October 2016 Break - Jordan

I wasn't sure I'd be able to pull off a trip this October since we'd just arrived in Switzerland, didn't have a kennel space for Indy, were still unpacking...oh, and just received a letter saying we needed to find a new house and move...the owners were moving back from Singapore and want their house back. A bit of a stressful time. But after I found a kennel for Indy I decided to see how hard it would be to go to Jordan. Turns out not hard at all and there was even a direct flight AND my mom was visiting and would be able to go along. A perfect (positive) storm. I have been wanting to go to Jordan and see Petra for a long time so in 4 days I put together an itinerary and off we went. When the planning started I obviously was clueless about the geography of the area because I wasn't aware we could also do some scuba diving and float in the Dead Sea again. We started up north with Amman, Umm Quais, Jerash and then started working south to the Dead Sea, Petra, the Wadi Rum desert, and finally Aqaba and some amazing scuba diving. Two nights ago we sat at dinner trying to name our "favorite" from the trip and for sure the top four (couldn't narrow it down to one for any of us) were Petra, floating in the Dead Sea, camping in Wadi Rum and diving in the Red Sea.

Our first stop was Umm Qais in the northern part of Jordan. Wikipedia explains this location best:

Many visitors come to Umm Qais on day trips from the capital, Amman, roughly 110 kilometres (68 mi) to the south, to see its extensive ruins and enjoy its panoramic views. The Sea of Galilee and Tiberias, Israel, are visible, and just across the valley of the Yarmouk River is the southern end of the Golan Heights, Syria,^[15] under Israeli occupation since the Six-Day War in 1967. Mount Hermon bordering Lebanon is visible in the distance on clear days.

 Kenny took a screen shot of our location when we were there. We are the blue dot to the east of Hafa, Israel.

The photo below is looking at the Sea of Galilee in Israel. Going up the plateau to the right is Golan Heights, technically in Syria but occupied by Israel. Our guide said not that long ago if you came here at night, way to the right, you could see the sky lit up by the bombs and rockets in Syria. He said this area has been quiet of late. Straight down from us is Israel and when we asked where you cross the border he pointed down and said you can just walk across, "But you'd be shot." Alrighty then...on to the next place.

On to Jerash and its Roman ruins built in 63BC

After that we were off to float in the Dead Sea, the lowest elevation on Earth

Seeing the salt lining the shores and taking a mud bath were both pretty incredible

On the drive to the Dead Sea we stopped off at some natural hot springs

And finally...Petra. I have been wanting to travel here for a long time and it didn't disappoint.

The natural color of the rock was pretty incredible.

Little Petra - definitely worth the stop and we had the place to ourselves, well except for the two Bedouin people in the bottom two photos. Jordan's tourism industry has been devastated by all of the turmoil in the middle east.

After Little Petra we headed into the desert for some fun in the sand, beautiful scenery and star gazing. We weren't sure what to expect, but Wadi Rum didn't disappoint. 

Dinner tents

Not sure I've ever seen the Milky Way so clearly

Our tents in the morning light

Camels at the entrance to the desert

From the desert we continued south to Aqaba and the Red Sea. We dove in the Red Sea years ago when we were in Egypt and were excited to do it again with the big boys. 

We've never dove geographically somewhere like this...in Jordanian waters within a few miles of Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Egypt.