Indiana Jones and Last Crusade....Gross Over Generalization

We have all seen the movie a hundred times. Well, I got to experience it (more or less) first hand. Of course I realize that there are some among you who would argue that just going on the ride and Disneyland is firsthand, and in all reality, you have a very good point. This is a brief idea of what we did in Jordan though.

We began our trip by crossing the Israel/Jordan border near Jericho. This involves the crossing of the Jordan River. I never realized this until now, but the supposed site of Jesus' baptism is very near the locations of three miracles. The first was the parting of the Jordan so that the children of Israel could enter into the Holy Land. The other two are when both Elijah and Elisha parted the Jordan. It makes for an interesting parallel, especially considering that John is the forerunner of Christ.

The below site is a the remains of a couple of Byzantine Churches dating back to the 5th Century. They were built over the supposed site of baptism of Jesus. The water originally flowed directly from the Jordan (from up to down in this picture) resulting in a font that was full of running water.

This is me on the banks of the River Jordan on the Jordanian side. The river really isn't that large, in fact it often looks more like a canal. Anciently, it was a lot larger. The Israelis pull a lot of water away from the river so that they can irrigate in the desert areas.

After the Jordan River we went to Mt. Nebo, which is the mountain where Moses looked upon the promised land. I hope the picture below helps explain where everything is in relation to the summit. Luckily we didn't have to actually hike up it. We drove up and just walked a short way. I will be honest and tell you that it really didn't look all that great from up there (and bear in mind it is spring here). I suppose it was better than from where they came.

Just FYI. Jordan has the best Coke in the world and I don't even like Coke. There was something about it that just made you want to drink more and more. We each probably downed three at lunch. I really don't know why.

These are a few of the pictures from Petra. As you may or may not know, Petra is the site of the the movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Also Petra was voted the second Wonder of the World in the latest polling to determine the Seven Wonders of the World. It was an amazing place. Very similar to southern Utah, but a southern Utah that has been inhabited for millenia. In the movie, you see a building cut right out of the wall. That of course is there as is another one that is very much like it. There really isn't anything inside. Of course they don't let you go all the way in--they just say there is nothing more to see down that dark tunnel in the back. Blast--I really should have checked it out, guard or no guard. There is a lot more than just that there though. This was an amphitheater that was also carved right into the cliff walls.

Many years ago the entire area was lived in and protected by beduoins. When Jordan began to really use Petra as a tourist site the government moved the beduoins from the land and built them a city. The beduoins are kind of like Native Americans in that they just kind of get moved around whenever it is convenient for the other people of the country. They do sort of still hang around in Petra though. They live in the caves which are prevalent in the area. The next picture should give you and idea of what I mean.

To get up to the monastery we decided to ride donkeys. Riding said animal resulted in countless jokes which because I wish to keep my posts family friendly will remain unwritten. I only mention it because I don't want you to think that it went unnoticed. I took a video that I am sure Luke will love, but videos take time to load so a picture will have to do. I called my donkey Tonto, I am not sure what his name really is, but I liked Tonto. He was probably the fastest of all the donkeys with a real competitive streak. Anytime another donkey came close he would race ahead so as to always be in the lead. It was only slightly frightening because we were going around steep cliffs on a very narrow path.

After Petra we went to an old Roman city known as Gerash. The spelling is different, or at least I have seen four different versions. Most of the ruins are from the first century. Part of the visit included a gladiator/chariot show. Nothing like a little blood and guts to really make you feel at home in Jordan.

The next picture is really kind of stupid. There wasn't a lot for us to do at night in Jordan. It seems that anything really worth doing was off limits. We did however go the mall--Mecca Mall. It was huge and contained a lot stores with nothing I could afford or even ever want. Reminded me of about every other mall in the States. I include this picture to merely relate to you one of my most embarrassing moments of my trip so far. We were messing around in some stores taking stupid pictures when I decided to show off my incredible basketball skills. It seems harmless enough right. Well actually the basketball hoop was attached to rather precarious shelf. Once I touched it the whole thing came crashing down. I managed to catch the shelf from completely falling but everything else was sprawled out on the floor. The store manager just happened to be walking by. I just kind of looked at him and smiled. The rest of the people pretended not to know me. I left just as soon as I could and never looked back.

Ok, that was my gross over generalization of Jordan. I hope it gave you a flavor of what my trip was like. The people there in Jordan were really quite wonderful. They really didn't try and rip me off or anything--at least not a lot. Anyone who is willing to treat me like that is a friend in my book.