Day 11 - Sunday, March 19 - Jordan, Madaba, Petra

March 19, 2023

I had a surprise at breakfast - usually I have a bowl of yogurt with fruit and nuts this morning. By mistake I used sour cream instead of yogurt. It was ok but not what I was expecting. At the breakfast they have large bowls with yogurt, sour cream, labneh (a middle-eastern yogurt-like cheese), cottage cheese and another white creamy substance but no labels.

Off at 7:15 this morning to the border, a 45 minute drive. Then through Israeli and Jordan immigration and customs which took 1 1/2 hours. One thing that is distinctly different on entering the country is seeing large photos of King Abdullah and the previous kings. Jordan is officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Hashemites are direct descendants of the prophet Mohammed and have long been responsible for the routes to the sacred sites of Medina and Mecca. After the defeat of the Ottomans by the Arabs and British (Lawrence of Arabia) in 1917, a king was declared and has ruled since. The king appoints the prime minister and ministers from the different tribes in Jordan. The kings have generally been benevolent and Jordan didn't suffer the turmoil of many of the other Arab countries during the Arab Spring in 2011 which tore apart Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria.

Driving along the Jordan River the climate is semi-tropical where there can be 3 crop rotations a year of vegetables. This is all almost 500' to 1000' below sea level. As we climb up, the climate changes to Mediterranean, with olives, apricots and almonds.

Much of Jordan is in the Rift Valley, a highly geologically active area that runs from Turkey down through Africa to Kenya. The recent catastrophic earthquake in Turkey and Syria are a result of this and other major earthquakes are anticipated along this zone every 400-500 years.

One unfortunate aspect of the urban scenery is the amount of trash on the ground.

Zuhair, our Jordanian guide, gave an interesting explanation of financing in the Muslim world. Islam does not allow the paying of interest which makes borrowing and lending difficult. When someone wants to get a loan to buy a car or house, the bank determines the profit it wants to make and this becomes part of the monthly repayment. An interesting approach to saying it isn't interest. An unfortunate consequence is that there is no benefit to repaying a loan early as one is liable for the full amount, no avoiding future interest payments as with a typical loan.

After 2 1/2 hours on the bus we arrived in Madaba for a delicious traditional Jordanian lunch of salads, vegetables, lamb patties and chicken in delicious sauces, followed by a sweet honey cake and very strong Turkish coffee.

We then walked to the Church of St. George which is world famous for its mosaic map from the 6th century. The map accurately depicts locations from the Nile Delta to the Dead Sea, Jericho, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and many other places. The location of the Roman Cardo in Jerusalem was unknown until someone recognized it on the map and it was excavated in Jerusalem in the past 20 years. We saw this when we were there. Much of the map was destroyed in a major earthquake in the 8th century that destroyed the church and was unknown until the church was rebuilt in the 19th century. The walls of the church are also lined with many religious mosaics and frescos.

From Madaba we took a 3 1/2 hour bus ride to Petra passing through absolutely barren flat desert and then rocky hills similar to Arizona and New Mexico. It is hard to imagine how anyone lives there. This is also an area of phosphate mining - phosphate export for fertilizer and other uses is the largest income source for Jordan.

When we stopped at a rest area I was surprised to get a "ping" on my phone that our Woodstock church service was live on Facebook. I was able to watch all of it while we were traveling, using the bus WiFi - quite amazing.

As we neared Petra, there were quite a few wind turbines spinning. It should be obvious that this is a good region for wind energy as all the trees are wind-blown toward the east.

The bus had to make a sudden stop when a herd of sheep started to cross the road. I managed to get a photo of the sheep and the shepherd with his donkey through the bus window.

We are staying at the Petra Movenpick, quite an upscale hotel just a few hundred feet from the entrance to Petra. The interior decorations are in a beautiful Middle-Eastern style.

We are praying for better weather than the forecast. Rain with temperatures 40-50 degrees are predicted. Typical is 60 - 75 degrees which is what it was when I visited 5 years ago.