This past weekend was Orthodox Easter so Barb and I decided to take advantage of the 4 day weekend and go spend it in a Muslim country (no one does Easter like the Muslims ). But really, It was so nice to get out of Cyprus . Jordan is similar to Cyprus in some ways: the land is brown and the sea is blue, the ancient tombs in Petra aren't all that different from the tombs in Paphos, Arab music sounds like it could be Greek, just with annoying whining rather than singing (Ok, I'm biased). But that's where the similarities end. The people in Jordan were some of the nicest I've ever met. As our guidebook said, even though Jordan is bordered by the "hot spots" of Iraq, Saudi Arabia and the Israeli and Palestinian territories, the Jordanians welcomed us with open arms, regardless of if we said we were from the US or Cyprus (which most replied "What's that?" even though it is less than an hour flight away!) The nicest being a small section of the Jordanian population called the Bedouins, who are probably the simplest people on earth. Similar to how I would imagine the Native American used to live, these people come from huge families who all live together in a single tent. Most have a surprisingly good command of English, which they've learned from tourists (most of them make their living by selling souvenirs in Petra ). And yes, they're definitely trying to rip you off (they have to make a living), but they're also the first to welcome you into their tent for tea and to tell you all about their people. As one guy told Barb and me, "We have our village and we have our mountain. What more could we want?"
Life is simple.
They're happy with the way life is. When you don't even keep track of how old you are, because it just doesn't matter, well, not much else does either. One guy told us that whenever he gets upset about something, or at someone, he just goes and sits behind a tree and makes a fire until he feels better. Maybe we could learn something from these people. (Although the most entertaining story this guy could tell was about the time his goats got mixed up with his neighbors' goats and his dad yelled at him)
Anyway, Petra was amazing. Breathtaking. Barb and I rode camels, took a hike to the top of a mountain to see a 2,000+ year old monastery carved into a rock ( Petra means rock in Greek). We even went to the Cave Bar which is literally a bar inside old tombs, for drinks and narghile.
Although we had budged 2 days for Petra , our sore legs told us that a day at the Dead Sea was needed. So we drove the desert highway (now there's an exciting road, let me tell you) to an expensive hotel on the Dead Sea where we agree to have a Dead Sea mud wrap at their spa and then got to use all the hotel's amenities and have access to their beach for "free." Floating in the Dead Sea is something I can't even describe, but since most of you have never been there, I'll try. First of all, it is called the Dead Sea because nothing (plants, animals, etc) can survive in it because of the amount of salt (30% more than in the ocean). Looking around it looks as if everyone is lying on rafts; you are so buoyant that you couldn't drown yourself in this sea no matter how badly you wanted to die. The salt and all the minerals are also really good for your skin so you feel soft when you get out, although you have to shower almost immediately because the salt cakes to your skin. The mud is also said to have healing and softening powers when rubbed all over your skin. We tried the do-it-yourself version first but then went to the spa for a more luxurious version. (Well, if you call being covered in mud from head to toe, then wrapped in plastic and a heated blanket and being left alone like that for 20 minutes luxurious!)
The last day, as we were loading the rental car to head to the airport, my brilliant girlfriend locked the keys in the trunk (its ok for me to say that, because I'm the one who backed the rental car into a wall ). Several Jordanians (hotel workers and some others that were in the parking lot) approached us to see if we needed help. Crime (and IQ) must not be very high in Jordan because everyone who tried to help us had the same "solution." They would come over and after trying to open every door (in case we hadn't thought of that) they would try their own car key in our car's lock! Then, when it didn't work, they would just stand there and look dumbfoundedly at the car as if to say "That's the weirdest thing... It works on my car every time!"
The Jordanians—not the brightest, but certainly the sweetest, nicest people you'll ever meet!
If you want to see more pictures, there's plenty here.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
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