Jordan

[Tuesday, February 10]

Flying across northeastern Africa and the Sinai makes me think of Lawrence of Arabia:  Aqaba, Wadi Rum, the Negev - all places we're seeing.  It's all very brown and arid, with mountains abutting the Red Sea.  And the Nile, as I learned in elementary school, is a thin ribbon of green running through this harsh landscape.

We arrived at King Hussein Airport at Aqaba in the late afternoon.  It's cold here - in the high 30s.  There is a large storm blowing across the mid East, with lots of dust and haze in the air.  The wind chill is making it seem colder.

Jordan has been known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan since it became a constitutional monarchy under King Abdullah I in 1946.  Our local guide, Mohanned, says that Jordan has struggled since the Arab Spring a few years back - in part because of the world wide economic crash, because of the large number of Syrian refugees (over 1.5 million) that are resettling in Jordan and because of the decline in tourism, which provides their 2nd largest income.

The hills (mountains) around Aqaba are gorgeous.  They are composed of pre-Cambrian basalt (granite), with dikes of color - olivine - running as stripes throughout the rock. 

We drove was almost 2 hours to Wadi Musa (Muslim for Moses), the city where Petra is located. The highway was virtually deserted. They must use it primarily for daytime truck transport.  We passed many mosques, as Jordan is 95% Muslim.   We’re staying at the Movenpick Hotel at Petra, right across the street from the old city complex.

Nile River in Sudan

Sinai peninsula

The Gulf of Aqaba

The city of Wadi Musa - loosely translated to the valley of Moses

Lobby of Movenpick Hotel - our home for 2 nights