Aqaba to Amman - a 4 Hour drive that took 12
Friday, Feb. 21.
Departing Wadi Rum yesterday after lunch, we drove south to Aqaba, the only port city in Jordan, situated on the Gulf of Aqaba, a part of the Red Sea. From our hotel room, we could see the hills of Israel across the narrow gulf. After checking into the hotel, we got a map from the concierge and headed out for an exploratory walk, staying along the waterfront for a while, then turning into the old downtown area where we visited the local spice market with all sorts of interesting stores selling whole skinned goats, complete with heads and horns, fresh fish, house wears, and spices.
The Lobby at our Aqaba Hotel
We spoke for some time with a shopkeeper who had a vast array of spices and herbs on display. Like Salah, he was also a Bedouin and, as is the custom, offered us tea when he found out we were from Canada. He showed us the process of grinding and mixing spices using both a brass mortar and pestil and also an electric grinder. One blend he sold had 33 different spices and herbs. He said it was “good for everything.”
We tried our bargaining skills and managed to get a 'deal' on Red and white Jordanian traditional head scarves. Visiting local markets is always so interesting and offers the opportunity to see how the local folks live, where they shop, what they buy. We saw very few tourists in that part of the city.
The group gathered for a very good dinner at the hotel restaurant, a beautiful room with a menu of well-prepared middle eastern selections.
Excellent restaurant for dinner in a beautiful setting
This morning, we were up early before the breakfast room opened and off at 7:30 am. The drive to Amman takes four hours, but of course, we did not take a direct route stopping for some interesting visits. After a couple hours, we made a stop for physiological needs that Salah euphemistically refers to as a 'technical' stop. The highway rest stops are always at interesting locations. They always have a small cafeteria and coffee bar, plus a store that sells furniture (no kidding), decorative items, clothing, souvenirs, etc. This one also sold salts and mud from the Dead Sea.
Our next stop was stop was the town of Magaba where we visited St. George's Church. The church itself is only about 100 years old, but it was built on the site of a previous church. Part of the floor of the original church, which was uncovered and now preserved in the current church, was a fantastic mosaic map of the Holy Land dating back to hundreds of years before the Crusades. Even though the map makers did not have sophisticated cartographic tools, this illustrated map is about 80% accurate. A couple errors were evident. For example, the Nile River was shown as running east/west.
The ancient mosaic map. The walled city of Jerusalem is clearly visible.
In St. George's church, Christian images with Arabic descriptions.
We had a Middle East lunch at a local restaurant where we had an excellent Maqlouba, or ‘Upside Down.’ Our Mexican friends called it a Jordanian paella. Delicately spiced, the rice dish is turned out from a big pot onto a serving tray. Steaming hot, chicken and vegetables are mixed in. In addition, salads, hummus, yoghurt, roasted eggplant, flatbread, and a few other dishes made up the selection which was far too much for our group to eat. Salah told us that the leftover food was not wasted, though. The restaurant had a process to get that excess food to the town’s poorer citizens.
Jordanian 'Upside Down' for lunch
Along the way, Salah took us to visit local artisans who create mosaic art. We were able to see them at work and also view an array of their finished products, some decorative, and others in which the mosaic picture is embedded in a piece of furniture like a table.
A Mosaic Artisan at Work
Sami drove us to Mount Nebo, the place where Moses died after viewing the Promised Land across the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. From the summit, we, too saw the town of Jericho in the distance and the land where the Hebrews would settle 40 years after wandering the desert following the exodus from Egypt.
View of the Promised Land from Mt. Nebo beyond the Dead Sea
A Franciscan church on the summit replaced an old chapel, but parts of the intricate mosaic floor have been preserved.
Mosaic floor from the old Mt. Nebo church.
From Mt. Nebo, we visited the ruins of a palace dating back to 200 BC. After that, we went to a women’s co-op project where the women taught us to make small yogurt balls stored in olive oil. We then shared a light meal of these yogurt treats, homemade flatbread, cooked greens, Bedouin tea with mint, and zaatar. In another part of the building, the ladies manufactured paper using ancient materials and methods. Finally, the third craft was ceramic making. Several people bought some paper products and ceramics from them.
Finally, after 12 hours, we completed our 4 hour drive arriving back at our Amman hotel from where we will depart at 6:30AM for the airport and our flight to Cairo.
Departing Wadi Rum yesterday after lunch, we drove south to Aqaba, the only port city in Jordan, situated on the Gulf of Aqaba, a part of the Red Sea. From our hotel room, we could see the hills of Israel across the narrow gulf. After checking into the hotel, we got a map from the concierge and headed out for an exploratory walk, staying along the waterfront for a while, then turning into the old downtown area where we visited the local spice market with all sorts of interesting stores selling whole skinned goats, complete with heads and horns, fresh fish, house wears, and spices.
The Lobby at our Aqaba Hotel
We spoke for some time with a shopkeeper who had a vast array of spices and herbs on display. Like Salah, he was also a Bedouin and, as is the custom, offered us tea when he found out we were from Canada. He showed us the process of grinding and mixing spices using both a brass mortar and pestil and also an electric grinder. One blend he sold had 33 different spices and herbs. He said it was “good for everything.”
We tried our bargaining skills and managed to get a 'deal' on Red and white Jordanian traditional head scarves. Visiting local markets is always so interesting and offers the opportunity to see how the local folks live, where they shop, what they buy. We saw very few tourists in that part of the city.
The group gathered for a very good dinner at the hotel restaurant, a beautiful room with a menu of well-prepared middle eastern selections.
Excellent restaurant for dinner in a beautiful setting
This morning, we were up early before the breakfast room opened and off at 7:30 am. The drive to Amman takes four hours, but of course, we did not take a direct route stopping for some interesting visits. After a couple hours, we made a stop for physiological needs that Salah euphemistically refers to as a 'technical' stop. The highway rest stops are always at interesting locations. They always have a small cafeteria and coffee bar, plus a store that sells furniture (no kidding), decorative items, clothing, souvenirs, etc. This one also sold salts and mud from the Dead Sea.
Our next stop was stop was the town of Magaba where we visited St. George's Church. The church itself is only about 100 years old, but it was built on the site of a previous church. Part of the floor of the original church, which was uncovered and now preserved in the current church, was a fantastic mosaic map of the Holy Land dating back to hundreds of years before the Crusades. Even though the map makers did not have sophisticated cartographic tools, this illustrated map is about 80% accurate. A couple errors were evident. For example, the Nile River was shown as running east/west.
The ancient mosaic map. The walled city of Jerusalem is clearly visible.
In St. George's church, Christian images with Arabic descriptions.
We had a Middle East lunch at a local restaurant where we had an excellent Maqlouba, or ‘Upside Down.’ Our Mexican friends called it a Jordanian paella. Delicately spiced, the rice dish is turned out from a big pot onto a serving tray. Steaming hot, chicken and vegetables are mixed in. In addition, salads, hummus, yoghurt, roasted eggplant, flatbread, and a few other dishes made up the selection which was far too much for our group to eat. Salah told us that the leftover food was not wasted, though. The restaurant had a process to get that excess food to the town’s poorer citizens.
Jordanian 'Upside Down' for lunch
Along the way, Salah took us to visit local artisans who create mosaic art. We were able to see them at work and also view an array of their finished products, some decorative, and others in which the mosaic picture is embedded in a piece of furniture like a table.
A Mosaic Artisan at Work
Sami drove us to Mount Nebo, the place where Moses died after viewing the Promised Land across the Dead Sea and the Jordan River. From the summit, we, too saw the town of Jericho in the distance and the land where the Hebrews would settle 40 years after wandering the desert following the exodus from Egypt.
View of the Promised Land from Mt. Nebo beyond the Dead Sea
A Franciscan church on the summit replaced an old chapel, but parts of the intricate mosaic floor have been preserved.
Mosaic floor from the old Mt. Nebo church.
From Mt. Nebo, we visited the ruins of a palace dating back to 200 BC. After that, we went to a women’s co-op project where the women taught us to make small yogurt balls stored in olive oil. We then shared a light meal of these yogurt treats, homemade flatbread, cooked greens, Bedouin tea with mint, and zaatar. In another part of the building, the ladies manufactured paper using ancient materials and methods. Finally, the third craft was ceramic making. Several people bought some paper products and ceramics from them.
Finally, after 12 hours, we completed our 4 hour drive arriving back at our Amman hotel from where we will depart at 6:30AM for the airport and our flight to Cairo.
Really cool tile floor. That's Greek writing on it, right?
ReplyDeleteHave a great flight to Egypt :)