or jar) them at home with water, lemon, and spices. Our driver bought about 60 kilos of olives last year just for his family of two small daughters. Olives are eaten at every meal in Jordan (including breakfast).
• They also buy items like tomatoes in bulk. They would never just buy 3 tomatoes. They buy a large box full and whatever they don’t use right away goes into the freezer for cooking later.
• Public displays of affection are looked down upon but it is not uncommon for woman to hold hands with other woman and men to hold hands with other men as a form of friendship.
• Dinner times outside the US usually don’t start until 8pm or later
• The Muslim custom is to pray 5 times per day. The local mosques all have speakers that project prayers and readings from the Koran starting at about 4am.
• Almost everyone learns at least one other language during their schooling.
• The Jordanians buy their olives from roadside stands right off of the tree and then can (or jar) them at home with water, lemon, and spices. Our driver bought about 60 kilos of olives last year just for his family of two small daughters. Olives are eaten at every meal in Jordan (including breakfast).
• They also buy items like tomatoes in bulk. They would never just buy 3 tomatoes. They buy a large box full and whatever they don’t use right away goes into the freezer for cooking later.
• Public displays of affection are looked down upon but it is not uncommon for woman to hold hands with other woman and men to hold hands with other men as a form of friendship.
• Dinner times outside the US usually don’t start until 8pm or later
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Day 19 Shabak Castle and Mt. Nebo
Today we are on our way to Amman, Jordan so that we can tour the city of Jerash and then fly back out to Cairo. The drive to Amman from Petra is about 5 hours. In order to make the drive more interesting, we made a few stops.
The first stop was to Shobak Castle which is about 30 minutes outside of Petra. This is one of a few crusader castles in the area. Please go to the following website for the history: http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/shobak.html.
We had a tour of the castle by a local boy who lives nearby. He is 15 and is in the 10th grade and just started learning English about 6 months ago. We thought his English was pretty good. He was a nice kid and we enjoyed our 30 minute tour. His name is Amjad. There were also some Italian archaelogists there that were excavating the site and trying to rebuild it to look like the original. We only saw one level but in the past it is thought to have had 7 levels. It sits on top of the highest mountain in the area.
The second stop was to the city of Madaba which means the city of mosaics. We stopped at the Greek Orthodox church of St. George. It’s open from 8am-6pm and cost 1 Jordanian Dinar. This church is famous for its mosaics, especially the one on the floor in the middle of the sanctuary which shows the entire holy land including Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the Jordan River.
After lunch at a local tourist stop, we drove to Mt. Nebo. The church there is open from 8am-7pm and costs ½ Jordanian Dinar to enter. This is the presumed site of Mose’s death and his burial place. It is where God told him he could see the promised land but could not enter. There were some spectacular views across the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea as well as the rooftops of Jerusalem, Jericho and Bethlehem.
After that visit, we drove on to our hotel in Amman. Amman is the capital of Jordan and is very modern. All of the buildings look like they are made out of the same white stone. Almost half of the entire population of Jordan lives in the city of Amman. Seventy percent of the population of Jordan are Palestinian. They live in mostly the northern half of the country and make up nearly 90% of the population of Amman. Our hotel is called the Amman International Hotel.
We have decided that we have had enough babaganoush, hummus and pita bread and are heading to Pizza Hut.
The first stop was to Shobak Castle which is about 30 minutes outside of Petra. This is one of a few crusader castles in the area. Please go to the following website for the history: http://www.atlastours.net/jordan/shobak.html.
We had a tour of the castle by a local boy who lives nearby. He is 15 and is in the 10th grade and just started learning English about 6 months ago. We thought his English was pretty good. He was a nice kid and we enjoyed our 30 minute tour. His name is Amjad. There were also some Italian archaelogists there that were excavating the site and trying to rebuild it to look like the original. We only saw one level but in the past it is thought to have had 7 levels. It sits on top of the highest mountain in the area.
The second stop was to the city of Madaba which means the city of mosaics. We stopped at the Greek Orthodox church of St. George. It’s open from 8am-6pm and cost 1 Jordanian Dinar. This church is famous for its mosaics, especially the one on the floor in the middle of the sanctuary which shows the entire holy land including Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the Jordan River.
After lunch at a local tourist stop, we drove to Mt. Nebo. The church there is open from 8am-7pm and costs ½ Jordanian Dinar to enter. This is the presumed site of Mose’s death and his burial place. It is where God told him he could see the promised land but could not enter. There were some spectacular views across the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea as well as the rooftops of Jerusalem, Jericho and Bethlehem.
After that visit, we drove on to our hotel in Amman. Amman is the capital of Jordan and is very modern. All of the buildings look like they are made out of the same white stone. Almost half of the entire population of Jordan lives in the city of Amman. Seventy percent of the population of Jordan are Palestinian. They live in mostly the northern half of the country and make up nearly 90% of the population of Amman. Our hotel is called the Amman International Hotel.
We have decided that we have had enough babaganoush, hummus and pita bread and are heading to Pizza Hut.
Day 18 Petra
Today we woke up in our wonderful hotel
and had breakfast at the restaurant. Breakfast continues to be the same thing everywhere we are at. Our wonderful driver, Ala’a, met us at 8:00am to drive us to the site of Petra. He speaks English very well – better than anyone we have had so far. I believe the site opens at 7am and definitely closes at sunset – about 5:30pm.
Petra comes from the Latin word for rock. It is about 80 kilometers south of the Dead Sea. It’s importance as a city was established in the late first century BC through the success of the spice trade. Petra was the principal city of the ancient Nabateae people and was famous for its trade and its hydraulic engineering systems. These systems included water conservation systems and dams that were constructed to divert the flash floods caused by the winter rains. It rains in Jordan mostly in the winter months. I took some video of one of the dams (which has been refurbished). You should also be able to see part of the aquaduct that fed the water from the city (Wadi Musa – meaning Valley of Moses) above.
Petra was basically built in a valley. To enter the city you walk through what seems to be a large crack between two gigantic rocks. It looks like a mountain was cut right down the middle and left a small dirt road. I hope you can get the idea from some of the video. At the end of this “road” you turn the corner into an open area and see the “Treasury”.
It’s important to note that the Nabateans carved their city out of the sandstone. We don’t want to use the word built. The Treasury is a beautiful structure and was said to be used for royal tombs.
As you continue to walk through the mountains, there are tombs all over the sides of the cliffs. The smaller tombs were for the poorer people. Tombs with more decoration and more than one floor were either for the rich or for the royalty. There are a few pictures and videos of some of these tombs. Our guide told us that no bodies have been found in any of the tombs but they are sure they were at least used ceremonially for burials because of some of the writings they found on the walls.
There is a monastery that was later used as a Christian church at the top of one of the mountains. It took about 45 minutes to climb up but the views were fantastic. I did take a few photos and videos.
I don’t think they will do it justice but the monastery is a pretty spectacular site. It was just very weird to be hiking through rocks and then all of a sudden come up on a beautifully carved structure.
The city itself is said to be only about 30 percent excavated. Archeologists think there is still 70 percent of the city still underground. The flash flooding that has occurred throughout the centuries has eroded the wall carvings as well as filled up some of the city with sand and dirt. In fact, archeologists have found a whole other part of the city under the ground in front of the Treasury building. They covered it back up because they haven’t figured out a way to protect it from some of the floods that still occur.
About 106 AD, the Romans, under Emperor Trajan, took over the city and it became part of the Roman province known as Arabia Petraea with its capital being Petra.
Petra’s decline happened when the trade routes changed and when an even more devastating earthquake hit the city in 551 AD. These two things all but brought the city to ruin. With the rise of Islam, Petra became a backwater community. Petra was revealed to the western world in 1812 for the first time since the Crusades when it was re-discovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
Petra’s current fame comes from being a setting for the movie Indiana Jones. It’s an interesting place to visit and nothing like we’ve ever seen before. It took as all day to visit the site.
When our driver met us at 4pm, he took us back to the hotel. We did stop at one point to take a photo from high above Petra. It was an interesting perspective to look down on where we were.
When we got back to the hotel we decided to have a Turkish bath and massage. This is very popular in this area so we thought we’d try it out. We have never done anything like this and didn’t really know what to expect. We have been hiking all day so we thought a massage seemed appropriate. When we went in, a man led us into a changing room where we put on our bathing suits. We entered a steam room for about 10 minutes. It was really hot and steamy. A man came and got Scott and took him for his massage. He came back in about 10 minutes and tried to explain to me what was going to happen. The massage guy was right there ready to take me so basically all I heard from Scott was, “this is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before”. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous.
The man was dressed only in a sheet wrapped around his waist. He led me into a room where I had to step up onto a large stone washing area. He had a large metal bucket with soap suds in it. He told me to lie down on my back and he proceeded to rub soap on my arms and legs and neck. It appeared like I was getting a massage and a bath all at the same time. I turned over and he did the same thing to my back and legs. When it was over, I turned around and sat up and he splashed water all over me to get the soap off. He led me back to the steam room where Scott was. After he walked out, Scott and I laughed for about 5 minutes straight. It was just a very strange experience to have someone you don’t know give you a soapy bath.
They wanted us to sit and have tea afterwards but we really just wanted to get the heck out of there. It was smoky in the front room and after the bath, we didn’t want to smell like smoke before dinner.
and had breakfast at the restaurant. Breakfast continues to be the same thing everywhere we are at. Our wonderful driver, Ala’a, met us at 8:00am to drive us to the site of Petra. He speaks English very well – better than anyone we have had so far. I believe the site opens at 7am and definitely closes at sunset – about 5:30pm.
Petra comes from the Latin word for rock. It is about 80 kilometers south of the Dead Sea. It’s importance as a city was established in the late first century BC through the success of the spice trade. Petra was the principal city of the ancient Nabateae people and was famous for its trade and its hydraulic engineering systems. These systems included water conservation systems and dams that were constructed to divert the flash floods caused by the winter rains. It rains in Jordan mostly in the winter months. I took some video of one of the dams (which has been refurbished). You should also be able to see part of the aquaduct that fed the water from the city (Wadi Musa – meaning Valley of Moses) above.
Petra was basically built in a valley. To enter the city you walk through what seems to be a large crack between two gigantic rocks. It looks like a mountain was cut right down the middle and left a small dirt road. I hope you can get the idea from some of the video. At the end of this “road” you turn the corner into an open area and see the “Treasury”.
It’s important to note that the Nabateans carved their city out of the sandstone. We don’t want to use the word built. The Treasury is a beautiful structure and was said to be used for royal tombs.
As you continue to walk through the mountains, there are tombs all over the sides of the cliffs. The smaller tombs were for the poorer people. Tombs with more decoration and more than one floor were either for the rich or for the royalty. There are a few pictures and videos of some of these tombs. Our guide told us that no bodies have been found in any of the tombs but they are sure they were at least used ceremonially for burials because of some of the writings they found on the walls.
There is a monastery that was later used as a Christian church at the top of one of the mountains. It took about 45 minutes to climb up but the views were fantastic. I did take a few photos and videos.
I don’t think they will do it justice but the monastery is a pretty spectacular site. It was just very weird to be hiking through rocks and then all of a sudden come up on a beautifully carved structure.
The city itself is said to be only about 30 percent excavated. Archeologists think there is still 70 percent of the city still underground. The flash flooding that has occurred throughout the centuries has eroded the wall carvings as well as filled up some of the city with sand and dirt. In fact, archeologists have found a whole other part of the city under the ground in front of the Treasury building. They covered it back up because they haven’t figured out a way to protect it from some of the floods that still occur.
About 106 AD, the Romans, under Emperor Trajan, took over the city and it became part of the Roman province known as Arabia Petraea with its capital being Petra.
Petra’s decline happened when the trade routes changed and when an even more devastating earthquake hit the city in 551 AD. These two things all but brought the city to ruin. With the rise of Islam, Petra became a backwater community. Petra was revealed to the western world in 1812 for the first time since the Crusades when it was re-discovered by the Swiss explorer Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.
Petra’s current fame comes from being a setting for the movie Indiana Jones. It’s an interesting place to visit and nothing like we’ve ever seen before. It took as all day to visit the site.
When our driver met us at 4pm, he took us back to the hotel. We did stop at one point to take a photo from high above Petra. It was an interesting perspective to look down on where we were.
When we got back to the hotel we decided to have a Turkish bath and massage. This is very popular in this area so we thought we’d try it out. We have never done anything like this and didn’t really know what to expect. We have been hiking all day so we thought a massage seemed appropriate. When we went in, a man led us into a changing room where we put on our bathing suits. We entered a steam room for about 10 minutes. It was really hot and steamy. A man came and got Scott and took him for his massage. He came back in about 10 minutes and tried to explain to me what was going to happen. The massage guy was right there ready to take me so basically all I heard from Scott was, “this is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before”. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous.
The man was dressed only in a sheet wrapped around his waist. He led me into a room where I had to step up onto a large stone washing area. He had a large metal bucket with soap suds in it. He told me to lie down on my back and he proceeded to rub soap on my arms and legs and neck. It appeared like I was getting a massage and a bath all at the same time. I turned over and he did the same thing to my back and legs. When it was over, I turned around and sat up and he splashed water all over me to get the soap off. He led me back to the steam room where Scott was. After he walked out, Scott and I laughed for about 5 minutes straight. It was just a very strange experience to have someone you don’t know give you a soapy bath.
They wanted us to sit and have tea afterwards but we really just wanted to get the heck out of there. It was smoky in the front room and after the bath, we didn’t want to smell like smoke before dinner.
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