Jet lag, strikes again. Although I was so tired from a long travel day, my body woke me up wide awake at 3:00 am. I wasn’t thrilled knowing that we had a long day ahead of us, but instead I was determined to lie awake thinking of all the things that could go wrong. Does Jordan get earthquakes? I forgot to check for bed bugs – did something just crawl across my leg?
Then I switched over to the more positive… What would be a good quote and/or song to accompany our celebration of completing all seven wonders of the world?
Once Andy woke up (he is blessed with being able to sleep anywhere, well) we started the morning off with breakfast at the hotel. We met up with the rest of the group and got on a coaster bus – we were slightly disappointed because there was a charter bus parked next to it. (More space in general – sometimes a bathroom to use, etc).
Our first stop was Mount Nebo. For those of you who have read the Bible, you might recognize this as the place that Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. It’s a special place for Christians, because this is where Moses was laid to rest as well. We could see all the way to the West Bank, the Dead Sea, and Jericho (one of the oldest cities in the world).
There was also a church at this location that had some of the most beautiful mosaic floors and walls that I’ve seen before. You were meant to be silent while you were in it, and it truly was very peaceful. On the grounds there was an olive tree that was planted by Pope John Paul II in 2000.
From Mount Nebo we made our way to a mosaic manufacturing place – we were able to meet a co-op of artists that specialized in mosaic and pottery. It was pretty cool to see them in action. They also had a great partnership with DHL that allowed them to ship large pieces around the world.
After that we made our way to St. George’s Church where one of the oldest mosaic maps depicting Palestine was. It was smaller than we thought – and pretty damaged. But it was interesting to see it. It was made in the sixth century AD, and they made it based off of their mind/perceptions.
We also went to a castle that was built by the conquerors in 1115. It was pretty well maintained, and it was a fun stop.
From there, we went to Little Petra. This was supposed to happen a few days later, but our guide switched it up. It was good to see the smaller one before the big one.
The Nabatean people were advanced – having mastered engineering to move water and hold onto it in cisterns. There was even a fresco in a cave that you had to climb up to. Supposedly, it is one of the oldest frescos at roughly 2000 years old.
Because we switched up the itinerary and added Little Petra today, and not on day 3, we had to quickly check into our hotel and eat dinner before heading to Petra at night.
We didn’t realize it was technically a “show” – we thought it was just going to be open to the public and be candlelit. There were some typical Jordanian performers – playing a flute and the other played a one string instrument called a rababa. It was nice to hear music while taking in the Treasury. But I don’t think it’s my style of music.
We made our way out of Petra (which was really uneven and treacherous in the dark!) and back to the hotel. We had a pretty early morning the next day, but because I hadn’t slept much I was able to fall asleep pretty quickly. We were excited to see more of Petra the next day!
Hotel:
RN Hotel Petra
Up Next:
Petra
Scribbles and Snapshots 