Beautiful Timeless Jordan

“Jordan has a strange, haunting beauty and a sense of timelessness. Dotted with the ruins of empires once great, it is the last resort of yesterday in the world of tomorrow. “- Hussein of Jordan

We crossed over from Israel to Jordan via the King Hussein bridge formerly known as the Allenby bridge. While the Covid testing rules have changed since, we had to take a PCR test in Israel and then cross over to Jordan and take another PCR test across the border before arriving at the customs and immigration facility.

Having bid an emotional goodbye to Tzidki our host and newly minted family member in Israel, we got ready to enjoy our Jordanian adventure with a new host. Some administrative snafu had forced Wail to move from where he was originally waiting for us and so he came rushing down to this seedy little area where we were waiting to have our passports processed. Profuse in his apologies, he quickly handled things and soon we were on board our new wheels and making a new friend. Wail is of the age of my children, so I actually felt that I had just acquired another son who gave me his arm when I needed it and shared pictures and stories of his family with us.

Our first stop in Jordan was a resort on the Dead Sea. We had already visited the Dead Sea on the Israeli side having dipped our toes and floated in the salty water; the Dead Sea on the Jordanian side seemed a lot more robust and ringed with resorts.

Here at the beautiful Kempinski resort, we managed to make spa time and used the upscale spa facilities and warm piped water from the Dead Sea to rejuvenate our tired bodies to get ready for exploring all that Jordan has to offer.

One forgets that this land was one big vast land mass during biblical times and that the Jordan River was a part of Jesus’s ministry. Moses led the Jews from the Red Sea across these lands to ultimately find the promised land. Even though he was barred from setting foot there, Mount Nebo where Moses got his first sight of the promised land, the site where John the Baptist once baptized his followers as well as Jesus Christ are all here on this side of the border in Jordan. The Jordan River in fact serves as the river border between Israel and Jordan with Jerusalem only an hour plus driving distance from the border.

I might sound like I keep harping on food, but food and wine was such an integral part of this discovery experience that it’s hard not to fixate a bit about all the wonderfully curated meals that we enjoyed. Here too at the Dead Sea, we got to taste the many flavors of Jordan and as a special treat we had a wonderful Lebanese dinner catered by chef Abu Elias who came out of his kitchen to say hello and graciously accept our compliments.

The Roman Empire was vast and it really brings things to home as you travel how far and wide their reach was. There are numerous Roman ruins to be found all over Jordan. Most significant of these is Jerash that beautiful well preserved Roman City guarded by Hadrian’s Gate or Philadelphia gate. Interesting that ancient Amman was once known as Philadelphia.

The modern lands blend effortlessly with the ancient such that there is a sense of timelessness here. Shepherds tend their flocks on the hillsides much as one would imagine they have done since time immemorial. White buildings rise above the ruins and in fact particularly here in Jerash this modern city is built over the remains of the ancient city.

A cold windy blustery morning found us at Mount Nebo. Pope John Paul II visited the summit of Mount Nebo where he planted an olive tree next to the Byzantine chapel on the hill and looked out at the same view of the promised land that Moses had once looked upon.

History has it that this is the point where Moses had his first and last glimpse of the promised land since he was forbidden entry. We did not visit the burial site, but it is my understanding that Moses is buried near here.

The Byzantine chapel on the top of the hill has beautiful mosaics that this region is famous for. Many of these mosaics give us insights into the lives of the people who once thrived here.

This particular mosaic has special significance outside of the wonderful well-preserved detail. According to a friend, the figure at the bottom left depicts the Hindu God Lord Krishna. Did these regions have trade with India during that period? it is certainly possible. These mosaics definitely give us glimpses of life and culture during the biblical times.

The visit to this region would be incomplete if we did not visit the local school to see how these mosaics are made.

Cold, damp and tired from walking through the town of Madaba we made our way to the Food Basket for a taste of Madaba. Ferial who looks far from the grandmother that she is was our host to an absolutely phenomenal meal of local delicacies.

Trying to preserve her ancestral family home, Ferial converted it into a restaurant which is patronized by high-ranking diplomats and ordinary people like us. She was telling us how she had recently had a visit from the secret service to vet her restaurant for an important high-ranking visitor. No, she said she didn’t know or at least she wasn’t sharing with us.

Not only does Ferial have an all women crew in her kitchen but when she needs it, she has a network of local women she can reach out to help her prepare local dishes. We admired Ferial for all that she has achieved in her part of the world both in empowering women and creating a lasting legacy.

Since this was once a home and is still decorated with family pictures and other memorabilia, we felt welcomed like family and enjoyed the ambiance of enjoying both the food and conversation.

Simple pleasures, stopping by the wayside to gambol with the lambs.

Petra, walking through the narrow twists and turns of the Siq heading first towards the treasury and then onwards to the royal tombs and the monastery. Petra deserves its own post and will definitely get one.

I did not realize it until it actually happened that with this visit, I have now had the privilege of visiting all seven wonders of the modern world.

Those beautiful Kohel ringed eyes of this young Bedouin girl who we met along the way in Petra. She and her brother posed for us and with us. Bright girl, when we tried to give her money in thanks she refused. Instead, she suggested that we could buy something from her. So, we found ourselves with two beautiful handmade necklaces made of camel hair and bone as souvenirs.

We stopped at one of the shops where one of the Bedouin men tried to convince us of the benefits of Kohel and convince one of us to be his model for a live demonstration. Alas! to his disappointment none of us took him up on his offer.

Every meal that we enjoyed throughout our visit was beautifully curated and a delight. One of the most fun evenings on our trip was a hands-on experience in learning how to make some of these delicacies.

Under the guidance and gentle critique of experienced chefs and the sound of laughter we got to chopping and stirring and seasoning, to actually produce a delicious meal.

At the end we were also given these tried and tested recipes to bring home with us. What an absolutely wonderful souvenir to bring home.

No! we are not in outer space. This is a luxury camp for star gazers out in the deserts of Wadi Rum. Though this landscape is definitely reminiscent of what we imagine Mars might look like since The Martian starring Matt Damon was filmed on location here in Wadi Rum.

I might be dating myself, but I was personally excited to visit these desert lands so beloved of T.E. Lawrence or Lawrence of Arabia. In fact, we saw a sand carving of Lawrence of Arabia outside a desert camp where we stopped for tea. He didn’t exactly look like Peter O’Toole!

Almost every day in Jordan, Wail gave us little tokens, some of which we brought home with us and some of which we demolished during our trip. One of the more fun tokens were these Jordanian head scarves that turned us into Bedouin sheikhs and sheikhas.

The Nabateans had figured out how to safely get caravans across the desert and knew the locations where to find water. Did they perhaps leave signposts like these to supplement stars and other means of navigation they used?

These timeless signs carved on the local rocks are an ancient messaging system that give us modern traveler insights into the stories they told.

After a couple of hours riding in a 4X4 across the desert sands we stopped at a Bedouin tent for a spot of Bedouin tea and a chat with some of the locals. Bedouin tea is freely offered to visitors without any questions asked. Flavored with sage and honey we enjoyed it at many locations throughout Jordan.

After a stop here to give our driver a rest and chat with some of the locals, admire a likeness of the ruler and T.E. Lawrence carved on the rocks outside we made our way towards the desert camp where we were slated to have a Zarb the traditional Bedouin meal that is cooked in a three-tiered tray buried under the desert sands. Then it was siesta time as we made our long drive towards Amman for the final few days of our time in this beautiful country.

The King Abdullah Mosque in Amman. I’m not sure if it was a designated stop but our plans got changed around and we found ourselves on the street outside. First, we wanted restrooms, then we wanted to visit a Mosque. Both goals accomplished.

While the predominant population in Jordan is Muslim it was interesting to find a beautiful ancient church across the street such that if you looked at the right angle you could see the entrance to the Mosque framed with the cross from the steeple of the church.

Amman has its own share of Roman ruins with an almost intact amphitheater and of course the citadel on the hill. Not only does this location offer a wonderful view of the city but it appears to be used as a park by the locals. We found children flying kites here and families enjoying the beautiful afternoon.

One of the fun sides of travel is a taste of street food eaten like locals. This was our opportunity to try one of the best Shawarma from a little shop with a long line of locals finished off by what we were told is the best Kunafeh (dessert) to be found in Amman.

Since these were not formal restaurants, we joined the locals in finding a place to park our backsides on the steps and sidewalk and enjoy our meal.

As a wrap up, we had a scheduled wine tasting to taste local wines. I did not know before our visit that Jordan cultivates wine. We got to visit Jordan River’s wine cellar located in a modern mall.

Even though it seemed we couldn’t eat another bit there was room for a last Lebanese dinner eaten family style as we bid a warm goodbye to this beautiful country and our wonderful host Wail.