Three Days in Aqaba

The majority of Jordan (and the Middle East for that matter) has been celebrating the ‘Id Al Adha holiday this week.  Also called the Feast of Sacrifice, it is an important holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide.  The focus is on the story of Ibrahim and his submission to Allah to sacrifice his first-born son, Ismail.  Allah, thankfully, intervened and offered Ibrahim a lamb instead.  Some of you may remember the rendering of this story in the Bible as that of Abraham and his son Isaac.  This is also the holiday where many Muslims make their pilgrimage (Hajj) to Mecca.  Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam and a religious duty, which must be carried out by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so at least once in his or her lifetime.

So now you know the reason why the kids have had a week off from school and the Embassy was closed for 3 days.  Bill and I decided we needed to have something to do for some of the break so we decided we would head south to Aqaba, Jordan’s only coastal town.  We weren’t alone in our thinking, but honestly, we didn’t care.  We were excited to check out “the beach” and see what Jordan had to offer us.  Samuel was also interested in seeing just exactly where the boat docked and dropped off all of our household goods – i.e his Legos and Nerf guns (which are thankfully in our possession once again).

As I mentioned, Aqaba is Jordan’s only coastal town on the tip of the Red Sea.  It is their only seaport and is a major tourist attraction famous for its warm water and rich marine life.

It didn’t disappoint.  The weather is easily 10 or more degrees warmer than in Amman and the water temperature was glorious.  Let me remind you – it’s October!  We were swimming in the Atlantic in June this year and our lips would turn blue in 3 minutes.  Not here.  It was delightful to stick your toes in the water and still feel them 10 minutes later.

We stayed at the Raddisson Blu Tala Bay, which is situated down the road a bit from “downtown Aqaba.”  It was a lovely hotel with several heated pools and direct beach access.  Samuel and I quickly realized upon arrival that we needed to purchase a snorkel and a mask immediately, so we did.  Needless to say we spent the next 3 days swimming, eating, snorkeling, eating some more, swimming, snorkeling…you get the picture.  Speaking of pictures, here they are because honestly, they tell this story better than I can.

If these don’t convince you to come for a visit I’m not sure what can.  Think about it.  We love visitors!

A view of the coastline

 Almost a full moon, night #1

Getting closer, night #2

The view from our room

Sunsets were gorgeous

The snorkeling dude

The shell-searcher

Some of the "finds" we "found"

 If you look really hard you will see some fish

We found this guy right at the waters edge.

Then he started to poke out of his shell and pose for us!  The kids loved him.

This was Daddy's big find - A CRAB!

 Off to snorkel

 Snorkeling with Daddy

My "beach beauty!"

 My loves

This is what happens when you let Daddy take pictures.

My snorkeling buddy

Picture by Samuel

The Elliott Blondes Abroad on Daddy's Birthday

(I couldn't think of a better way to spend a birthday.)

Love to all,

J in Jordan

The Last Crusade…but our first outside of Amman

The weekend after my birthday (call it a belated birthday gift) we decided we needed to start truly adventuring beyond Amman.  Bill has a couple of connections with some of the locals that he has met and he asked them if they would give us a recommendation for “how to do Petra.” They took that as their opportunity to essentially host us for the day.  It was truly lovely!

Petra is about 3 hours south of Amman and in order to make a day of it we needed to start early.  So we were up by 6am and on the road before 7.  Three hours later we were eating breakfast #2 in the Mövenpick Hotel.  The kids thought it was great that we got to eat two breakfasts in one day! And the hotel is really beautiful.  After brunch it was off to walk the trail into Petra.

Petra is sometimes called the “Lost City.” After the 14^th century AD, Petra was completely lost to the western world. It was rediscovered in 1812 by the Swiss traveller Johann Ludwig Burckhardt who tricked his way into the fiercely guarded site by pretending to be an Arab from India wishing to make a sacrifice at the tomb of the Prophet Aaron. 

It is one of the great archaeological finds in the world and, of course, the most important famous attraction of Jordan.  You should all remember the famous scene from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade” where they enter the Treasury in search of the Holy Grail.  Petra is the home of the Treasury.  Some archaeologists rank Petra as the 8^th Wonder of the World and I would have to agree that it is truly amazing and beautiful.  The rock formations themselves are awe-inspiring and their colors and striations are unbelievable.  It is hard to fathom that Mother Nature created it all.  Some have even called it the “rose-red” city due to all of the multi-colored sandstone.

The Nabataeans built Petra more than 2200 years ago.  They were an ancient tribe who originally came from the Arabian Pennisula and settled in southern Jordan.  They were influenced by foreign cultures due to the fact that they were heavily involved in the caravan business.  During their time in Jordan, they became masters of the area’s trade routes.  They levied tolls and protected caravans filled with frankincense and myrrh, Indian spices and silks, African ivory and animal hides.  They founded a powerful kingdom that stretched to Damascus, Syria, and included parts of the Sinai and Negev deserts, essentially covering the better part of Arabia.  This was not an easy task, seeing that the whole region was under the domination of the Greeks, the Hasmonaeans (the ruling dynasty of Judea) and then of course the Romans!

The Nabataeans fought vicious wars and were apparently very cunning in their diplomacy to preserve their independence, but those darn Romans, once again, proved to be too tough and were not willing to tolerate a strong native kingdom.  In 106 AD the Nabataean kingdom was annexed to the Roman Empire.  However, Petra and the Nabataean civilization managed to prosper for many more years until shifts in trade routes and a lesser demand for frankincense ended its prosperous time and the city fell to ruins.

Petra is breathtaking to see.  The fact that it was rediscovered after so long and is still standing to this day is an amazing fact on its own.  Our tour guide was quite good and it was interesting to listen to how the Nabataeans didn’t fight Mother Nature in how to build into the rock, but used what they had to their advantage.

We had an absolutely beautiful day and the kids were somewhat interested in the whole thing.  Not bad for 4 ½ and 8 ½.  However, if you asked them for the highlight of their day, they would say it was the shopping along the walk run by the local Bedouins.  Samuel was thrilled to walk away with not ONE but TWO shibryas (Jordanian knives used for various things, from cutting bread to killing sheep).  Mariel chose a sand sculpture and ended up with a silver bracelet as well as a rock.  I picked up a beautiful silver bracelet made in the Nabataean style favored by the local Bedouin women.

The walk through the “city” takes some time and at the end you have to turn around and walk back through, or go by donkey or camel.  I can only imagine that is a little bumpy!  Once again, Bill came to the rescue and we received some special VIP treatment and a car met us at the end of the walk.  I was truly thankful for this because while Miss M had done a great job walking the whole way, she was done and the thought of telling her that we had to turn around and walk back didn’t excite me at all.

Below is the whole story in pictures.  I will admit I made a crucial error in putting the wrong lens on my camera, all in an effort not to carry more than one lens.  There are times I think I just need more than one camera! Bill is just shaking his head at that remark.  Anyway, as you might be able to tell, some of my shots are just too close, but because of that, you get to see detail and color all the better, so maybe it’s a win-win for all!  I hope you enjoy, but honestly, even with the right lens I am not sure the pictures would do it justice.  You just need to come, visit and see it in person.  It is awe-inspiring and unlike anything you will ever see anywhere else.

Heading towards the entrance of Petra.
 

All the way in Jordan, at one of of the "Wonders of the World" and he decided to pick up gravel from the trail! Boys will be boys.

"Look Mom, I'm holding up the whole city!"

 The entrance to the Treasury.

The Treasury

Camel ride anyone?

Sand Art

 The steps of "drawing" a camel inside a bottle.  It was fascinating!  And all they use is a knitting needle and a funnel.  It's made with sand from the rocks of Petra.

It's not drawn, completely natural.

Love to all,

J in Jordan