Jordan!

For the long Rosh Hashanah weekend, nine of us headed over to Jordan. We took off as soon as we could after school on Thursday, but, unfortunately, Neil realized he had misplaced his wallet pretty much the exact second we were scheduled to leave Tel Aviv at 4pm. Doubly unfortunate, the Arava border crossing between Israel and Jordan closes at 10pm. (It takes 4-6 hours to drive down to the border, depending on traffic.) Because it was a Thursday, which is the American Friday, and the Thursday before the New Year, traffic was a bitch. We sped down the congested highways, wove through the winding hills surrounding the Dead Sea, only to arrive at the border at exactly 9:57pm. We spent the night in Israel.

Metal statues directing us towards Jordan at the border.

Our welcome to Jordan.

On the road in our 3-truck caravan.

Our guide said: "We need to pick up some chicken for lunch."
I assumed he meant frozen chicken, but we pulled up here.

And got our chicken.

Very fresh.

(Neil got blood splattered on his forehead when the butcher slit the throat of one of the chickens.)

A few of us with our Bedouin guides.

To start off the weekend, we caravan-ed up to Wadi Rum-- an expansive desert with towering, 2,000-foot rock formations. You can climb the sandstone cliffs for beautiful panoramic views of the desert. It's a huge deserted space, and the emptiness can be overwhelming. There is a feeling of extreme isolation, with nothing but the sound of the wind tunneling against rock walls and loose sand.

Wadi Rum was once a site along a major trade route, and there is evidence of ancient settlement by the Nabateans. Lawrence of Arabia also led Arab tribes in guerrilla operations against the Turks in this desert.

Entrance into the desert of Wadi Rum.

Dry desert floor.

Group shot.

Bedouin guides singing as we rest.

Climbing.

More climbing.
(The cliffs are really soft sandstone. If you grab a chunk of wall to hoist yourself up, pieces of rock often break off in your hand.)

A camel in its natural habitat.

Another camel in Wadi Rum.

Natural stone arc.

Neil climbed a big hill.

Bedouin and his camel.

Getting a ride.

Making some lunch.

Chilling on the wall before lunch.

Old abandoned French castle in the middle of the desert.

Apparently, these really wealthy Europeans used to come out here, hide keys in the expansive desert surrounding the castle, and have their guests to find them for sport.

Sunset on the desert sand.

After sunset.

A little singing and tea.

The kiddies rolled down a huge sand dune...

...and then raced back up.

(Illegal tactics such as ankle-grabbing and sand-in-the-face-ing were utilized to secure a win by me.)

Settling in at our Bedouin camp.

A little nargilah.

Spectating a Bedouin camp dance party.

Daylight in the camp.

Driving back out the next morning.

The mushroom rock.

Searching for turquoise pieces.

You can't really see it, but one of the trucks drove up onto the stone arch of this cliff.

We took off early the next morning to head over to the ancient city of Petra. Nicknamed the "rose-red city," Petra is one of the world's greatest archaeological sites. Petra has been a place of settlement since prehistoric times. However, between the 3rd century BC and 1st century AD, the Nabateans created an incredible ancient metropolis, carving their temples and tombs into the faces of the towering stone mountains. It became the center of an extremely successful trading empire-- the wealth of the civilization is evident in the expansiveness of the city and its monolithic structures.

Petra passed into Roman occupation in 106AD; it housed Christians in the 4th century, Muslims in the 7th, and finally the Crusaders in the 12th century. It was then abandoned, and remained forgotten until 1812.

View of modern Petra.

Inside the national park, walking down to ancient Petra.

Obelisk Tomb and Bab el-Siq Triclinium.
The upper tomb shows Egyptian influence, while the lower tomb is a classical Nabatean construction.

Cliffs lining the path.

To enter Petra, you must walk through the Siq, which is a narrow, natural gorge. This deep ravine was formed when a split in the mountain was cleared by water from Wadi Musa.

Remains of an ancient Nabatean carving--
you can see the lower half of the shepherd and the feet of his camel.

As you walk down the Siq, the path becomes narrower and the walls deeper.

Sandstone cliffs.

Finally, at the end of the Siq you see this through a narrow opening:
the Treasury.

The Treasury, a 1st century BC construction, is called Khasneh el-Faroun (Treasury of the Pharoah) after a Bedouin tale that the Treasury was the creation of a magical wizard who had put treasure in its urn.

This was also the site of a famous scene in a famous movie. Recognize it?

Happy camels.

Side view of the Treasury.

Classical Theatre.

More tombs.

Wild sheep wandering in the Theatre.

The Urn Tomb.

Colorful natural stone walls.

Urn tomb.
Neil and I climbed up to the top of the tomb's facade.

The Corinthian Tomb.

Wild goats and sheep roam freely over the ancient ruins.

All the royal tombs.

The main street of Petra, obviously a Roman construction.

A Brown University excavation.

Temenos Gate: entrance to Qasr el-Bint.

Mean camels that hissed and bared their teeth at me.

NOT FRIENDLY.

Qasr el-Bint el-Faround (Palace of the Pharaoh's Daughter).
1st century BC building-- believed to be Petra's main temple because it houses an altar to the sun god Dushara, who is the chief deity of the Nabateans.

From here we made the hike up to the Monastery-- one of the highlights of Petra.

It is an 800+ step climb. The steps are steep, ancient, and eroded.

Example of eroded steps.

More climbing.

I felt like we were on a pilgrimage.

Mountain walls lining the ascent.

Finally: the Monastery.
This is Petra's largest temple-- dedicated to the deified King Obodas I, who died in 86BC.
It is considered quintessential Nabotean Classical design.

Climbing a rock formation.

You can't see it well in this picture, but the facade of the tomb is covered with ancient Nabatean carvings.

The Lion Triclinium-- a hidden monument off the path to the Monastery.

Sanford branched off and hiked up to the High Place of Sacrifice. It is located at the apex of a mountain, and consists of an offering table and two sacrificial altars. One of the altars has a basin with a carved channel for the blood drained from animal and human sacrifices.
I CAN'T BELIEVE I MISSED THIS.

Modern Petra at sunset.

Aerial views of Petra from the cliffs above the valley.

A mosque on the side of the highway in the desert.

On the highway to Aqaba, a Jordanian city on the border with Israel. The Red Sea is in the background.

Nearing the border.

Billboard of King Hussein and King Abdullah II.

Last shot with our trusty Bedouin guide.

At the border: Goodbye Jordan!

Crossing no man's land between the two countries. This crossing can only be done on foot.
We felt a little bit like refugees.

Back to Israel!

The Israel-Jordan border was opened very recently in 1994, when Israel and Jordan signed a mutual peace treaty, normalizing relations. Even with the peace treaty in place, many Israelis are hesitant to enter an Arab country, for obvious reasons.

Gotta watch out for those camels.