As I mentioned in the last post, Micah and I recently went to Jordan for a week long babymoon. Jordan was an easy decision for us since it is only a 2 hour flight from Saudi and doesn't require any time change or jet-lag. We started our trip in the capital city of Amman. Our flight got in pretty late so we went straight to the hotel to get rested up for the start of our trip. For our day in Amman we traveled out to the ruins of Umm Qais. The ruins weren't anything spectacular but the view was more than we were expecting. From a high point at the ruins we could see the Sea of Galilee, Syria, and Lebanon. It was surreal seeing the area where Jesus cast the demons out of the man and into the pigs plus many other Biblical events in the area including Jesus walking on water.
After spending a short time in Umm Qais we headed off to the old Roman city of Jerash. Jerash is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the "near east". I found the ruins fascinating and beautiful.
From there we visited the old castle of Ajlun. We had a difficult time enjoying the castle with how many locals were around (it was the weekend) and without a guide to tell what we were looking at. We didn't spend much time at the castle and I'm not even sure we took pictures.
The next day we left Amman to head towards the Dead Sea. On the way to the Dead Sea is the area where Jesus was believed to have been baptized. We made a stop at the baptism sight which was again very surreal and kinda hard to grasp the impact. What they believe to be the actual spot Jesus was baptized is no longer on the actual path of the Jordan river so they have a little watering hole to mark the spot.
From there it's a short walk to the current Jordan river which in current day is more like a creek. Standing on the Jordan side of the river was the closest we came to Israel. It would only take a couple leaps to be over in Israel.
Once we finished at the baptism sight we continued on to the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is the lowest land elevation on Earth at 1,388 feet below sea level. It is also 8.6% saltier than any ocean and no life is able to live in the waters hence the name "Dead Sea". However, the mud and other elements from the water is supposed to be healing and therapeutic. So Micah and I joined in the fun and covered our bodies in mud. It was a strange feeling but a fun experience. Of course floating in the Dead Sea was lots of fun as well especially being pregnant.
We thoroughly enjoyed our relaxing time at the Dead Sea and were kinda sad to move on but it was time to go. From here we headed to Petra but on the way we stopped by Mt. Nebo which is where Moses is buried and where he stood to look out into the promised land. Sadly it was very windy this day and kinda hazy.
Mt. Nebo is really close to the town of Madaba which is known as the town of Mosaics. There is a really old church in Madaba that when discovered had a large map of the area done in Mosaic.
From there we drove through the Wadi Mujib which is referred to as the "Grand Canyon of Jordan". It was a pretty spectacular canyon area with NO vegetation.
We also stopped at Karak Castle in route to Petra. Once again, we kinda just aimlessly wandered around the castle grounds not knowing much about what we were looking at. We started making up stuff just to amuse ourselves.
At last we made it to Petra. Of course we made it a little before dinner time so I booked us a cooking class at the Petra Kitchen. During our class we learned how to make some traditional Jordanian food. Right before we were almost done cooking, the electricity in the building went out. I was very impressed with how well the staff improvised with candles and cell phones to light almost the rest of our night. The candles made it a more unique experience.
Our day at Petra started bright and early. We met up with our guide in the lobby of our hotel and were on our way. The walk to the entrance of Petra is pretty long (1.2 km) through the "Siq".
At the end of the Siq you are rewarded with a spectacular view of The Treasury.
From here, we hiked further into the ancient city and explored some caves, tombs, old homes, a church, and Roman ruins. Our guide was excellent and made the first half of the day very enjoyable.
Since we finished our official tour pretty early in the day I decided I felt "up" to making the hike up to the Monastery in Petra. This hike is over 900 something uneven steps up the mountain. I guess it just felt like something I wanted to conquer in my 7 month of pregnancy. I fueled up before we started with a Dr. Pepper and a snickers bar...really healthy, I know. Micah was excellent in understanding that we had to move more slowly than normal and take more breaks but we did it!
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| We made it! |
After the hike we had lunch and I was feeling tired but ok. Of course I had forgotten about the hike just to get into Petra.... I felt like this camel
Next on our tour of Jordan was a short jeep ride into the Wadi Rum desert. The desert is beautiful but our "tour" was pretty short. If I hadn't been pregnant we would have done the camping but ohh well.
For our final stop, we headed to Aqaba the city on the Red Sea. All I had planned for this stop was a day scuba diving (for Micah) and resting on the beach/pool. It was amazing to have time just relaxing together after a busy trip. The dive company we used gave Micah a really awesome wet-suit that I just had to get a picture of...
One day while laying on the beach we had a very subtle reminder that we were still in the Middle East...the oncoming sand storm.
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| Before |
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| Here it comes |
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| After |
The day we left Jordan I turned 31 weeks! 9ish weeks to go.
