Petra

When Matt sat down to plan our trip to Israel, he created a very reasonable itinerary that would have minimized time out of work and maximized time with the pre-planned tours to the Dead Sea and Jerusalem. When he unveiled these plans, rather than gushing with thanks for all his tireless work (which, in hindsight is what I probably should have done), the first thing I said was, "Any chance we can go to Petra? I'd really like to see Petra."

Petra is in Jordan. Jordan is a Muslim country. Many Muslim countries will refuse to allow you entrance simply if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport. I had just really complicated things.

But, being the incredibly patient and loving man that he is, Matt made it happen (with the help of his friend Gilon, who lives in Israel)

The crusade begins

Having encountered the hordes of Russian tourists destined for Petra the previous day, we were eager to get an early start and try to beat the crowds. Even I was more than happy for a 7:00am start to the day if it meant we were well into site-seeing by the time the tour buses rolled up.

Now why was I so eager to see Petra? The answer is simple - Indiana Jones and the last Crusade. Petra is, in the film, the final resting place of the Holy Grail. I remember seeing the movie for the first time and the scene where Indy, Brody, Indy's dad, and Sallah first see the building where the Grail is kept. It seemed simply unreal, like something that could only exist on a movie set. When I found out that it was a real place, I promised myself I would one day see it.

So off we went to Petra. Even though the only entrance to the city (or at least the main entrance) is through a siq, there is a very long and relatively open trail to the siq (about 0.5km). Early in the morning it was a pleasant stroll but the magic really began when we came to the entrance of the siq. Like Wadi Rum, the rocks were captivating. The siq was actually created by a natural split in the sandstone and their colors and shapes are amazing. Petra is known as a rose-colored city for the color the buildings take on in the color of the setting sun, but in broad daylight they have stripes and swirls of red, yellow, and blue. As if the colors and shapes of the rock weren't enough, the Nabateans (who created Petra between 1550-1292BC) dug troughs into the rock and the laid down ceramic pipe to carry water from the natural lake in the plains into the city.

Our Destination Reached

After another 0.5km of walking through the siq, we finally caught our first glance of the Treasury or, as I refer to it, Where the Holy Grail Was. It was even more awesome and awe-inspiring in person than it is in the movie. I will simply have to let the photos speak for themselves: http://gallery.me.com/matthewjarman#100044

And now for extra credit

Our Israeli guide is quite the enthusiastic hiker and everyone in our group was in fairly good shape, so, when after walking halfway through the city (which is much MUCH bigger than I expected with so many different types and styles of buildings), he asked if we want to hike the 800 stairs up to the High Altar where sacrifices occurred, everyone was quite eager. Now, I love a good climb as much as the next person and I've never been one to turn down a climb (see: Machu Picchu and climbing to the highest point in basically any city I visits) BUT I am a slow climber in the best of situations and I haven't seen the inside of a gym since August 20.

But up I went.

I have to admit, the climb was not horrible (though I'm pretty sure I slowed everyone done to about half their preferred pace) and the views from the High Altar were well worth the effort.

As a special treat, at the top of the mountain, Amit performed "The Ancient Israeli Coffee Ceremony" which basically involves making coffee with a butane stove. I am not really a coffee drinker, in fact I had my first cup of coffee ever the night before we left for Israel because at 10 pm I still hadn't started packing and was dead tired, so Matt made me a cappuccino (which was quite good). But back to the mountain. The coffee was served in a super small cup which made me a bit nervous that it would be too strong, but it was actually incredibly good and flavorful and created an amazing memory.

My make-up is a security threat

We continued our hike down the mountain, back through Petra, up the now insufferable hot path through the plains, and to the hotel to meet up with our bus and Jordanian guide (he abandoned us in Petra because he was unhappy that our Israeli guide was speaking to us. Wish I could just stop working and still get paid whenever I get a little annoyed...). We had lunch at yet another buffet (Every. Single. Restaurant we ate at in Eilat and Jordan was a buffet. With no labels on the food. It is very disorienting to think you're biting into curry chicken only to find out it's fish). and then drive back to the border.

We walked through no man's land (again) and were extremely happy to be back on Israeli soil until the border guards decided to train the newbie on my luggage. They emptied my backpack. Opened every container. Emptied every container. Filled 4 baskets with the contents of my backpack/containers and sent them all through the x-ray. Then they rearranged the baskets and sent everything through again. Then again. All the while stopping as each basked went through x-ray to point at something, ask the newbie what she saw, why it was different, etc. And, of course, they're doing this all in Hebrew. Finally, Gilon (who could understand them and was giving us the play-by-play) said enough was enough and they gave me back my stuff. But not my passport. Seems we had to play 20 questions again just to get my passport back. I think I was the victim of profiling - specifically "harmless American woman" profiling.

We also got some extra questions at airport security because we're married but don't have the same last name. I decided to spare everyone the lecture on women's lib and the power of naming in literature/history/religion and just let Matt do the talking. Seemed smarter that way.

And, being the patient, loving and smart man he is, he did a fine job of answering their question. Just like he did a fine job of making my dream of going to Petra come true.

Border crossings, Mars, and choosing wisely

It's a long trip from Boston to Tel Aviv and, intrepid travelers that we are, we refused to stop there. Only a few hours after landing in Ben Gurion airport, we hopped on an Israir flight (Israel's #2 airline. For those keeping score at home, there are only 2 state owned airlines in Israel, but let's not focus on that) to Eilat in the southern trip of Israel.

Eilat is one of only three border crossings between Israel and Jordan and is the crossing closest to Petra, our ultimate destination. But first, we needed to get into Jordan and visit Wadi Rum.

The Border Crossing

Israel and Jordan have been at peace since 1994, but I think there's some healthy skepticism about its staying power. One of the fun outcomes of this relative peace is that you get to do a border crossing that looks a lot like a scene from Exodus.

Matt's friend Gilon was kind enough to organize a tour of Jordan for us, two of his friends (Maya and Odelia), and Joe (one of Matt's coworkers). So the six of us met at the Israeli border, found our Israeli guide, Amit, paid our exit fees, got our passports stamped and got in line with several hundred Russian tourists.

After handing our exit ticket to the Israeli guard and walking around the metal detector, we began the 1km walk through no man's land. Seriously, to our backs (Israel) was a very tall chain link fence, with barbed wire at the top, security cameras, and abandoned guard towers. Ahead of us (Jordan) was pretty much the same thing, except the guards were on foot instead of towers. And in between, nothing. Just dirt. And several hundred Russians, 3 Israelis with backpacks, and 3 Americans with rollerboards. Did I mention there are people with guns ahead of and behind us and they don't really like or trust each other?

Wadi Rum and the Arabian equivalent of "George Washington slept here"

Safely on the other side of the crossing and inside Jordan, we met up with our Jordanian guide, Hassan, (we were required by law to have a Jordanian guide) and hopped into our bus for the two hour drive to Wadi Rum.

Wadi is the Arabic word for valley or dried riverbed and Wadi Rum is the largest wadi in Jordan. If you've ever seen the movies Lawrence of Arabia or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen then you've seen Wadi Rum. It basically looks like Mars - fine red sand everywhere, mountains carved and smoothed by the wind, and sand dunes several stories tall. And I cannot stress enough how fine the red sand is - I emptied by shoes 5 times during our 2 hour tour, then again, an hour later at lunch, then several hours later when we got to the hotel, then put them in my suitcase where they deposited yet more sand, then washed my socks (by hand in the hotel sink) 5 times, and still, when we got home and I put everything in the washing machine and STILL found sand in the drier!

Up until the mid 80s, Wadi Rum was known mainly to the Bedouins who lived there and film crews. But, after being featured in a popular guidebook for trekkers, Wadi Rum has become one of Jordan's biggest tour attractions and the Bedouins have gone from farming and ranching to running "Jeep," hiking, and camping excursions for tourists.

The landscape is unlike anything we'd ever seen - the colors of the rocks were so vibrant, the shapes absolutely otherwordly, and and the sand so red and fine (perhaps I mentioned the fine sand already?). So brace yourselves for lots and lots of photos of rocks, boulders, mountains, and dunes.

As if being the closest thing to Mars that you can find on Earth wasn't enough, the Jordanian government/Bedouin residents, decided to capitalize on the fact that T.E. Lawrence may have spent time here and that Lawrence of Arabia was filmed here by naming every possible thing "Lawrence's _______." We saw Lawrence's Spring, Lawrence's Tree, Lawrence's 7 Pillars, Lawrence's Fine Red Sand (ok, I made that up, but I have mentioned how damn fine the sand is?

Choosing wisely and not inhaling

After Wadi Rum, we had a very yummy lunch at a Bedouin "camp" (more like a resort) then drove to the town just outside Petra. We settled into our 3-star hotel and emptied our shoes of the fine red sand. Soon it was dinner then time to go to the cave in the back of the dining room (not kidding. Really was a cave. Really was in the back of the dining room) to hear from Amit about the history of Petra. We were all pretty wiped at this point so to stop us from nodding off, Amit and Gilon ordered up a hookah for us. For those who have not had the pleasure, a hookah looks like the thing the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland smokes, that uses water to filter flavored tobacco. Unlike cigarettes, you are absolutely not supposed to inhale the smoke, just find creative ways to puff it out of your nose and mouth. After a not insignificant amount of peer pressure, Matt finally gave in and tried the apple flavored hookah. Twice. He did not inhale.

Now, very very tired, we retired to the room an our now working shower. Fresh and clean and (we thought) free of fine red sand, we snuggled into bed and flipped on the TV. And lo, what should be on the only English speaking channel? Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

It was a sign from the universe. We had chose wisely. We were destined to go to Petra in the morning.

For all our Wadi Rum photos clock here: http://gallery.me.com/matthewjarman#100019

Finally, a bit of excitement

Sorry I've been so very delinquent about updating the ol' blog. To be perfectly honest, life isn't too terribly exciting (mostly just work and home) and I figured that if I find my own life boring, there is a very good chance that other people will find it even more boring than I do. Of course, there have been some moments of excitement - Thanksgiving in Ann Arbor with Diana, Adam, and my Dad, Christmas in Vermont with Matt's family and then in Mentor with my Dad - but I guess I've just been too lazy to write about it.

But last week, something exciting finally happened - Matt and I went to Israel (and Jordan)!

Matt's good friend Yael, who he met and Sloan and who was instrumental in bringing him into American Well where he now works, was getting married and invited us to her wedding in Tel Aviv. We've always wanted to go to Israel but, given the "situation" there, it was always hard to justify the trip. However, there is no excuse better than a friend's wedding to travel, so we started planning a whirlwind vacation to the Holy Land.

It was a jam-packed week:

Sunday (March 21) - landed in Tel Aviv and then flew to Eilat in southern Israel

Monday - crossed the border into Jordan and visited Wadi Rum

Tuesday - Petra (best known as where Indiana Jones found the Holy Grail)

Wednesday - back in Israel, to Masada and the Dead Sea

Thursday - Jerusalem

Friday - Yael and Ophir's wedding

Saturday - Tel Aviv and fly back home

As you might imagine, there are thousands of photos and even more stories, so we're going to ease you into everything. Each day I'll post one day's worth of events and a link to our online album. As with the Copenhagen blog, there will be obligatory history lessons and little stories. But, given the locations, there will also be the occasional reflection on religion or politics. We'll try to keep it neutral (Matt and I are a bipartisan marriage after all - kinda like Mary Matlin and James Carville, but Matt's better looking and I'd like to think I have a better hair style), but apologies in advance if you get offended.

Stay tuned - Day 1, "Wadi Rum," will get posted later today...