Introduction

Clockwise From Top Left:

(Pyramid, Jesus Christ Crucification, Great Sand Sea Desert, Luxor Hot Air Balloon, Wailing Wall, Nile River, Petra's Treasury, Sunrise at Mt Sinai, Dome of Rock.)

Crater of Civilization!!!

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Day 1 - Singapore, Amman (Jordan) 18th Dec 10

Our adventure started in Singapore Changi Airport when our Qatar flight from Singapore to Amman was overbooked. Hence, instead of flying on 0205hrs to Amman (transit @ Doha), we flew at 1250hrs to Amman (transit @ Dubai) on Singapore Airline. 

.

Qatar did a good job to appease us by arranging accommodation at Holiday Inn with transport and breakfast. The real headache was in Dubai airport - getting the ticket for connecting flight took hours & printing the electronic ticket costed US$11, and I thought that Dubai was a first class airport. It was such a disappointment.

Day 2 - Amman, Jordan (19th Dec 10)

A sign that China is going to dominate the world!!! I saw quite a few made-in-china products in my hostel.

JERASH

"Jerash is known for the ruins of the Greco-Roman city of Gerasa, also referred to as Antioch on the Golden River.Jerash is considered one of the most important and best preserved Romancities in the Near East. It was a city of the Decapolis.Recent excavations show that Jerash was already inhabited during the Bronze Age (3200 BC - 1200 BC). After the Roman conquest in 63 BC, Jerash and the land surrounding it were annexed by the Roman province of Syria, and later joined the Decapolis cities. In AD 90, Jerash was absorbed into the Roman province of Arabia, which included the city of Philadelphia (modern dayAmman)."

Entrance of the Roman Ruins

Corinthium Column

Part of the ancient Roman City.

Roman Pillars

Another View of the Pillars

Roman Amphitheater

(Never been to Rome, so this is a first for me)

Ancient Cobble Street

Another View

I am sure it was a great city, but like everything else, each has its day.

One of the buildings in the complex

Another street view

What is the best way to appreciate the ancient Amphitheater?

Make a public speech! AY was obviously engrossed and passionate about her speech.

=)

The most well-preserved temple in the compound.

It was so important that a police officer was assigned to guard it.

Beautiful!

Friends told me that these Roman Ruins is nothing compared to those found in Rome. Well, I said that this is one of the few places in the world where you can hear the Adhan (Muslim Calling for Prayer) in the middle of a Roman ruin. That's uniquely Amman/Jerash.

AMMAN CITADEL

"Jabal al-Qal'a, also called Amman Citadel is a national historic site at the center of downtown Amman, Jordan. Evidence of occupation since the pottery Neolithicperiod^[1] has been found, making it among the world's oldest continuously inhabited places. The Amman Citadel’s history represents significant civilizations that stretched across continents and prospered for centuries, as one empire gave rise to the next. It also symbolizes the birth of the three great monotheistic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam."

A good view of the Amman City

Spending some time alone overlooking the city.

I realized that I am just one out of the billions.

How insignificant!!

=)

I have been to Red City (Jaipur, India) and Blue City (Jodhpur, India).

I would call Amman a Brown City. Apparently, it was mandated by the government that all the buildings got to be in brown, the only variation is the different tones of brown.

One of the most amazing things of the Citadel is its Antiquity Museum. It houses some of the oldest and rarest artifacts I would ever see. I am sure it would beat most of the famous museums in the world. Unfortunately, the authority did not have enough resources or means to do a good job exhibiting, the artifacts were housed in normal glasses.

Dead Sea Scrolls

What are the significance of Dead Sea Scroll? If you are adherent of Abrahamic Faiths (ie. Jews, Christians & Muslims), you should be interested in this. 

"The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of 972 documents, including texts from the Hebrew Bible, discovered between 1946 and 1956 in 11 caves in and around the ruins of the ancient settlement of Qumran on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea in theWest Bank. The texts are of great religious and historical significance, as they include the oldest known surviving copies of Biblical and extra-biblical documents and preserve evidence of great diversity in late Second Temple Judaism. They are written in Hebrew, Aramaicand Greek, mostly on parchment, but with some written on papyrus.^[1] These manuscripts generally date between 150 BCE and 70 CE.^[2]"

Ancient Hebrew Scroll

(About 2,000 years old)

I know I am not supposed to touch this 1800 years old Marble Statue, but I just want to make to point that this statue is nothing compared to the rest of the artifacts, hence it was not sealed from the public. I am sure if this marble statues was housed in other museums, it would be highly valued and well-taken care of.

These are the EARLIEST Statues ever done throughout Human Civilization (Early Neolithic period 8000 - 6000 BC). Interestingly, these Statues were created even before the creation of the World (around 4000BC) according to the timeline of the Old Testaments.

Well, I was really fortunate to see these artifacts.

Hercules Temple @ Citadel, Amman

Time to show our strength to honor the God of Strength - Hercules.

=)

Well, the best things in life are always the unexpected ones. At around 3pm, when the Mosques around Amman was calling for prayer (known as Adhan), I had a wonderful experience of listening to Adhan echoing around the city. The surround-sound experience was Awesome and Magical. The video below does not do it justice, and you have to experience it yourself. Never knew that listening to Adhan could be so enjoyable!!

The interesting thing is that I was listening to Adhan in a Roman Ruin. How cool is that! At least, you won't find that in Rome. Enjoy it!! =)

Day 3 - Dead Sea, Jordan (20th Dec 10)

The first group photo (taken at Citadel Amman). 

We rented a 8-seater MPV for 2 days (US$260). It had been quite a few years since I drove a right-hand traffic environment. The last time was back in the US, and I took some time to get used to it. Singapore and a few commonwealth countries are the last few countries still using the left-hand traffic.

JESUS' BAPTISM SITE

"John the Baptist preached a baptism for the forgiveness of sins and in so doing he was preparing the way for the Lord.^[2] Jesus came to the Jordan River where he was baptized by John at a site traditionally known as Qasr al-Yahud (the Jews' Castle).Many scholars believe Jesus was baptized by John at the Jordan River, just south of what is now the Allenby Bridge, near Qasir al-Yahud on the West Bank. "

River Jordan

We were a bit disappointed, as it looks like any other murky canal to us. My reaction was "So this is it". 

The Site where Jesus Christ was baptized 2000 years ago.

Information about the site.

Many different denomination of churches set up their presence in this holy place.

Ceiling Painting

Wall Painting

We had a conversation with our guide who told us that Jesus never explicitly said that he was the Son of God.  According to the guide, the claim was inferred by Jesus' disciples. Since I was not Theologists Scholar nor Christian, I probed a few more questions to the guide and accepted it. I was surprised that none of the Christians in our tour group challenged the guide.  

The guide was quite delighted to know that we were from Singapore. He said that Jordan aspires to be the "Singapore of Middle-East". This made me proud of my country. Finally, someone knows where Singapore is!!  =)

As this site has little historical and religious significance to me, the most interesting thing was seeing Israelis guards smoking across the River Jordan. I would expect to see Palestinian forces, as it was part of West Bank.

DEAD SEA

"The Dead Sea also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are 422 metres (1,385 ft) below sea level,^[2] the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface on dry land. The Dead Sea is 378 m (1,240 ft) deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world. It is also one of the world's saltiest bodies of water, with 33.7% salinity. It is 8.6 times more salty than the ocean.^[4] This salinity makes for a harsh environment where animals cannot flourish, hence its name. The Dead Sea is 67 kilometres (42 mi) long and 18 kilometres (11 mi) wide at its widest point."

Dead Sea !!!

Elevation: 400m below sea level

The lowest point on Earth!!!

The classic reading a paper on Dead Sea picture.

Group Floating Photo! =)

I could not swim breaststroke in the Dead Sea because the buoyancy would cause my legs to kick above the water. On the other hand, it was a joy swimming freestyle, as I could glide through the water easily without kicking. The only challenge was preventing the salty water from entering my mouth.

The magical moment was when I was in the upright position. My feet could not touch the ground, yet the water level was only at my chest. I was literally floating vertically in the dead sea. It was AWESOME!!!

What is the best job in the world?

Being the Dead Sea's life guard, as everybody floats and nobody drown. 

The life guard was collecting money for the mud bath - quite a relaxing job.

Dead Sea Mud - supposedly good for the skin. 

Yes! I have a big heart (inspired by carebear!). Haha..

I can't see you, so please SMILE!

=)

Sunset @ Dead Sea (around 4pm)

Soon, it was dark and we were dependent on our GPS to guide us to Petra. We named our GPS PY so that our dear friend (PY) could join us during this trip even though she could not join us physically. The GPS-PY is very smart and accurate (just like the real PY), but GPS-PY tends to show us the shortest route instead of the fastest route. Quite often, we would drive away from the main highway, and ended up in small dusty roads. The way to Petra was the same as well. We were driving in small roads with no other cars, it was dark and we had no idea where we were, and we just had to trust PY. 

Driving at night

Decided to relief ourselves and do some exercise in the middle of nowhere.

We knew that we were driving in some hilly areas (away from the main highway to Petra), as we could roughly see the surroundings under the moonlight. We had a clearer view of the landscape after I took the photo below (25s shuttle-speed).

Imagine driving in this landscape at night. 

It was quite a scary experience, especially the road was no good. If anything happens, I do not know how to get help. Fortunately, nothing bad happened.

Day 4 - Petra, Jordan (21st Dec 10)

Local Kids Going to School

The most expensive entrance ticket I ever paid, but it was totally worth it.

50 Jordanian Dinar = US$70 = S$90

King of Jordan

PETRA

"Petra is a historical and archaeological city in the Jordanian governorate of Ma'an that is known for its rock cut architecture and water conduits system. Established sometime around the 6th century BCE as the capital city of the Nabataeans,^[2] it is a symbol of Jordan as well as its most visited tourism attraction."

Taken from: http://www.visitjordan.com/default.aspx?tabid=63

"Although much has been written about Petra, nothing really prepares you for this amazing place. It has to be seen to be believed. Petra, the world wonder, is without a doubt Jordan’s most valuable treasure and greatest tourist attraction. It is a vast, unique city, carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataeans, an industrious Arab people who settled here more than 2000 years ago, turning it into an important junction for the silk, spice and other trade routes that linked China, India and southern Arabia with Egypt, Syria, Greece and Rome."

It is one of the new 7 wonders of the world, and it really deserves the title. I had high expectation of Petra, and I was not disappointed. It is as interesting or even more interesting than Taj Mahal and the Great Wall of China, and the Pyramid. Each of these wonders has its own uniqueness and amazing story. Petra's story is different one - people were still living in Petra in 1980s. It was one of the oldest living city until 1980s, when the government decided to promote it as a tourist attraction.

The best part - there are definitely less tourists visiting Petra than other wonders.

Sitemap & our guide (which costed 50JD)

Cave Dwellers

The Siq

"Entrance to the city is through the Siq, a narrow gorge, over 1km in length, which is flanked on either side by soaring, 80m high cliffs. Just walking through the Siq is an experience in itself. The colours and formations of the rocks are dazzling. As you reach the end of the Siq you will catch your first glimpse of Al-Khazneh (Treasury)."

Thoroughly enjoyed the walk in the Siq in the morning without other tourists.

A perspective of the height of the gorge.

Glimpse of the Treasury.

Imagine you are a trader from faraway land, and this is the glimpse of Petra that greets you after months of traveling.

The Treasury.

It was actually not a Treasury, but a Tomb. haha...

"A massive façade, 30m wide and 43m high, carved out of the sheer, dusky pink rock-face and dwarfing everything around it. It was carved in the early 1^st century as the tomb of an important Nabataean king and represents the engineering genius of these ancient people."

Closeup

There are Greek and Roman Gods statues - cultural fusion.

A friendly cat that jumped onto my lap.

Another view of the Treasury.

Local Lady

Roman Amphitheater carved out from rock.

More Tombs.

Local Kids

Jordanians have very nice features.

Roman Ruins

Caves

I was awed by the sheer size of the wall. 

Unfortunately, picture could not give the impact of enormousness. 

Locals standing at the edge of the cliff to show that they are fearless.

That is sheer stupidity. If there is a sudden gush of strong wind, that's bye bye to their lives. It was frustrating to see people acting stupidly.

The Monastery

Taken from: http://www.bibleplaces.com/petra.htm

"The Monastery is the largest tomb façade in Petra, measuring 50 m wide and 45 m high. Despite its name, it was built as a tomb monument and may have acquired its name from the crosses inscribed inside.  Like the Kazneh, the structure consists of two stories topped by a magnificent urn.  The architectural detail of the Kazneh is not evident in this building."

That's me standing infront of the Monastery. It is huge!

Beautiful

"End of the world" 

- Locals pitching tent at the top, chilling out and selling things to tourists

Landscape of Petra

The Monastery is the "small" structure at the middle.

More Tombs.

DINNER

Falafel is our favourite food in Middle-East. Extremely cheap and tasty!

Free Sweet Pastries after Dinner.

=)

My experience with Jordanians have been great. They seemed to be a bunch of nice & hospitable people, and even in touristy places, people would stop pestering you after you rejected them. It was quite pleasant traveling in Jordan. Next Stop: Israel!