It all started with a seed planted about a year ago. A blog I follow called Uncornered Market is written by a couple who have been traveling the world for years – YEARS! So crazy. And I’m crazy jealous. Anyways, the Jordan Tourism Board sponsored them on a trip there last year and I filed it away as a place that was worth seeing.
In February my brother Adam announced he was going to photograph for a non-profit in Jordan. Again, jealous. And I was excited to see what he thought of the country.
A couple weeks later, up on my Airfare Watchdog feed does appear a crazy cheap airfare SEA-AMM (Seattle to Amman in case you don’t spend your free time memorizing airport codes like me. Ha!). $651 to fly halfway around the world. UMM YESSS PLEASE!
I was actually quite a bit nervous to go to a place that I knew little about, and what little I did know was courtesy of our all too negative media who must be telling us the whole story. Cough.
I started to wonder what had happened to me, where did all the travel courage go? Then I remembered what the years have clouded- I’ve always been nervous to go the places I knew little to nothing about but went for it anyway. A little fear shouldn’t stop you from doing what you really want or feel compelled to do.
Did I really want this? To travel, have new experiences, meet new people, learn something firsthand about a new culture, eat lots and lots of local food, be inspired, debunk for myself the whole media portrayal of this region, and meet up with my brother for a bit on the opposite site of the world just because? When you put it like that, well, yes I do.
First up: Adam, Jake and Lindsay’s Day of Fun! Touristy-filled, but it was unavoidable in order to see the Baptism Site (of Jesus – at least that’s what I assumed as all the signs just say “Baptism Site”), swim in the Dead Sea, and wander around Roman ruins.
See, I told you it was touristy – complete with the requisite audio tour that you hang around your neck. Sigh. I had already hidden mine by then. ;) They had to make you feel you were getting good value for the steep price they charged you to bus you down there.
While the spot above left is the accepted location of Jesus’ baptism, the River Jordan has since shifted and is pictured below. Oh hello, that’s Israel over there! Adam decided he’s come so far he might as well touch it. I didn’t care to touch the muddy stuff. Whatever, it’s not more holy than the Mississippi River, God created that too.
Oh, allrightfine! I’ll touch it, just to say I did.
It was fun that Adam was there to take stellar photos of Jake and I together! This only happens on our trips if we make a point of setting the self-timer and have lots of patience.
Jake and I jumped on the bus for a trip to Jerash the next day. More Roman ruins. Jake said that these were more preserved than the ones he saw in Italy. And they let you just walk around in them and touch stuff?! Sweet!
After landing in Jordan, we kept hearing that Beirut was a cool city to see and after figuring out we’d have time to see all the stuff we wanted in Jordan, we’d still have enough time to wander through this ancient city by the sea for a couple days.
A 45-minute flight later, and we were checking out the sun glow over the Mediterranean…
Smoking nargileh (flavored tobacco smoked through a water pipe) is the Middle Eastern pastime and who can blame them in a region where alcohol largely prohibited. Every culture needs a social lubricant. Tooth achingly sweet tea is their other go-to. Yum! Lemon mint nargileh was our favorite. Add to that the lemonade with mint and who would’ve thought a touch (or handful) of mint could transform such a simple drink from good to mind blowing?! One night I ordered three, and the waiter incredulously exclaimed, “Again?!” Apparently they never order more than one juice. Oops, well whatever, I’m shameless because it was that good and I had to get it while I still could.
After Adam was finished his week of shooting, we met up again for a trip down south to the ancient wonder of Petra and expansive desert of Wadi Rum.
Hello, Indiana Jones! The Treasury was made famous by Harrison Ford and his crew.
The Bedouin people that live in or near Petra offer donkey rides up to the Monastery. We just took pictures and opted to walk…
This photo might not look so weird at first glance. Glance again. Why does Jake look like he’s about eight feet tall? Hahaha, get down off that rock!
…Until I caved and decided, yes, I did want to ride a camel in spite of the tourist cliché. I’m not too good for the camels.
On to Wadi Rum where we were in the capable hands of our most awesome tour guide Salem. He had a great sense of humor and was totally the icing on the cake.
This is our camp in the desert. We slept in the structures in the foreground and the ones in the background were the mess halls. This was the quietest night of my life – no crickets, no highways, no wind. Nothing but the ringing in my ears and Adam’s noise machine’s batteries crackling to death in the middle of the night. The guy hasn’t willingly slept without a fan or other white noise since he was two. Hehe :)
All in all, we had a great time! I can definitely say it was a very different trip than anywhere I’ve ever been. In between all the moments pictured above were many frustrating and stressful moments figuring out how to get around, how to figure things out, how to communicate and many just ho-hum moments. But I don’t always travel for the pure fun of it – experiencing a new place and learning something about a new culture for myself is so incredibly valuable. The people were so hospitable and friendly and were always willing to help. They were so patient and resourceful in communicating with us non-Arabic speaking people. Everywhere we walked, people were saying in perhaps the only English they knew, “Welcome, welcome Jordan.” These guys in Beirut stopped us just so they could take a photo with the tall blonde dude and short white chick. :) They thought we were European and I was okay with that!
I’ll never see hummus the same way again. Oh, man, I’d love another delicious spread for mere pennies, err dinars, again at Amman’s Hashem. Apparently the President of Jordan has eaten there as well! Do yourself a favor and beeline it there when you land in Amman.
The problems of the Middle Eastern region are so complex and seemingly unsolvable. Jake and I only scratched the surface in learning about that, but Adam made it a bit deeper. I hope he posts a blog post soon about his experience photographing the Palestinian refugees. All I can say is, don’t believe what the media portrays about the Middle East. It’s only a tiny fraction of the story and may only contain a grain of truth. Go check it out for yourself before the hordes of tourists find out what a great it is! :)
Oh P.S. I posted a lot to my Instagram while I was there. Head over there for more goodness!