So Petra was really cool stuff. We spent two days hiking and checking out all the different buildings in the area. The site is huge, which I hadn't realized. We saw a lot of high points, including the tourist-free spot that is up above the Treasury building, so we could look down on the building and all the activity below. Very cool. We Tomb-Raidered it up scrambling into old tombs and homes, and all hummed the Indiana Jones theme song as we passed through the canyon and arrived at the Treasury. After our first day we sat in the common room and watched Indy on VHS, including our own narrations when the sound cut out. What a blast.
Yesterday we went up to Amman in the afternoon. We kind of bummed around for a few hours (much needed rest time for me!), and by the time we got going again it was too late to get into the ruins of ancient Philadelphia. There is a nice little park that has a cafe and is all lit up after dark, so I got to walk along the colonnaded Roman street and peek through the bars at the Roman theater (huge and intact). A tourist police guy was apparently a little bored on a quiet night, so he gave me a quick tour of the places that were still open to the public. Very nice!
Today Ben and Rols and I had our last hurrah together before parting ways and headed off to the Dead Sea. We had a mishap with our "direct to Amman Beach" bus, which decided to change routes and kick us off in the middle of nowhere instead. We got a cab and headed down to the public beach only to find it was insanely expensive. You're not paying for the beach so much as the showers, which are necessary for washing off all the salt from the hyper-salinated Sea, so the guys decided we'd just buy a bunch of bottled water, head down to the no-man's-land part of the Sea, and douse ourselves when we were finished. As a result we had the "beach" all to ourselves, and we had a lovely time defying gravity and levitating on the surface of the water. All the pictures you see of people bobbing on top of the water are true. It's crazy. It also stings like crazy on any cuts you may have...ow!
From there, it was time to take our leave. We flagged down a cab (actually a woman teaching her daughter to drive, which added excitement) and they dropped me off at the Israeli/West Bank border. After a fond farewell - I'll miss those guys - the fellas headed back to Amman and I hit the border. It was remarkably free of headaches for me, although I hear that's not the case with everyone. I then hopped the bus to Jerusalem and ran into a girl I met in Petra, so I have a few more days of built-in travel buddies.
So now I'm in Jerusalem, staying in a guest house that once housed the likes of Herman Melville and Mark Twain. I am pretty sure the place has gone downhill since then, but you can't beat the location - right on the Tower of David in the Old City. Amazing. It's hard to describe the impact Jerusalem has, even on a person of no particular convictions. The presence of something bigger than everyday life is palpable, especially at the Western Wall, where we went after dinner tonight. We just stood and absorbed it for nearly an hour, and we plan to go back tomorrow as well. It's just really beautiful...
Time for bed! Big day exploring the city and taking care of flights and embassy stuff tomorrow...
Yesterday we went up to Amman in the afternoon. We kind of bummed around for a few hours (much needed rest time for me!), and by the time we got going again it was too late to get into the ruins of ancient Philadelphia. There is a nice little park that has a cafe and is all lit up after dark, so I got to walk along the colonnaded Roman street and peek through the bars at the Roman theater (huge and intact). A tourist police guy was apparently a little bored on a quiet night, so he gave me a quick tour of the places that were still open to the public. Very nice!
Today Ben and Rols and I had our last hurrah together before parting ways and headed off to the Dead Sea. We had a mishap with our "direct to Amman Beach" bus, which decided to change routes and kick us off in the middle of nowhere instead. We got a cab and headed down to the public beach only to find it was insanely expensive. You're not paying for the beach so much as the showers, which are necessary for washing off all the salt from the hyper-salinated Sea, so the guys decided we'd just buy a bunch of bottled water, head down to the no-man's-land part of the Sea, and douse ourselves when we were finished. As a result we had the "beach" all to ourselves, and we had a lovely time defying gravity and levitating on the surface of the water. All the pictures you see of people bobbing on top of the water are true. It's crazy. It also stings like crazy on any cuts you may have...ow!
From there, it was time to take our leave. We flagged down a cab (actually a woman teaching her daughter to drive, which added excitement) and they dropped me off at the Israeli/West Bank border. After a fond farewell - I'll miss those guys - the fellas headed back to Amman and I hit the border. It was remarkably free of headaches for me, although I hear that's not the case with everyone. I then hopped the bus to Jerusalem and ran into a girl I met in Petra, so I have a few more days of built-in travel buddies.
So now I'm in Jerusalem, staying in a guest house that once housed the likes of Herman Melville and Mark Twain. I am pretty sure the place has gone downhill since then, but you can't beat the location - right on the Tower of David in the Old City. Amazing. It's hard to describe the impact Jerusalem has, even on a person of no particular convictions. The presence of something bigger than everyday life is palpable, especially at the Western Wall, where we went after dinner tonight. We just stood and absorbed it for nearly an hour, and we plan to go back tomorrow as well. It's just really beautiful...
Time for bed! Big day exploring the city and taking care of flights and embassy stuff tomorrow...
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