Day 17 - Madaba

Madaba is 30 km southwest of Amman. It is most famous for its six-century mosaic map of the Middle East.

On the morning of Day 17, the first place we went was the St. George's Church where the map was housed. The current Greek Orthodox church replaced the previous Byzantine church. The map was made from two million pieces of colored stone, depicting hills and valleys, villages and towns in Palestine and the Nile Delta. The map was right in the center of the small church. Some of the columns were built in the middle of the map. Only fragments of the map were left of what used to be 16 meter long and 6 meter wide display. However we could still see the Dead Sea, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and etc.

The guide of another tour group was pointing his stick to Jerusalem in the map.

The river on the left is the River Jordan. Where River Jordan flows into is the Dead Sea. There are two fish in the river, one swimming out of the Dead Sea, the other facing the wrong direction swimming into the Dead Sea.

After visiting the map, we looked for the Mosaic School but unfortunately it closed on Saturdays. We spent the rest of the morning shopping around St. George Church, where mosaic and carpet stores abounded. Since Madaba was the last and only place for shopping, I went all out forgoing all my previous restrictions on weight and size of purchases. That was why I ended up with a 44 pound Kelty and 20 pounds to carry onto the plane. Julee and I each bought a rug. I got some ceremics and mosaics too.

Anyone who visits Jordan would have to buy some Dead Sea products. Alex, Julee and I went to a store whose owner was friendly and chatty. The lady told us she had six children and she was 45. We could not believe it since she had such youthful clear skin. The Dead Sea products must have worked!!! We were so "inspired", we each bought a bunch of stuff. Before we left the store, she picked up a pen, invited herself to Julee's cast and signed her name in Arabic.

The best shawarma place in town. On Day 17 I had lunch here and then dinner with the group. Everyone loved the grilled shawarma with pickle inside. I still dream of it till today.

Email from Kirsten

Got in to work this morning and found Kirsten's email in the Inbox with two group pictures and her greeting:


"Hi everyone! I've attached all the group photos from the trip, so you all have a copy. For all the aussies and expatriots I sent in 'Chicken and Herpes' into Rove Live so hopefully it will get on the show. Hope your all well and getting back into the swing of things, I certainly am. Let me know what you think of the photos! Take care and keep safe. Kirst"

Lots of fond memories came back to me.

"chicken and herpes" came from the menu in Aswan when we went for group dinner. The menu item said "chicken and herpes". It was really chicken and herbs. :D It was supposed to be delicious but none of us ordered it.

On the summit of Mount Sinai. Just arriving... Daniel, Daniel, Laura, Zdena, Sandy, Dora, Kirsten (front), Alex, Bridget, and me.

Nuweiba beach camp - the Israeli girl who also stayed at our camp took the picture for us. She did not know how to zoom and she stood really far away from us even though we asked her to come closer. We decided to move forward together in a group approaching her instead, so she did not need to zoom nor step forward and we would still show up in decent size.

More of Day 16 - Mount Nebo

After Karak, we drove to the Dead Sea. I took a quick dip in the strangest water I've ever swum in (see my blog entry on the Dead Sea) then headed further North to Mount Nebo. Mount Nebo has great biblical significance that it was the site where Moses first saw the Promised Land but was forbidden by God to ever set foot on. He died on the mountain after leading the Israelites for 40 years through the wilderness.

Our minivan went up the winding road towards the peak of the mountain. After we parked near the gate, we walked up hill for about 10 minutes till the imposing serpent cross came into view. It was at the edge of the cliff and the blue sky was its perfect backdrop. Later I learned this was inspired by Jesus's words in John 3:"As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up".

Julee and I walked in leisure around the Moses Memorial Church opposite the serpent cross. There was a map displaying all the sites in the panoramic view from Mount Nebo, including the Dead Sea, Bethlehem, Jericho, Jerusalem, and etc. Earlier Daniel told us, on a nice clear day, people claimed that they could see Jerusalem. It got us all excited. Then he added that he had never seen it himself from the peak. I stood in front the map and tried my best, I could not see Jerusalem. In my mind's eye though, I saw what was supposed to be the Land of Milk and Honey. I felt bad that Moses could not set foot in it. But God had his own plans.

The Moses Memorial Church itself was very plain but it had so many beautiful mosaics on the floor and walls. They were about 1500 years old. The color was still so vivid as if they were made just yesterday.

I walked slowly inside the church, absorbing each mosaic. I felt very peaceful. As I got closer to the altar, I sat down on one of the wooden benches and prayed for my family and loved ones thousands of miles away.

Outside the Moses Memorial Church, I saw this slab nailed into the stone wall:

When Julee and I walked downhill towards our minivan, we saw a group of Italians walking up. Among them there was a woman in her 20s, wearing knee high boots in stiletto heels. Julee and I looked at each other. Both of us probably simultaneouly imagined how a sprained ankle accident would happen any second. I had trouble walking in sneakers in general on this trip for the places we've been...I could not believe this! But then again, this is an Italian. No matter when and where he or she is, an Italian is always dressed perfectly to kill!

What else on Day 16?... Dana & Karak

Day 16 - what else?

I feel that I owe some additional entries to the cities I visited on Day 16 and 17 other than just the Dead Sea. Although I did not get a chance to write about them while in Jordan, it really did not mean that they were not great places.

Early in the morning on Day 16, we had our breakfast of boiled eggs, tea, pita bread with strawberry jam and cheese spread. This was the routine breakfast for every hotel that we ever had breakfast at. Some may have ham that had crushed pepper inside. Sandy, at one point, thought the pepper was mold. :P I loved their hard boiled eggs. It just tasted so much better than the eggs produced by obese and maybe six-legged mutant chicken in America. Knowing that I was always hungry and incredibly irritable when starved, Julee kept telling me I should eat more of the eggs instead of bread since protein sustains longer than carbs. At her encouragement, some mornings, I would eat a stack of pita bread and two hard boiled eggs!

I again took Dramamine during breakfast and I remember this day being my most groggy day of all. The group separated into a minivan and an SUV and left Petra on time.

Dana Nature Reserve

We were supposed to go to the Dana Nature Reserve, which clings to the edge of the cliff below the King's Highway and is one of Jordan's few protected areas of natural beauty. From the name, you would imagine seeing countless flora and fauna, birds and beasts. But this was what we saw.

It started out to be such a foggy day. On the King's Highway, we could not see the tail lights of the car in front of us until our minivan got really close. All we would make out were a few trees on the road side and the vague shape of houses engulfed in fog. That must have been the tiny village at Dana. I was so doped I could not care less anyway. But it was still disappointment and such amusing irony at the same time!

Daniel was sitting on the front seat. He turned around to us, threw his hands in the air, and smiled: "Well, Dana is checked off from our list. It would have been really beautiful on a nice day. Karak, next...!"

Karak Crusader Castle

We were debating in the van that Karak could not be a castle until Sandy read the Rough Guide out loud that Karak was "the huge and well-preserved Crusader castle ...and is one of the finest in the Middle East". It often amazes me to see structures you least expect to see, such as this castle in the Middle East, or Volubilis, the Roman ruins in Morocco, and Jerash, the Roman ruins we later visited in Northern Jordan. It is intriguing to think about the early travellers, covering distances for trade, for land, or for religion.

Karak sits on a hill with cliffs on three sides. It overlooks the King's Highway that leads to the Dead Sea at one end and Petra at the other end. (Below: view of King's Highway from Karak)

The Crusaders started building the castle in 1142. At any time, it could hold two to three thousand Crusaders. There were numerous cisterns in the dungeon that collected rain water via pottery pipes. Rooms were built to bake bread, create weapons or tools. The well-designed construction and its natual location made Karak a defensive stronghold. The most famous of its occupant was Reynald de Chatillon, who was ruthless and vicious. Salah ad-Din, the Muslim commander besieged the castle in 1183 to avenge Chatillon. He failed the first time, but eventually defeated the Crusaders in 1187 and personally decapitated Chatillon.

Chatillon's favorite pastime was encasing the heads of his prisoners in wooden boxes so that when he threw them off the castle walls, he could be sure that they hadn't lost consciousness by the time they hit the rocks below. The guide told us this was the infamous window where Chatillon tossed his prisoners. Passing it gave me chills down my spine. How cruel!

We spent an hour in Karak. It was absolutely freezing since we were at the top of the hill. Every arch we passed became a natural wind tunnel. We all enjoyed the war stories tremendously and were amused by our guide, who had a very dry sense of humor. He was actually an archaeologist that was still working on restoring Karak and digging out more treasures that may have been hidden in its huge fortress. His strange sense of humor amused the girls (Kirsten and Laura) so much, they could not stop joking behind his back and giggling throughout the tour.

Marrakech Palace in Dupont Circle

Tonight, after one year from my trip to Marrakech, I had my first Moroccan meal. Mike and I invited Srini and Asha to dine at the newly opened Marrakech Palace in Dupont Circle. Khalid, co-owner of the restaurant, is Mike's friend Tina's husband. Khalid's brother is the main chef.

The place is tastefully decorated and was packed when we finished dinner. Khalid said they had 300 reservations tonight. We had two belly dancing performances tonight. The party room area which he showed us around after dinner had tiles from Fez throughout. In the center there is this beautiful fountain also made from typical Moroccan tiles. It really brought me back to Fez. Fez is famous for its blue and white ceramics. Look at the tile work in Riad (old house converted into hotel) Mabrouka where I stayed for two nights.

Here is a fountain at one of the Fez restaurants where we had lunch. The fountain in Marrakech Palace is on the floor and it has the same style and colors.
Dinner was delicious. Mint tea was not too sweet. I had chicken pastilla, salad (an assortment of carrots, garlic spinach and eggplant) for appetizer and chicken tagine with preserved lemon and olives. Everything tasted really authentic. All serve wear is made in Morocco. The plates and bowls are exactly the same kind as the ones I had in Riad Mabrouka. I remember loving those plates and wanting to buy a set but didn't have time to look for them.

After dinner, we went upstairs next door to Pasha Lounge, which Khalid also co-owns. I smoked sheesha. I could not believe how soon I get to enjoy it again since I last had the "hubbly bubbly" as they call it in Jordan. The tobacco was not as strong as it was in either Egypt or Jordan but it definitely had the same mild apple flavor. It was quite sentimental for me because I REALLY REALLY miss both Egypt and Jordan.