It is Christmas Eve, in a Muslim nation, but we are staying in Madaba, a quaint suburb of Amman that is 30% Christian, so maybe there will be some festivities. There are some street decorations, lights and even a tree in the town square.
But first, we’ll spend the day at nearby religious and secular sites. Mount Nebo is one of the pilgrimage places we’ll see- famed as the Mountain where Moses was to view Israel, but was not allowed to proceed and is said to have perished (much dispute centres around the whereabouts of the grave/tomb). Little did we know, when we crossed the Red Sea from mainland Egypt, climbed Mount Sinai, saw the burning bush and now Mount Nebo – that we had created our own “Moses Trail”.
The exact site of Jesus’ baptism has also been in dispute for some time, but a few years ago, Pope JP II and the heads of the various Orthodox churches officially agreed that it was at Bethany, and it is now another holy pilgrimage point. There are various explanations offered as to fact that the exact location has no water – mostly having to do with the receding Jordan River. One can, however, walk down a set of stairs into the current flow for your own makeshift baptism (incidentally – there is an identical site on the Israeli side and this may be the closest “unofficial” border crossing in the Middle East, but our guide suggested not making eye-contact with anybody we see on the “other” side).
Our last stop (secular) of the day was to be our second attempt at the Dead Sea (remember we were blown out on the Israeli side a few weeks earlier). Second time is a charm – a warm sunny day at Amman beach and a floating we will go. The Sea is the lowest point on earth, at minus 420 meters, the waters are suppose to be medicinal with recuperative powers from the minerals, salts and mud – we’ll let you know.
Back in Madaba the central square Christmas tree remained unlit,
there were few festivities, so we visited the St. Georges church with an ancient mosaic tile floor map of the holy lands, then opted for a quiet meal (the best of the trip so far – delicately spiced appetizer dips, mixed bean soup, chicken scaloppini and potatoes bathed in a warm hummus sauce, with puff pastry “pita-like” bread and “Arak” – a Jordanian black licorice flavoured aperitif).
En route back to the hotel there were a few cars with folks dressed as Santa ringing bells out their windows – this was as close as it was going to get.
During our short travels in Jordan, even beyond Petra and the other sites, what struck us most was the good natured, friendly people. This was in stark contrast to the previous countries visited and the Jordanians take great pleasure in this. From the affable barber, to the laundry guy (who insisted that we share his dinner while we waited for the clothes to be folded), to the retired aircraft engineer who gave us a lift from the highway (“no charge. It is my duty to welcome you to Jordan with hospitality”), and these are but a few examples. Now we are really looking forward to the Royal Jordanian leg of our flight to Ethiopia.
Additional Jordan photos on flickr at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thegoobers_pics/sets/72157625881121992/
WOW! What a great trip you are having and we are living vicariously through you two at this time. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteBev and Chuck
Excuse me hi, you said you saw the burning bush ?? where is that, of course I know what it is historically and religiously but what are you talking about you saw it? Is there an exhibit or something ?? BTW I stood in that exact place on Jabal Nebo where the map is. Very very nice trip !!I hope you get to go more and more and I hope you can forgive any bad experiences and would hope you got the best of that famous Arab hospitality ;)
ReplyDeleteThere is a small bush in a Monastery at the base of the hike up Mt. Sinai in Egypt - that they proclaim is the "original" burning bush. No exhibit - just a bush in the courtyard (no burning)!
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, we did experience great Arab hospitality - the best being in Jordan.