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• My journey to Jordan and Egypt

  2008-09-22 2:12PM / 標準BLOG / 會員可以看
  61個評論

  I know this is long overdue (almost half a year later), but here's my blog with photos from my Jordan & Egypt trip from earlier this year.
  
  **JORDAN**
  We spent the first five days in Jordan. Jordan (although bordered by some tough countries including Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian Territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Egypt) is currently the most stable country in the Middle East. But that's not to say it hasn't experienced its share of violence. In 2005, there were terrorist bomb attacks in the capital city of Amman on three hotels which killed 60 people... and we happened to have stayed in one of these hotels (Radisson SAS Hotel) on our first night. It was a little unnerving, but luckily everything went smoothly.
  
  Highlights from the Jordan trip:
  -AMMAN - Roman Theater
  
  
  -Mount Nebo: The place believed to be where the prophet Moses was buried.
  
  
  -The Dead Sea: The lowest point on earth at 408m below sea level. The water is so salty (six times saltier than the ocean) that plant and animal life can't survive. But... everybody floats. (If you look closely at the pic below you'll see people floating, not swimming, in the water.) We got to float around the Dead Sea for a bit before sunset. Very salty indeed, don't go in if you have any cuts on your body.
  
  
  -Bethany-Beyond-the-Jordan: This was the site where Jesus was baptised. We got to walk up to the Jordan River and touch the "holy" river water. My poor friend bottled up some of the holy water to bring home as a souvenier, only to have her mom unwittingly pour what she thought was old, dirty water down the drain.
  
  
  -Wadi Rum Desert: We spent the night in this enchanting desert where Lawrence of Arabia used as his headquarter during WWI.
  
  
  
  -PETRA: Exploring the lost city of Petra was easily my favorite part of the trip. One of the New Seven Wonders of the World, it's a breathtaking half-buried city where the buildings and tombs are carved out of red rocks, and was the site where scenes from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade were filmed. Words simply can't describe the beauty of the place, and photos barely do it justice. If anyone visits only one place in Jordan, this is the place to go!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  - The delicious food: Kebabs, hummus, baba ghanouj, breads... yum! (I called
   the breads below "little pillows of heaven"... =9 hehe)
  
  
  
  **EGYPT**
  We stayed in Egypt for 12 days. It was amazing to see the pyramids in person. But the air quality in Cairo was awful. Not sure if a sandstorm had just hit or if it's normally so polluted, but the air was practically brown in color, and as a result I ended up with a terrible case of asthma that left me incredibly sick for the following four months! =( Nonetheless, it was still one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips that I'm glad I went on. For anyone planning to go (especially anyone who has asthma), I'd say to bring face masks... no joke.
  
  Highlights from the trip:
  * MOUNT SINAI: The biblical Mt. Sinai is where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. We rode camels for 1.5 hours up the mountain and then hiked the 3750 Stairs of Repentance to the summit.
  
  
  * CAIRO
  - Pyramids and the Sphynx: After reading about them and seeing them in movies all this time, it was neat seeing them in person.
  
  
  
  
  - Egyptian Museum and the Royal Mummies: The idea of looking at dead bodies (mummified or not) freaks me out, but even I couldn't resist peeking at the mummies of the ancient kings and queens of Egypt.
  
  -Coptic Cairo - Church of St Sergius: It's said that this church was built over a cave where the Virgin Mary and infant Jesus took shelter after fleeing to Egypt.
  
  
  
  
  * ABU SIMBEL - The Great Temple of Ramses II was impressively carved out of the mountain off of the Nile River. This city is at the farthest southern tip of Egypt, closest to the border of Sudan.
  
  
  
  
  * AWSAN - Nubian Village: We visited a small, colorful Nubian village and spent the time walking through the narrow alleyways and taking photos.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  * LUXOR - Valley of the Kings Tombs: In addition to visiting three royal tombs, we also visited the tomb of King Tut, where we saw his body.
  
  
  -Luxor Temple: The stunning remains of an ancient temple eerily lit up at night.
  
  
  
  * BAHARIYA OASIS - Jeep ride through the Black Desert. The rest of our group of friends all camped out overnight but I was pretty sick then, so after the jeep ride through the desert I went back to a "nearby" guesthouse ("nearby" meaning a 2 hour drive away) for the night.
  
  ***UPDATE (SEPT 23, 2008): Umm, just heard about a group of tourists kidnapped while camping in the desert in Egypt a few days ago. Scary, especially since they were abducted while camping in a part of the desert that was just south of where we were and where my friends all camped out overnight! Ack!
  
  
  
  * ALEXANDRIA: Founded by Alexander the Great and once ruled by Cleopatra, this seaside city was charming and the kids were friendly and curious.