Northern Jordon – Country Side

I’m currently reading the book “Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond. And a major part of the book focuses on the “Fertile Crest”, a region of the world that played a significant role in man’s domesticating plants and animals. Northern Jordon is located in the southwestern portion of the “Fertile Crescent”. It’s kind of cool (at least to me) to be reading about the development of civilizations and seeing regions of the worlds where it took place. The agriculture in Northern Jordon is still quite prominent, mostly wheat and olives. In addition to a place to read, the back of the truck is also great place to watch the scenery pass.

Hiking – Petra, Jordon

Yumi, Roberto and I decide go for an afternoon hike to check out Arron’s Tomb (of biblical reference) which was approximately 5k north of Petra. The views from Arron’s Tomb were supposed to be stunning, so we were told. After hiking for about 3 hours, gabbing away about religion (Yumi teaches Catholicism in high school), we realized we were lost. We didn’t take a map, because there was one available. Plus the park ranger said we wouldn’t need one, because the tomb was very easy to find. Giving up on the search for tomb, we spent the next hour trying to find our way back to the original trail that lead back to Petra. Eventually we found it, but not without “visions” of darkness setting on and a search party ensuing. While we never saw the stunning views from the summit, the scenery we did see, while lost, was quite amazing (pictured). Giving that we made it back safely, I have to say the overall hiking experience was a nice break for the city crowds. Not often do we get to hike in the foothills of Jordon.

Tombs – Petra, Jordon

We spent two days at Petra, the rose-stone city built in the 3rd century B.C.E. by the Nabataens who carved palaces, temples, tombs, storerooms, and stables from the rocky cliffs. Unlike most cities built on hillsides, Petra was built in a valley and the entrance was through a “siq”, which looks like a gorge, but it’s created by tectonic forces, not water.

Close-up of the Tombs – Petra, Jordon

The sunset heightened the already spectacular colors of the iron-laden, rose-stone city.

Entrance – Petra, Jordon

Looking down the “siq” (entrance) to Petra.

Entrance – Petra, Jordon

As one reaches the city, via the “siq”, the façade of Al-Kanzna Tomb appears. It’s quite spectacular. I can only image the impression it made on the visitors to the city back-in-the-day when it was built.

Al-Kanzna – Petra, Jordon

See next picture for the details. You might recall this façade from one of the Indiana Jones movies.

Al-Kanzna Sign – Petra, Jordon

Kids – Petra, Jordon

Just two, random, cute kids riding a donkey in Petra

Wadi Rum, Jordon

Wadi Rum offered some extraordinary desert scenery. It was a definite highlight of Jordon. Pictured is us getting ready, loading the jeeps, for an overnight trip in the desert. The desert’s moods, dictated by the changing angle of the sun, made for a memorable experience.

Wadi Rum, Jordon

We spent the night in a Bedouin campsite.

Wadi Rum, Jordon

Myself watching the sunset

Wadi Rum, Jordon

Frank enjoyed Wadi Rum from the back of the jeep.

Wadi Rum, Jordon

Jo, James, and Yumi (l to r) watching the sunset.

Nuweiba, Egypt

We were able to relax a couple of days on the Gulf of Aqaba in Nuweiba, Egypt, before heading back to Jordon. Emma (middle) and Dawn (right) are engaged in a sales transaction on the beach front. Generally, they would say no to the various beach panhandlers, but with this particular lady they though it would be best to purchase something.

Nuweiba, Egypt

Chris enjoying the seaside cabana

Added Feature - Mike's Toilet Diary

Go to Archives in the lower right corner of the blogsite and click on November 2004. I'll be updating the diary periodically as the trip progresses.

Update - Egypt

We’ll be in Cairo for the next few days, and then heading north back through Jordan, Syria and Eastern Turkey before arriving in Iran. While we passed through the named countries on our way south, we still have some major sites to see, like Petra and Jerash in the country of Jordan and Palmyra in the country of Syria, on our trip north.

During our stay in Egypt, we toured through a major portion of the country, including the Aqaba, Sinai Peninsula, Cairo, the Western Desert, Luxor (Valley of the Kings, and Karnak Temple) Aswan, and a far south as Abu Simbel which is near Sudanese border. (See map link below.)

What amazed me most about Egypt is the shear grandeur and age of the temples and monuments. Just seeing them has piqued my interest in the civilizations that built them. I’ve seen some of the monuments and temples in documentaries, but experiencing them in person is something quite different. Seeing Egypt has given me an new founded appreciation for the complexity and sophistication of the civilizations that existed here some 4500 years ago. I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t read up on Egyptian history before visiting. However, I’ve been looking in book stores for books on Egypt to supplement my reading list.

(Reading update: I’ve finished four of the books that I brought on the first leg of my trip, and I have four more to read prior reaching Nepal where book supply will be replenished. Traveling in the back of the truck provides an optimal reading environment. )

Felucca Ride - Aswan, Egypt

Ten of us took an overnight Felucca Ride up the Nile to the neighboring northern town. The scenery along the Nile was amazing.

Abu Simbel, Southern Egypt

To impress his power and majesty on the Nubians, Ramses II (1304-1237 B.C.E.) had four gigantic statues of himself hewn from the mountainside, whence his unblinking stare confronted travelers as they entered Egypt from Africa. Located 40 k from the Sudan border, the great Temple of Abu Simbel epitomizes the monumentalism of the New Kingdom during its imperial heyday when Ramses waged colonial wars.

Karnak Temple, Hypostyle Hall - Luxor Egypt

After spending a couple days in the Western Desert of Egypt, we made out way to Luxor in Southern Egypt. The highlight for me was the Karnak Temple. Quote from guidebook "The temple complex of Karnak beats every other pharaonic monument but the Pyramids of Giza" The Great Hypostyle Hall is Karnak's glory, a forest of gigantic columns covering in area of 6000 square meters. The pillars are 23m high and 15m round (requiring six people with out-stretched arms to encircle the girth).

Sign – Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt

The shear age and grandeur of the temple is mind boggling. What is nice is that the structure of our trip leaves a lot of flexibility once we arrive in a city. People who want to see ruins can, people who don't can hang out at the hotel and swim or do whatever. This flexibility allows for ample time to hangout in a temple like Karnak and absorb the surroundings... and "feel the vibe" if you know what I mean. There is no rush.

Hieroglyphics in the Karnak Temple – Luxor, Egypt

Statues to Entrance of Amun Temple – Luxor, Egypt

Ram Statutes in Karnak Temple - Luxor, Egypt

Andy & Yumi - Kong-Fu Fighting - White Desert, Egypt

No real significance behind the picture...just providing you a break from looking at pictures of ruins.

I've been corrected...Yumi says there is significance behind the picture..."it's mortal combat...and its only the beginning...." whatever that means...

Desert Camping – Western Desert, Egypt

Having a multipurpose vehicle allows us to "rough" camp. I think I mentioned it earlier, "rough" camping is when we take a random detour off the road and set up camp for the night. This types of camping saves on accommodation fees, however, often the toilets are cleaner than the hotels we stay. It's a great way to experience the more rural parts of the country including the desert (as picture) and sleep under the desert stars.

White Desert, Egypt

In the white desert, the wind has eroded chalk monoliths into surreal forms called "yardangs". A group of us took a tour of the Western Deserts in 4-wheel drive vehicles and camped amongst the "yardangs".

Desert Oasis, Western Desert, Egypt

Driving through the desert was great, but the highlight for me was driving through the occasional oasis. Desert oases really exist!!!! I previously thought they only existed in movies or on TV, like when Abbott and Costello got loss in the desert and came upon the oasis with the spitting fish. The oases were similar, but in the oases we visited, didn't have spitting fish, or at least none that I saw.

Group Photo – Western Desert, Egypt

Yi-Ching was the art director on this photo.

Pyramid and Sphinx – Cairo, Egypt

All I can say is everybody should experience visiting the Pyramids of Giza once in their life-time. They are amazing.

Group Photo – Cairo, Egypt

(l to r) Roberto, Sonja, James, myself (with the sad looking headwear), Dawn (difficult to see, with hands over Yumi's head, extending the pyramid theme), Yumi (orange dress), Bob, Yi-Ching, Andy (kneeing), Hazel, Emma and Joanne (missing: Frank, Chris and Jim).

Mike (foreground) and a Pyramid (background) – Cairo, Egypt

I've retired the orange hat (for a little while at least) and switched to the local headwear. But I'm still learning how to wear it properly.

Frank looking Regal

Frank suggested I feature him more on the website, because he's more interesting than the "ruins". Frank has also gone native. He purchased the 'rubber band' (as he refers to it) which provides him with a more authentic native 'Bedouin' look than mine.

Horseback Riding – Pyramids, Egypt

Mt. Sinai, Egypt

After diving 30 meters - the maximum depth with my scuba classification - the next day a group of us climbed to a height of 2285 meters, up mount Mt Sinai. As you many recall Mt. Sinai is revered as the place where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. Walking ahead of the group, I reach the summit by myself. I didn't see any burning bush at the summit, but I did see that plastic bag twirling in the air (recall American Beauty). Seriously. Nevertheless, I must say the summit was very tranquil.

Scuba Diving - Dahab, Egypt

After leaving Aqaba, Jordon we made our way to a small town on the Red Sea, Dahab, know for its scuba dive. As you might already know the Red Sea has some of the best scuba diving in the world. While staying in Dahab, Jo, Amanda and I completed our Advance PADI Scuba training. The training included a total of 5 dives over 2 days (Navigation Dive, Night Dive, Naturalist Dive, Deep Dive in "The Canyon" and "Blue Hole"). It was like swimming in the Baltimore Aquarium. I wish I had a digital underwater camera so I could share the underwater scenery. I’m hoping to do more diving later on the trip in Thailand and Australia.

Scuba Diving - Dahab, Egypt

Pictured (l to r) taking a break between dives is "me", Sam, our dive instructor, and Jo.

Jo - Scuba Diving – Dahab, Egypt

Jo was my scuba buddy for some of the advance classes. Let’s just say Jo asked a lot of questions (and I mean a lot). For some reason, I thought her questions would be limited to period prior to the dive. You can’t ask questions underwater, right? Nope, even being underwater did not stop Jo from asking questions. You can imagine my surprise when I saw Jo swimming a head towards the dive instructor, tapping him on the shoulder and start pointing to things in the water. I was like “wow” she doesn’t stop. To his credit, the dive instructor had a small underwater writing board attached to his dive suit and was able to write down the answers to Jo’s hand-motioned questions.

Day Trip - Beirut, Lebanon

A bunch of us took a day trip to Beirut, Lebanon. During the trip, we saw the site where the bomb exploded on February 14th 2005, killing the Lebanon’s Ex-Prime Minister. The explosion was massive, killing 30 people. The site is still under international investigation. Many of the cars surrounding the explosion site still remained in the exact same spot as on the day of explosion...shattered windows where covered with plastic to protect the interior of the cars from the rain. Prior to making are way back to Damascus we had a quick cheese burger and fries at the Hard Rock Café, Beirut. The café was very empty, the bombings has scared off most of the tourist industry, once again.

The pictured posted is a random village we passed on the way to Beirut. Despite the bombings, Lebanon is truly a beautiful country.

Bacchus Temple – Exterior - Baalbek, Lebanon

Baalbek, the "Sun City" of the ancient world, it's the most impressive ancient site in Lebanon and arguably, the most impressive Roman site in the Middle East. Its temples, built on an extravagant scale that outshone anything in Rome, enjoyed a reputation as one of the wonders of the world. Baalbek was originally constructed in the 1st century C.E. and when there was no construction machinery, just man and animal power.

Six Remaining Pillars of the Jupiter Temple - Baalbek, Lebanon

Bacchus Temple - Interior - Baalbek, Lebanon

Hazel and Dawn - Baalbek, Lebanon

Pictured are Hazel and Dawn standing by one of the huge pillars. As you can see the pillars are massive in size. I was sleeping in the van, while we approached Baalbek and when I awoke a saw site, it was truly amazing. While we can only imagine from the replications of what the site looked like in it’s during its prime, the sight had to be truly spectacular. It been the best Roman ruins site we seen so far (in my opinion).