Day 4

After some negotiating the night before, we decided that driving to Palmyra in the eastern Syrian desert was going to have to be postponed, because the winds were apparently really blowing out that way. Instead, we figured that Jordan was as good a place to head come rain, shine, wind or ???

So, once again at a god awful hour for Dania, we headed out the way we'd been the night before when we went to Dima's and took a taxi to the central area just at the outskirts of Damascus where people then take a "service" (given the French pronunciation, but really just another taxi that tries to carry up to 4, sometimes 5 people) to either Beirut (to the west) or Amman (to the south). The countryside in between Damascus and Amman is pretty dry and arid; however, there are definitely more signs of agriculture on the Syrian side. Someone told me, while I was in Syria, that the country could pretty much sustain itself food-wise if it ever had sanctions placed on it as Iraq and Iran have had.

The highlight of this trip was the other individual, besides our driver, who traveled with us, Shin the water management consultant from Tokyo. He also had the idea of getting up early and heading to Amman, knew very little Arabic, and perhaps a bit more English. Half-way to Amman, we stopped at a place that could have sort of passed for a 7-11 except that they sold typical Arabic food and tourist kinds of things. While Dania was buying a Sim card for her cell phone (you need separate chips for each country in the Middle East), Shin and I chatted about why each of us was in the taxi. He consults throughout the world, has been to Kuwait (right at the beginning of the latest US military build up for Iraq), Dubai, and Yemen, but had never been to Syria and Jordan. So, he had explored Damascus and was headed to Petra and then the Dead Sea. I mentioned that we were planning on renting a car once we arrived in Amman and then driving that evening to Petra, and he asked if he could join. Well, why not; the more the merrier, right? So, when we were back in the taxi and again headed toward the border, we three agreed that Shin would go with us.

The border crossing was pretty interesting going from Syria to Jordan. The Jordanians were extremely careful in inspecting the entire car (to include the taxi's driving over an inspection hole to make sure there was no bomb or ? underneath). Plus, we went through an exit "interview" on the Syrian side and then one on the Jordanian side

I was really impressed with Amman and am sorry that I did not to take any photos while we were there. But we never went to any particular spot that would have given any perspective of the stark, hilly nature of the city. It's a much younger city than Damascus and without the long history of being continually civilized the way Damascus is. Jordanians are basically all Bedouins, many of who now have become urbanized. But whatever the case, the city appeared to me to be very clean and, in fact, sort of reminded me of San Francisco without the view or color! Ousama and Dania both do not care of the city. Am not sure about Dania, but he just feels that it's too desert-like without much green anywhere. Be that as it may, we checked into renting a car, were told it would take a couple of hours to organize and all three of us hopped into another taxi headed toward one of the restaurants Dania knows in Amman. (She's been down there several times in her effort to obtain the Jordanian government's permission to interview Sajida Mubarak.

Amazingly enough, upon arrival at the restaurant (that could have passed for a place in Carmel, CA!)we ran into one of Dania's friends from Damascus, Nick the Brit, who had recently moved to Amman for a "different Arabic learning experience." He joined us as we passed the time eating very typical American food to include a salad that we had been avoiding (or at least I had!) in Syria in order NOT to need the Cipro tablets we both had......

Fully nourished and, at least Dania, caught up on social things with Nick, we picked up the car just as it was becoming dark and headed out on the Amman freeway system. Somehow or other, we actually managed to follow most of the directions toward the Petra Highway. We stopped for gas once, which Shin kindly picked up, and kept driving and driving well into the evening. We had THOUGHT it would take us about 3 hours and that we'd arrive by 8 p.m. But, of course, the mileage didn't take into account the last portion's curves. To entertain ourselves, Dania and I started singing Christmas songs. It was, after all, the day before Christmas eve! The one song that hung us up was The Twelve Days of Christmas because we couldn't remember some of the last numbers items. So, for the record and just in case Dania ever reads this, here you go (with a little religious history thrown in):

1 True Love refers to God
2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming refers to the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

The singing did keep us awake, but it was Shin's clapping at the end of each song and his comment about the 12 Days (that it reminded him of his youth when he enjoyed watching The Sound of Music) that really provided the entertainment!!!

Finally, we arrived at what even at night time we could tell was interesting geography. In coming to Petra, one leaves the main highway and drives down a relatively steep road into the village that has grown up outside the entrance to this AMAZING wonder of nature. Shin had been doing his homework and had decided on a "middle of the road" hotel. I figured we'd do the same since all we really needed was a good night's sleep before hitting Petra. Suffice it to say, the joint was not exactly right for the two of us. So, we hightailed it up the hill a bit and found something not quite so close to the entrance, but much warmer and cleaner.

OK, you know that book, The X # of Places You Have to See Before You Die, right? Well, Petra HAS to be on this list. It is UNBELIEVABLE!!!! Evidence suggests that settlements had begun around Petra in the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Whoever the original tribe was to settle at Petra, it is the Nabataeans, an Aramaic-speaking Semitic tribe, that settled in the area, developed it as a caravan center,and are responsible for the carved sandstone architecture. It is not known how far back the Nabataean settlement goes, but it does not go back farther than the 6th century BC. According to Arab tradition, Petra is the spot where Moses struck a rock with his staff and water came out, and where Moses' brother, Aaron, is buried, at Mount Hor, known today as Jabal Haroun.

I'm going to provide a link to a Flickr posting I've made of my Petra photos that sort of do the place justice. Everyone always thinks of Petra based on the one photo of The Treasury , but BOY is there much, much more to see!!!! Of course, I was up and down toward the entrance right when it opened at 8 a.m. However, since Dania had already been to Petra this past summer, she slept in and told me she'd join me at The Treasury at 10:30. I walked, and walked and walked and my mouth was wide open almost the entire time that morning!

I think all you need to do is to go Flickr and find akkadfish in order to see what I've posted so far.

I would be remiss if I did not come full circle with the Shin story. As Dania and I were walking that afternoon and exploring what lies beyond (well beyond...) the Treasury, she kept wondering where Shin was. And, wouldn't you know, at our very last stop - the UNBELIEVABLE Monastery - who do we see but Shin! He saw us and amazingly enough started running toward us! Of course, so did Dania who met him halfway with a big hug! He then came to me and modestly we shook hands! He took photos of us on his cell phone and Dania took photos of me with him and I took photos of her with him. Unfortunately, they're all on her camera. So, Dania, if you're reading this, post Shin's photos as proof of our Japanese/Jordanian adventure!

Our goal on Christmas eve was to drive to Wadi Rum, see the sunset and then drive on to Aqaba for the evening. In order to do that, we really moved it up to the Monastery via donkey and then some major huffing and puffing and then hiked all the way back to the Treasury and realized there was no way we could walk through the Siq and to the car! So, Dania hailed a horse-driven carriage, negotiated a fair fee to get us to the entrance to Petra and we sank down into what felt like the most comfortable seats ever!

What a day!