June 2018 – An Innocent Abroad

Croatia – May 2018

By Conrad Ottenfeld | June 4, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

May 18 – 25, 2018

Our fourth trip abroad during the United Arab Emirate adventure was Croatia, and the third consecutive trip that wasn’t exactly on the short list when we came here. I have a co-worker that told me about Dubrovnik, and I started doing more research and found out there were several beautiful parks in the country. Some of the fun facts I found as I started researching the country:

Croatia is an independent country of 4.3 million people in Southeast Europe.
Croatia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, resulting in the Croatian War of Independence that lasted until 1995. This was one of a broader series of ethnic conflicts and wars of independence from 1991-2001 that ultimately resulted in six countries replacing the former Yugoslavia. Over 130,000 people were killed during these wars that included ethnic cleansing and genocide.
The ancient walled city of Dubrovnik was shelled over 2000 times in 1991/1992 during this conflict, with 68% of the old town buildings being struck. Traditional building materials and techniques were used to completely restore the city, which was originally walled in the 9^th century AD. The threat from Turks in the 15^th century eventually lead to a 2-kilometer stone wall enclosing the city with a wall up to 25 meters high and 6 meters thick. It has been a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO World) Heritage site since 1979.
Croatia joined the European Union in 2013.
Zagreb in the north central section of the country is the capital and largest city at 810,000.
Catholicism is the dominant religion at 86%.
Early Croats arrived in the area of present day Croatia in the 7^th century AD.
The currency is the kuna, in use since 1994. Originally pegged to the German mark, it is effectively pegged to the euro now. There are 7.43 kuna in a euro (6.11 to the US dollar at current exchange rates).
Dalmatia is a historical region along the Adriatic coast of Croatia including Dubrovnik. The Dalmatian dog breed originated here, and much of the HBO series Game of Thrones was filmed here.
9% of the land in Croatia is made up of 8 national parks, 11 nature parks and two nature reserves.
Croatia invented the modern necktie. Croatian mercenaries who wore them as part of their uniform introduced them to Europe when they were summoned by King Louis XIV of France to fight in the Thirty Years War. International Necktie Day is celebrated on October 18 in Croatia.
A ‘konoba’ is a traditional tavern or restaurant along the Adriatic coast, with tables and chairs typically made of wood and featuring Dalmatian specialties such fish, shellfish, ham, and homemade cheese, brandy, and wine.
Legendary Napa Valley winemaker Mike Grgich has a vineyard named Grgic Vina on the Peljesac peninsula. He is a native of Croatia and noted for being the winemaker behind the 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay that bested several French wines in the 1976 ‘Judgement of Paris’ wine tasting competition, thrusting the California wine industry into international prominence. He was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America’s Vintner’s Hall of Fame in 2008.
Pag Island cheese (Paski Sir) is a Croatian variety of hard, distinctively flavored sheep milk cheese originating from the Adriatic island of Pag. Island producers are pursuing Protected Designation of Origin status.
“Hrvatska” is Croatia in Croatian. I found this out when I Googled “Hrvatska” when I noticed it was on all the money.
Dubrovnik abolished slave trading in 1418.
Sales tax in Croatia is 25%.
Croatia has ten UNESCO sites, eight cultural and two natural.
In 1895, Sibenik became the world’s first city with AC powered street lights.

Since we have been in the UAE, we have always taken the bus to the Abu Dhabi airport. No hassle with airport parking and fees (the cheap lot is about $30/day), one less thing to worry about. This trip, however, started on the first day of Ramadan and the bus schedules had changed in ways we weren’t certain about. Not wanting to risk not getting there on time, we paid a driver 400 dirham ($108) for the 2.5-hour trip to the airport from Ruwais. This worked fine and is an option for the future.

Our flight left just after 2 AM and arrived in Belgrade, Serbia just after sunrise. This is not a great time to start vacation. Our flight didn’t leave Belgrade until 1335, so we had a lot of time on our hands. Fortunately, we had access to the lounge through our credit card and spent the next several hours snoozing and snacking for free. Nice benefit on the credit card, we’ll use that again.

We arrived on schedule in Split, Croatia. Lack of sleep and a medical emergency with the woman next to me on the plane contributed to helping me forget one of the bags on board when we got off. This complicated arrival some, as Lynn waited at the lost and found while I went with the rental car company rep to pick up the car down the road. Everything was sorted out and we were on our way to Trogir soon after with a Garmin GPS stuck to the windshield. I had never used one before. I like them.

Trogir is a small historic, traditional town. We checked into our accommodations at the Hotel Bellevue. At $141, this was our most expensive lodging of the trip, but it was also right in the middle of town with a full kitchen, Wi-Fi, and free parking. Lynn does a great job finding these places. They gave us a complimentary beverage with a plate of prsut (prosciutto), cheese, and tomatoes that was a very hearty appetizer. We walked around town, picking up some Pag Island cheese (more on that later), some local cherries, and some apricots for the next day. We toured the waterfront, looking in vain for Konoba Trs. We settled for Konoba Best. The word KONOBA in Dalmatia traditionally means the room in the house where food was prepared and stored. Today it is associated with restaurants that serve traditional meals in comfortable casual settings, often of rustic wood furniture and stone buildings. I had sea bass and Lynn had calamari which were fine, but the ambiance was not as nice as we hoped for, especially the smokers next to us. I noticed smoking is still common in Croatia, without restrictions now common in the USA.

Primosten roadside olive oil and wine stand.

We got up early the next morning to a beautiful clear blue sky with cool temperatures. We had breakfast at the hotel before heading up the coast. Our hosts saw us off with a nice tray of fresh baked pasties, a nice touch. We left in our manual transmission Suzuki Swift, a fun little car that was great on the small winding roads of this country. We left on highway D8 towards Sibenik, a beautiful coastal drive. We stopped at a vista overlooking the town of Primosten. A local was setting up his stand of their own olive oil and wine. We bought a two small bottles of wine for about $6. Shortly after we stopped for gas and picked up a loaf of fresh bread for about 50 cents at a bakery on the premises. We were starting to like this country.

How can you not buy a loaf of bread from this sweet lady?

We arrived at Krka National Park around noon. We paid our entry fee, about $35 for both of us, plus another $41 dollars for a 4 hour round trip boat ride to up the river. We spent about an hour walking around and admiring the Skradinski Buk waterfall before heading off on our boat ride. We enjoyed some of our wine, bread loaf, and pastries the hotel gave us on our ride. We stopped at the Franciscan Mother of Mercy Monastery on a small island in the middle of Lake Visovac on the way. A picturesque monastery over 100 years old, it features many historic relics including the worlds smallest printed book, a mere 3.5 mm by 3.5 mm (about 1/10 inch). We headed on to Roski Slap, another fantastic waterfall section. This 23-meter-high broad swath of a waterfall is at the end of a long stretch of shallow step falls. We had about an hour and a half to ourselves to walk around and explore.

From Krka we left for a leisurely coastal drive to the town of Zadar, once described by Alfred Hitchcock as having the prettiest sunsets in the world. Our hotel room at “Bastian Moro Rooms” ($55) was a simple but comfortable room. Parking was provided, the bed was comfortable, the Wi-Fi was strong, a refrigerator and water kettle was provided, and the location was a short walk to everything we were interested in seeing during our stay. Besides the typical coastal town boardwalk attractions of shops and restaurants, Zadar has two special attractions. One is called the “Sea Organ”, designed by a local architect. This is a system of pipes and whistles set into perforated stone steps at ocean edge that creates soulful tunes as the motion of the sea moves in and out. We stayed and watched the sunset. The second special feature was the “Sun Salutation”. This is a 22-meter diameter circle of photovoltaic plates set into the sidewalk. These plates provide enough energy for the harbor front lighting system as well as providing a kaleidoscopic light show from sunset to sunrise.

For dinner we used a coupon from the hotel for the Konoba Martinac. This was a relaxing dinner of shrimp stuffed squid for myself and bacon wrapped pork tenderloin for Lynn, with a couple of pints of a local brew. We experienced the only downside to our hotel room on our return at about 10 PM. A raucous party was going on in the next room that went well into the morning hours. At least we were treated to some genuine Croatian folk singing.

We started off the next morning with a tasty omelet at a sidewalk café on one of the narrow, marble paved streets of the old business district, followed by a stroll along the old city wall and a stop at the farmer’s market for some fresh strawberries before leaving town. Weather wound up being accommodating for most of the week, but threat of rain was constant, and we adapted our schedule several times to make the best of it. We had planned to leave Zadar and head to Paklenica National Park for a hike. A bit of research showed Pag Island was just a short way up the coast and we decided to go there based on the forecast at Paklenica. The Pag cheese we purchased for a driving snack in Trogir had impressed us. A bit about Pag island and the cheese: Pag Island is barren and rocky with vast empty spaces, with an eastern landscape dominated by the Velebit mountain range. Strong winds come down the mountain range across the sea, picking up the salt air which is then distributed across the island. The hearty indigenous plant species, including the fragrant Pag’s sage, pick up the salt. The native sheep graze on these plants, giving their milk the distinctive quality that contribute to the cheese known as Paski Sir. I had never heard of it, but I won’t forget it.

Paski Sur, voted World’s Best Sheep Cheese at the 2017 International Cheese Awards

The drive to the island was marked by a sharp transition in landscape as we entered the island. The imposing Velebit Mountains dominated the east, and the deep blue water was a stark contrast to the rocky landscape of the island. We worked our way in the direction of the cheese producers, stopping for another outstanding traditional meal at Konoba Giardin. I had lamb shanks in a sauce with handmade pasta while Lynn had a ham and cheese stuffed turkey breast. Total cost including two pints of local brew, an espresso and tip was about $45. I thought this was a good price for the amount of food we got. We often skipped a meal because of this. We had planned to take a tour at the cheese shop based on our internet research, but when we arrived we found the tour guide had left for the day since there were no reservations (we hadn’t made one). We still had a good time going through the cheese and wine shops and learned some history from the talkative cashier.

Plitvice National Park (one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites) was next on the agenda. We headed into the mountains, checking into our hotel “Plitvice Etno House” about 5 PM. This was a charming pine paneled chalet type room. We nosed about the area for a bit. It had rained some, and the cool air and forest landscape was reminiscent of the Smokies. After scouting out the landscape for the next morning, we came back to our room and enjoyed some Paski Sir cheese and crackers while making preps for the next day.

Lynn at our accommodations at Etno House

As was the case all week, our room had no coffee provided, and in this case had no hot water kettle either. That was the only downside to an otherwise great room, especially since I was not able to get any from the breakfast room before it opened for breakfast. This was a bit of a disappointment for two dedicated coffee drinkers, but we made it through. The breakfast itself was wonderful, with plenty to set us up for our 6-hour hike. We bought our tickets ($35 total) and took the shuttle bus up to the trailhead. We had a leisurely day enjoying some spectacular waterfalls and natural scenery, following a boardwalk for long sections over the water. The waterfalls had the distinctive feature of almost being a broad collection of individual streams rather than a central channel. The boardwalk was also distinctive, composed of small logs cut in half rather than smooth cut boards. Interesting and attractive but they required you to pay attention to your step. The crowds weren’t too bad, but it was also a weekday in the “shoulder” season. The crowds at peak season must be terrible.

We bid adieu to Plitvice and headed out to our next overnight spot at Sibenik. This town of about 34,000 is the oldest Croation town on the coast, over 1000 years old. After about a 2-hour drive, we checked in at “Shabby Chic” in downtown Sibenik. This place was a steal at $53 – free parking, Wi-Fi, full kitchen, nice rooftop patio, and walking distance to everything. We have not stayed in chain lodging anywhere, and I’ve been thrilled with where we’ve stayed. The town center bell tower – something we enjoyed at every town we stayed at – was just across the street. We got settled, then headed out to explore. We bought a few groceries, including some items for breakfast since this was one of the few places we stayed that didn’t include breakfast. I noted that everywhere we bought groceries asked if you wanted a bag – since you pay for them. I like this. One more step towards getting rid of all those plastic bags. Dinner was at the Nostalgija Konoba – this place was wonderful. It was on the old marble paved square in the town center with outdoor seating on a pleasant evening. I had mussels with tomato sauce and squid ink polenta, Lynn had a sausage pasta with truffle sauce, and we shared a bottle of local wine. Perfect.

We rearranged our plans – again – based on weather forecast. Plans for an early ferry to the Pelijesac Peninsula were scuttled to allow us to move on to Dubrovnik sooner based on rain being predicted there later when we had planned on going. This resulted in us having a couple of free morning hours in Sibenik. We thoroughly enjoyed spending a couple of leisurely hours walking on the seafront, having a cappuccino and some pastries, and strolling through some of the old business district shops and markets. This town looks worthy of another trip.

We said our goodbyes to Sibenik, promising to return, and headed south towards Dubrovnik. This was the first time for taking the toll road to speed up the transit a little since we weren’t going down the coast. There must have been 20 tunnels we drove through, ranging from just a couple of hundred meters to some over a mile long. We filled up with gas – the equivalent of about $6.17/gallon. We arrived in Dubrovnik, sorted things out and checked into our room at the Dubrovnik Victoria Guesthouse. Lynn scored big again. A small simple room with a bathroom/shower in the hall, but with free parking, Wi-Fi, fridge in the room, a lovely porch overlooking town, hot water kettle in the room, and close access to the bus stop. Dubrovnik is a busy tourist town, so at $50/night this was great. This is the only place I believe I have ever paid to stay where the bath towels have been hung out to dry in the sun.

Lynn had arranged for two Dubrovnik cards for a total of $55. These get you access to most of the public offerings and the transit system to get around for 24 hours from time of first use. It didn’t take too long to figure it all out.

We walked into town partly because it was only supposed to be about 20 minutes and that would delay activating our cards and partly because, well, I’m that guy that walks around. Lynn tolerates me fairly well. We had some great pizza at a restaurant just outside the old town walls, sitting outside with a great vantage point of Bokar Tower and nearby Fort Lovrijenac. We went into the old town and shopped around for an hour or two before having an ice cream and taking the bus back. Croatians love their ice cream, we saw dozens of ice cream stores over the course of the week. Dubrovnik is a very nice town, but it does have more of a tourist feel than most places we saw.

We got up the next morning and had coffee on the porch before heading into town for our guided tour of the 2-kilometer wall around the old city. We paid an additional $43 for this tour. There were only 5 of us for this very informative 2-hour tour. Dubrovnik is an ancient city from the days of the old city-states. It was considered a free state from 1358 until 1808, although it paid tributes to the Ottoman Sultan for centuries during that time. Our guide explained that Dubrovnik has a long history of negotiating peace with skilled diplomats to avoid conflict. He also told us that Dubrovnik is the last Christian city heading east until Goa, India. An interesting fact that I didn’t try to confirm. The town is a tight maze of narrow marble streets polished shiny from centuries of foot traffic. The streets are filled with shops, restaurants, and historical spots, including the third oldest continually operating pharmacy, in business since 1317. All the buildings have red tile roofs, making a dramatic view overlooking the city from the towers. I observed how roofs damaged during the 1991 shelling had been repaired (in some cases) using undamaged tiles in combination with new tiles to minimize the impact on the appearance. We were hot after the tour and relaxed with an ice cream and iced tea.

After a bit of research, we decided on Bistro Glorijet for dinner. This small restaurant on the waterfront was originally built in 1527 as an arsenal for Dubrovnik aristocracy. The atmosphere was amazing, as was the catch of the day (Lynn) and the mixed shellfish (me). I topped off the meal with a grappa, an Italian liquor made discarded grape seeds, stalks and stems that are a by-product of the winemaking process.

Our last full day in country was to be spent on the Peljesac Peninsula. Rain the night before had moved out, leaving a glorious morning of clear blue sky and cool temperatures. We had coffee and yogurt on the patio and hit the road. Ston is the first small community you drive through as you enter the peninsula and is known for its mussels and large flat oysters that have been farmed there since Roman times. We had noted many black floats in the ocean as we drove to Dubrovnik a couple of days before and had confirmed these were part of the shellfish farming. We stopped for a couple of photo opportunities of the harvesting activities, as well as a brief stop at a lovely family beach with stunning water clarity.

Oyster and mussel farms off the Peljesac Peninsula, farmed since Roman times.

Vineyards with Peljesac Peninsula in the background,

Peljesac Peninsula is famous for its many vineyards, six in a mile at one stretch. We stopped at several, sampling the wines, olive oil, and touring the grounds. The most famous was Grgic Vina, a winery owned by Mike Grgich of California fame but a native Croation. We purchased a bottle of Posip, a white wine made from an indigenous grape that populates the peninsula. We spent a few minutes walking around the small town and beach in the cove where his vineyard is located. It suffered a fire a 2015 that killed most of the trees on the slopes in the cove but is still beautiful with crystal clear water.

Our time was up, and we headed up the coast to Split. We chose to stick to the coast, which surely made for a slower trip. We passed many small towns, tucked away in coves with their own little parks and beaches. The water was so blue and the mountains rise abruptly for several thousand feet – the impact is dramatic. We stopped at one small beach, turned out it was topless in a very nonchalant relaxed manner. The water – again – was beautiful, but we didn’t have time for a swim. We checked in to the Hotel Manufactura ($64) in Split, a dated but perfectly adequate hotel with a good restaurant just a few hundred yards from the rental car return and a 20-minute walk from the airport the next morning. We spent the night and got up early and made our way to the airport, picking up a good size chunk of Paski Sir and a bottle of Posip wine in the duty-free store.

A local beach along the coastline, one of many.

Total cost for the trip, including all transportation (airfare, rental car, buses, trip from/to Ruwais in Abu Dhabi), lodging including hotel in Abu Dhabi on our return, meals, tourist attraction fees, and souvenirs was $3828. Croatia is a vacation value in our minds.

Jordan – March 2018

By Conrad Ottenfeld | June 2, 2018 | Comments 0 Comment

March 31 – April 4, 2018

For our third trip we decided on Jordan. This wasn’t really on a short list when we arrived in the United Arab Emirates but after talking to several other people there we were, booking flights for Amman. We thought it was good to go before getting into the summer heat, since we planned to spend at least one night under the stars in a tent. I thought I knew a lot more about Jordan than Seychelles, and I did – but not much. These trips have been very educational as well as just plain fun. Here a few fun facts and interesting details I researched before the trip.

Jordan is an Arab nation of about 10 million people in western Asia, bordered on the west by Israel, the north by Syria, Iraq to the northeast, and Saudi Arabia to the south and east. It is officially known as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Hashemites being descended from Hashim, the great grandfather of the prophet Muhammad.
Amman, in the north of the country, is the capital and largest city at about four million people.
The country is relatively young, becoming an independent country in 1946 following a period as a British protectorate after France and Britain partitioned the Ottoman Empire following World War I. The country was a province of Syria during 400 years of Ottoman rule. The first recorded use of the name Jordan appeared in an Egyptian papyrus dated around 1000 BC.
Although young as an independent country, it is an ancient land. Evidence of human habitation dates back 250,000 years.
The country is stable compared to the turmoil in much of the region. A peace treaty was signed with Israel in 1994, one of only two Arab countries to do so (Egypt is the other).
In the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Jordan captured the West Bank and ruled it until 1967 (although never internationally recognized). The area was recaptured by Israel in 1967, and Jordan officially relinquished its claims in 1988, including stripping West Bank Palestinians of Jordanian citizenship.
Sunni Islam is practiced by about 95% of the population. They coexist peacefully with a small indigenous Christian population, and the country has accepted thousands of Iraqi Christians fleeing persecution by ISIL.
The currency since 1949 has been the Jordanian dinar. The dinar is pegged to the US dollar at one US dollar = .709 dinar.
Petra, in the south of the country, is one of the popular tourist sites known for its rock-cut architecture. It was the capital of the independent Nabataean kingdom around 300 BC. They were skilled at harvesting water using a series of dams, conduits, and cisterns.
Petra was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985, and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.
Wadi Rum is a valley cut into sandstone and granite rock and resembles the surface of Mars, making it a popular filming and tourist attraction, including scenes in The Martian (2015).
The Dead Sea is 9.6 times saltier than the ocean.
Jordan is the 7^th largest producer of potash in the world.

We flew from Abu Dhabi to Amman on March 31. Most people we talk to recommend just using bank ATMs to get local currency on arrival, and we probably would have been fine to do that. We had to pay our local driver cash on arrival and I didn’t want to run into a snag right off the bat so I changed money before leaving Ruwais. The markup at the local money store in the mall was about 2%, I felt that was okay. I compared the rate at Abu Dhabi airport, it was about 6% markup. I had noted at the Seychelles airport there was only a single ATM and wasn’t sure how big the airport in Jordan was. I was satisfied with our decision, and that was one less thing to worry about.

We had a smooth 3-hour flight. We are fine tuning our packing. Each of us was able to pack everything we needed for a week in our day packs and stayed well under the 7 kg (about 15 pounds) limit. This frees us from having to mess with checked baggage and the additional opportunity for problems that presents. An enthusiastic “George” (not his real name) met us at the airport and guided us quickly through customs.

Our driver for the first day was Mohammed, a third-generation Russian immigrant to Jordan. He drove us from the airport to Jerash, our first stop. The city has been inhabited by humans for 6500 years, including periods of Christianity, Roman, Islamic, and Ottoman control. The most prominent ruins are from the Roman period. We had a local guide, Zaher Omar, that cost 30 Jordanian dinar. This was covered by our tour package costs, although we did tip an additional 20 dinar after a very thorough 2-hour tour. Our tour package included a “Jordan Wanderer” pass that cost 70 dinar that got us access to all the state-owned attractions we went to (which was most of them) as well as the guide costs (minus tips) for guides we had at Jerash, Petra, and Wadi Rum. We spent the night in Amman, finding out that the term cocktail (advertised as available in hotel literature) means something different in Islamic countries than in western ones.

The next morning were met in the lobby of the hotel by our driver for the remainder of the week, a native Jordanian named Sulaiman. He was a Muslim, like most in the country are. A very friendly fellow, his knowledge of the country and customs was a difference maker for the rest of the week. Having a private driver gave us a lot of flexibility with the itinerary. Our first stop was at St. George Monastery in Madaba, known for having a mosaic map that accurately depicts the layout of the Middle East at the time. What we did fail to consider was that we had arrived on Easter Sunday, and services were taking place in the Greek Orthodox Church. So we didn’t get to see the mosaic map but we did step into the back of the church and admired the first of many fine mosaics we saw during the week. We bought a fine little Tree of Life Mosaic in the shop.

Mount Nebo, where Moses was granted view of the Promised Land.

We left St. George’s and headed towards Mount Nebo. Sulaiman asked if we would be interested in seeing The Church of Lot and Procopius. It is locked and not open to the public, but he knew the man with the key and was able to get us access for a look. I tipped the man 5 dinar in thanks. The mosaic floor dates back the 5^th century AD and was a nice bonus attraction for us that wasn’t on the agenda.

The Church of Lot and Procopius. Dates to 557 AD.

Our next stop was The Mosaic House, a craft house supported by the queen to provide jobs to handicapped in Jordan. I don’t know if it is for women only by design, but all the craftspeople we saw were women. The store manager (handicapped himself) showed us around. We were told 60% of the sale goes directly to the artist, and 40% to the facility. We paid 840 dinar ($1180) for a small table made with a black iris (the national flower of Jordan) that included shipping to the US. We paid no sales tax (normally 16%) by buying it there. An expensive trip we hadn’t planned but we got an excellent souvenir and supported a good cause.

We continued to Mount Nebo and the Memorial of Moses. This is a privately held site that contains the spot where Moses is believed to have looked down over the Promised Land. A small church was built there in the late part of the 4^th century AD that, again, contains fantastic mosaics on the floor. A worker sat on the floor cleaning the tiles. We spent an hour or so looking at the exhibits and taking pictures before continuing to the Dead Sea. The road down was a curvy, steep road, dropping us down to the Dead Sea Spa Hotel where we swam in the Dead Sea, played in the mud, and had lunch. The Dead Sea is both very low – at 1388 feet below sea level it is the lowest point on the surface of the earth – and deep – at 1237 feet deep, it is the deepest landlocked body of water in the world. As we walked down to the shore, we noticed the signs indicating the level is dropping rapidly. It looked like another 25 foot or so elevation drop since the turn of the century. They had a box of mud they filled and mixed with the sea water for us to spread all over ourselves. We had fun with that and floating in the water. We had always heard about how buoyant it was due to the high salinity, but it was even more so than we expected. The water was crystal clear.

We headed on south along the Dead Sea Coast for a time, with a couple of interesting stops along the way. The first was a stop to see “Lot’s Wife”, a stone formation high on the bluff above us. According to Sulaiman, the Dead Sea is also known as Lot’s Lake, a detail neither Lynn or I had ever heard of before, created when the Lord raised Sodom into the air and smashed it back to earth, creating the depression where the sea is now. All very interesting. Along the coast line, heavy salt deposits were evident, which include all the other trace minerals that go with it. Sulaiman said there were several businesses further south where the minerals are harvested from the salt. The second interesting stop was at Wadi al Mujib Nature Preserve, a slot canyon leading out to the Dead Sea. This is one of several nature preserves in the country and reminded me of Utah slot canyons.

Salt deposits on the shoreline of the Dead Sea

We continued our drive on down to Petra, the landscape shifting from the generally green landscape of olive orchards and agriculture in the north around Amman to the high desert in the south. We passed occasional commercial operations such as cement manufacturing and potash (potassium) mining. We had fun with Sulaiman comparing the landscape to various parts of the southwest US (“Now we are in Texas”….”Now we are in Utah”….etc etc).

Our last stop before checking in at the P Quattra Inn in Petra was the spring of Moses. This was enclosed in a small, nondescript building. A large rock is in the building, and a spring flows out next to it. Moses in the Bible strikes the rock and a spring gushes forth to provide for his people, who are grumbling about being saved from Egypt only to die in the desert. He is shunned from entering the Promised Land for striking the rock rather than speaking to the rock as God commanded. It is interesting to note that Moses is mentioned in the Quran more than 120 times as a prophet and messenger, discussed in great detail. We learned later that the Nabateans piped this spring water a couple of miles to Petra to provide their drinking water, using the water they harvested from the landscape there for washing, irrigating crops, and for stone carving (apparently soaked sandstone is easier to shape and carve).

The next day, April 2, we got an early start at the ancient Arab Nabatean Kingdom city of Petra. There is evidence Petra was settled as early as 9000 BC. The nomadic Nabateans established Petra as a regional trading hub to take advantage of its location along ancient east-west trade routes. Sulaiman took care of the entrance details, and we were left with a local guide for about the first 2 hours. He led us down the entry canyon (a ‘Siq’ in Arabic) to “The Treasury” which is one of the two most famous structures in the park. This structure is carved into the sandstone face, about 120 feet high. It is believed to have been carved in the first century AD, involving hired Greek architects. It became known as “The Treasury” only much later when area Bedouins came to believe that the giant urn at the top of the carving contained treasures from the Pharaohs of Egypt.

From there we worked our way down the broad canyon, with tombs of the commoners on one side and for the elite on the other. The Nabateans believed in the afterlife, and tombs were an important feature to be provided for. Tombs were established for entire families, not individuals. Another feature described to us was the intricate water harvesting performed by the Nabateans to make life there possible. Terraces were cut into the tops of bluffs and the water channeled through troughs to a network of cisterns.

As we worked our way further into the park, we first passed the only ancient stadium that was carved directly into the rock, with seating for some 4000 people. We then came upon the Roman ruins section of the city with a paved central street. It seems the Romans took notice of the clever Nabateans, and Petra eventually fell to the Romans, although its importance declined with the development of sea trade. By the early Islamic period, the city became an abandoned place and remained so for several hundred years.

As we left the central Roman ruins, we bid our local guide adieu, and headed up the 960 steps to the second major structure, The Monastery. Numerous locals tried to sell us the service of their donkeys to take us up, but we passed. It was a good hike, maybe a mile, lined with an almost constant stream of locals peddling all sorts of souvenirs. Our guide said there was no licensing, people can set up wherever they want. I bought a Jordanian keffiyeh for 5 JOD and put it on homdonie style. After a while, we arrived at The Monastery, a stunning carving about 150 feet high and wide. A small café was located there with comfortable couches with a great view of The Monastery under some trees. I enjoyed a stout Turkish coffee, Lynn had a fresh squeezed juice, and we split a bag of chips for about $10. There were a few other short trails that went still higher, advertising one of several “Best View in the World” we saw. They were indeed very fine and gave you a nice vista. And they gave us the opportunity to observe that no landmarks are immune from graffiti. ☹

We came down from the Monastery and enjoyed a Jordanian beer before leaving the park. Sulaiman recommended a location and dish and we were not disappointed. We had Mansaf, a Jordanian dish of lamb and rice with a cooked yogurt sauce, and Musakan, a spiced, grilled chicken Palestinian dish. Each were 9 dinar, about $25 total. We also decided to have another beer. Because we were eating outside by the sidewalk, we had to pour the beer into coffee mugs so we wouldn’t have open beer cans visible in public. You have to do what you have to do……

We rested in the hotel for a couple of hours before returning for “Petra at Night’, interrupted only by the management stopping by to ask if they could borrow the mattress off our second bed (?). “Sure, it’s all yours.” Sulaiman picked us up and took us back to the park (have I said how great private drivers are?). We walked back down to The Treasury by a candlelit trail. We had a big crowd, maybe 1000, that sat by candlelight listening to Bedouin musicians play flute and rababh and tell stories invoking the mysteries of the ancients. At the very end, The Treasury was bathed in floodlights for a touching closure. We walked back out and Sulaiman took us back to the hotel. We were tired.

Spinning yarn from camel hair in Little Petra.

We slept in a bit the next morning and didn’t head out to Little Petra until about 9:30. Little Petra is 5 miles north of Petra. It is believed to have been built when Petra trading was at its peak (1^st century AD) to house visiting Silk Road traders. The nature of the structures is similar minus the grandeur of the Treasury and the Monastery, and with much fewer people. There were several people selling goods but again much fewer. I got some nice character shots. One was a lady making yarn from camel hair, and one of some Bedouins I bought a cup of tea from.

We left Little Petra and headed to Wadi Rum by way of the Kings Highway and partly on the Desert Highway. The Kings Highway connected the Ammon, Moab and Edom kingdoms, and has been in use for over 5000 years. It curves and meanders along the Dead Sea and isn’t used too much since the advent of the newer, faster Desert Highway for driving south from Amman. We stopped at a truck stop for shawarma sandwiches, a popular dish in this part of the world. Meat is shaved off a column of meat rotating by a heat lamp, then rolled up in a piece of flat bread and grilled. Three of us ate, including fries, salad, and drink for 7.5 dinar – about $10. He said that was because we were at a truck stop, not a tourist destination. I noticed again, as I have noticed before, it is common to not be given any utensils. People eat with their fingers, even rice dishes.

We checked into the Hassan Zawaideh Camp in Wadi Rum (Valley of the Moon) for our authentic Bedouin desert camping experience. Not so much. The tents were actually simple wooden buildings covered in fabric, complete with front porch, running water, toilet, and shower. They didn’t have AC, so we were roughing it that much. We rested for about an hour, then headed off for our desert jeep trip. The sky was filled with hazy clouds but the temperature was pleasant. Our driver looked like a very young teenager but seemed up to the task of driving us around the desert for several interesting stops. One stop included a demonstration of using a native plant, Seidlitzia Rosmarinus, to make soap by crushing some of the stems and adding water. We stopped by some petroglyphs and Siq Lawrence (Lawrence Canyon of Lawrence of Arabia fame) before heading to a rock outcrop to admire the sunset. We returned to our camp to enjoy our Bedouin barbecue known as Zarb, a layered dish cooked in an underground pit for several hours. I also relaxed watching some of the natives play the Rababh and drink tea by a fire.

We headed out the next morning for our return to Amman after a breakfast of traditional foods. We chatted with the driver on the way back and made some interesting observations and learned some facts about the country:

An hour north of Wadi Rum, we passed a joint venture Egyptian-Jordanian photovoltaic farm.
Random police stops around the country are frequent, checking IDs and registrations. Our driver handled all these smoothly. The tourism trade is very important to the Jordanians and they take security seriously.
In addition to the solar farms, we noticed many wind turbines either already installed or being built.
The driver said the people are happy with the King and think he is good man.
There are speed cameras throughout the country. You only find out if you had violations when you renew your insurance. Your rates can go up or you can even be fined if you have too many.
If the police pull you over and give you a ticket, you must pay for it on the spot. If you can’t, they take your license and you have 30 days to pay.
I have seen okra many times in the Middle East. After a bit of research, it turns out it is originally from Ethiopia.

Our last tour stop was the Citadel in Amman, another historical spot with Roman ruins. Overlooking the city, you can see a Roman auditorium that is still in use. When we visited the auditorium later, some local school girls came running up to us and wanted a selfie with us. Funny, but we obliged. From the opposite side looking over the city, Sulaiman said we were looking at a Palestinian refugee camp. Jordan is a country of refugees from war plagued countries all over southwest Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa.

Sulaiman treated us to a fine lunch from a tiny local vendor before dropping us off at the airport. This was another perfect vacation. Total expense of $4460 inclusive of everything seemed like a good value.