Journey to the Hashemite Kingdom

This post is by Sue Tindell

    There's always a lot of excited anticipation for the announcement of the next Travel Leaders International Summit. As you readers know, previous Summits have taken me to exotic countries on three continents. When it was announced that Jordan would be the site of our 2019 gathering, I signed up as soon as I could.
    Besides previous visits to Turkey, including an International Summit in Istanbul, I had only been to the Middle East once, and that was on a family trip in 2010. We'd spent time in Israel and Egypt, but had not made it to Jordan. When Americans think of traveling to that region, Jordan often doesn't come up on the list of preferred destinations, which was exactly the point of the Summit. Not only was it a chance for Travel Leaders owners to get together (and we never pass up on these chances), it was an opportunity for us to visit a country that would be a new destination for virtually all of us. And like all of our Summit hosts have been, the Jordanians were anxious to show us what their nation has to offer for today's traveler.


Sunday-Monday, April 7-8 -- Wisconsin to Jordan

    As always, flying across an ocean means a very long day of travel, but you just have to steel yourself to the inevitable fatigue and make yourself as comfortable as possible. At the airport in Minneapolis, I met my good friend and colleague, Cindy Tyo, from Fargo, N.D. We would be traveling companions for the trip. Our first leg of the journey was the longest, an 8-hour, non-stop flight from Minneapolis to Paris, France, where we had a 7-hour layover. 

    

At the start of the flight, I was happy to
get comfort seating. 

    Airport layovers can be daunting, but Paris Charles de Gaulle has a Yotelair. This is a new concept: a small hotel within the airport that is designed to accommodate travelers who have long layovers. Rooms can be rented by the hour and provide all the amenities that weary travelers crave after a transatlantic flight, which in our case included crossing half a continent before we even got over the water. We think this is a terrific idea, and of course we had to talk about it: Greetings from Paris Yotelair.
     By the time our next flight arrived in Amman, the capital of Jordan, we had been traveling for more than 24 hours. It was nearly midnight local time (just shy of 4pm back home) when we flew in to Queen Alia International Airport, and fortunately our transportation was waiting to whisk us to the Amman Marriott, a 5-star hotel that was bright and cheery, even though we really weren't. Still, their welcome was much appreciated. 

    As excited as we were to finally be in Jordan, we were really tired, so Cindy and I hit the hay once we got situated in our room. By then Tuesday had arrived, and after a few hours' sleep, we would embark on our first round of sight-seeing. Amman was waiting for us!


Tuesday, April 9 -- Amman and Jerash

    The official name of our host country is the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Hashemites are the ruling family of Jordan, who can trace their lineage back to Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, the great-grandfather of Islam's prophet, Muhammad. Hashemite leaders were at the forefront of the Arab Revolt of 1916, when the Arab tribes of the region rose up against the Ottoman Turks, who had ruled the Middle East for four centuries. After World War I, what is now Jordan (known then as Transjordan) was governed by the British, who granted the nation its independence in 1946. The present King of Jordan is Abdullah II, who succeeded his father, Hussein, upon his death in 1999. 
     Our tours in the country would be conducted by Abercrombie & Kent, an experienced company well-suited to give their clients deluxe, informative tours in just about any country of the world. At Travel Designers Travel Leaders, we've worked often with A&K, helping get our clients the best overseas experience possible. There are clients who prefer to wing it when they get to their destination, or those who like to set up everything for themselves beforehand, but we caution people to remember that they're going to a foreign country, where they may not know the language or be familiar with the customs. Going to Jordan, for example, is not as simple as, say, a trip to New Orleans. Utilizing the services of a reputable company like A&K ensures that the traveler will have the best (and safest) possible experience. 
    Our A&K driver met us at the entrance to the hotel lobby, and we began our tour of the city of Amman. The Jordanian capital is a city of 4 million people, and like virtually all major cities of the Middle East, it is a mixture of the modern and the ancient. 
    First up was The Citadel, which is atop the hill known as Jabal al-Qala'a. It's in the center of downtown Amman, and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited spots on the planet. Archaeologists have found evidence of settlement here from the Neolithic period, about 12,000 years ago. Some of the world's great ancient cultures had a presence here.

Jordanian security guards outside the museum. The security presence in Amman was less evident than
what I'd found in other Middle Eastern cities, like Jerusalem and Cairo. We felt perfectly safe all the time.

The entrance to the Jordan Archaeological Museum, which was
established in 1951 and once housed many of the Dead Sea Scrolls. 

The impressive wooden dome of the museum. 

Outside, one of the major structures on the Citadel mount is the Temple of Hercules. It dates to the mid-2nd century AD.
Inside, all that remains of the original 39-foot tall statue of Hercules are three fingers and an elbow. 

Looking down into Amman, with a 2nd-century Roman amphitheater in the foreground. It seats
6,000 and is still used today. The Greeks named the Citadel settlement Philadelphia. Even though archaeologists have been working here for nearly a century, much of ancient Philadelphia has yet to be excavated.

        From the Citadel, we proceeded to Jerash, in the hills of Gilead, which is a mountainous region in the northwest of Jordan, between the capital and the Jordan River, marking the border with the Palestinian West Bank. The modern city of Jerash has just over 50,000 people and is the largest in the region. But we were here to see the ancient city of the same name.
    Like the Citadel area, there are traces of Neolithic civilizations here, but the peak of ancient Jerash's influence was into the 8th century AD, just before much of the city was destroyed in an earthquake in the year 749. There are indications the ancient city was founded by Alexander the Great or one of his generals around 331 BC. About 300 years later it was conquered by the Romans, and became a member of the Decapolis, a commercial league of ten Greco-Roman cities that was a dynamic center of culture and trade in the ancient world. 

The South Theater, one of two in the ancient city. 

Several of the city's Corinthian columns. They are also known as
"Whispering Columns," because of their reported ability to transmit
voices as soft as a whisper from one side of the temple to the other.

The Oval Forum and Cardus Maximus.

The Arch of Hadrian, built to commemorate the visit of the Roman emperor in 129 AD. 

    Although the temperatures were relatively mild, the jet lag was not, and we weren't too terribly disappointed when it came time for us to leave the fascinating ancient city and return to Amman, which fortunately was only about 30 miles away. We nestled into our room back at the hotel, pleased with our first day in Jordan and looking forward to our next, which would bring us to one of the highlights of the trip: Mount Nebo, where we would walk in the footsteps of Moses. 


Wednesday, April 10 -- Mount Nebo

    In the final chapter Book of Deuteronomy, Moses climbs a mountain and gazes westward into Canaan, the Promised Land. It's been 40 years since he led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt, and here they are, finally, but he would not make it across the Jordan River into Canaan itself. He would die somewhere nearby, but his people would make it, and they're still there, in present-day Israel. 
     Mount Nebo rises 2,330 feet above sea level, and today is the site where tradition says Moses made his observation of Canaan. We began our second full day in Jordan with a visit here, 22 miles from downtown Amman. When we arrived and ascended the Mount, we became the latest of untold thousands of pilgrims who have followed in the steps of Moses since he made his climb around 1592 BC. 

The People of the Book Monument, created by the Italian sculptor Vincenzo Bianchi in 2000.
The shape of the sculpture not only resembles the megalithic stones found on Mt. Nebo,
it also resembles a book, in respect of the Peoples of the Book--Jews,
Christians and Muslims--who remember Moses here. 

One of the more unusual trees on the way to the summit. 

A panoramic shot from the top, looking west. This would be the view Moses saw 3600 years ago. 

Looking down into the valley. 

Throughout our stay in Jordan, we would benefit from having excellent guides, thanks to A&K. 

Two of the few remaining markers from the Roman road that connected Mt. Nebo with Jerusalem, about 30 miles.
The Romans were great road-builders; at the peak of the Empire, they had over 250,000 miles of roads in use. 

The elaborate mosaic floor of the Byzantine-era Church of Moses, dating back to the 4th century AD. Six tombs
were found underneath the floor during excavation.  

The Brazen Serpent sculpture, created by the Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni.
It commemorates the bronze serpent on a pole erected by Moses at
God's direction, as described in the Book of Numbers. It is also
designed to represent the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. 

   
    From Mt. Nebo, we went farther south to Madaba, the "City of Mosaics." This is another archaeological site going back to Old Testament times. In St. George's Church is perhaps the most famous mosaic of the site, a large map of Palestine from the 6th century AD. 

When the church was built in the 1880s, the mosaic was discovered and restoration
began, but it was slow going. In the 1960s, the Volkswagen Foundation funded
an effort by German experts to save what remained of the mosaic, which originally
measured 70'x23' and contained over 2 million tiles.

The Greek Orthodox Church of St. George
was built on the ruins of a 6th-century Byzantine church.

In the Greek Orthodox Church, the lighting of a candle is a tradition by
worshipers offering prayers for themselves or loved ones. 

   

After leaving the church, we explored a bit of Madaba,
a typically fascinating Middle Eastern city with narrow
walkways and charming shops and restaurants.

    
    Our last stop for the day was one we'd been waiting for: the Dead Sea. We would be staying overnight here at the Dead Sea Marriott Resort & Spa. We arrived too late in the day to take our first dip in the Dead Sea, but we were able to enjoy the resort and see some folks out there doing what we'd be doing the next day.

  

    It had been a long but exciting day, and as we watched the sun set over the hills of Israel to the west, we contemplated the meaning of being in this ancient land, on the shores of what is perhaps the world's most unique body of water. The next day, we would be seeing for ourselves exactly what makes the Dead Sea one of a kind. 

Thursday, April 11 -- The Dead Sea

    We were at the eastern shore of the Dead Sea, over 1,400 feet below sea level--the lowest above-ground spot on the planet. It is a hypersaline lake, meaning it has a high salt content, in this case nearly 10 times as salty as ocean water. It is the deepest such lake, with a maximum depth of nearly 1,000 feet. It is also shrinking. Its surface area today is 234 square miles, down some 40% since 1930. This is due largely to the diversion of water from the Jordan River for agricultural and drinking uses. The government of Jordan has begun a project called the Two Seas Canal, which will bring water from the Red Sea and provide irrigation and other uses along the way and brine to help refill the Dead Sea. It is scheduled for completion in 2021. Israel and some other countries are assisting in the financing. 
    The Dead Sea was perhaps the first "health resort" in the world. The combination of high temperatures, low humidity and high atmospheric pressure make the air here rich in oxygen and magnesium, which greatly assists breathing. The water of the Dead Sea has the highest content of minerals and salts of any body of water in the world, so it possesses anti-inflammatory properties. Even the mud along its shore has therapeutic uses.
    But before we could get into the water ourselves, we had a tour to the nearby first-century settlement of Bethany.
    On the Jordanian side of the Jordan River, Bethany was referred to as being "beyond the Jordan" in the Bible. Modern excavations confirm that Bethany was the site of mass baptisms, and indeed today we could see many people being baptized in the Jordan. 

Remnants of the Biblical community near the Jordan. 

At the Bethany site itself, more evidence of how seriously the Jordanians
treat their ancient heritage. 

  

An excavated baptismal area. This may be the spot where Jesus was baptized by
his cousin, John the Baptist, but other sites in Israel make the same claim.  There is
evidence that John actually lived in this community, perhaps before starting his own ministry.

Part of the Bethany site includes churches built during the
Byzantine era, around the 5th century AD. 

The Greek Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist
provides incredible views of early Christian artwork. 

The Jordan is not a very wide river,. Here's a view of an Israeli location, with
Christian pilgrims descending to the river to be baptized. 

     
      We returned to the hotel in mid-afternoon and changed into our bathing suits. You can't visit the Dead Sea without actually going in, after all. One of our traveling companions, Walt Lee from the Twin Cities, volunteered to be our cameraman as Cindy and I prepared for our plunge: Dead Sea Bobbettes. 
      It was certainly a unique experience, starting with smearing ourselves with the mud. In the water, we just bobbed. It wasn't cleansing, in the sense of getting physically washed, but afterwards we felt great, and not just from the thrill of the experience. No wonder people have been coming here for thousands of years. 
      One thing they didn't have in biblical times, though, was a 21st-century spa. Cindy and I availed ourselves of this modern convenience, capping off a great day. 

     
     The hotel was busy that evening as the staff prepared for a huge wedding a few days hence. After dinner, we relaxed and watched the sun setting over the hills of Israel. The next day, we would be heading north, to the place where we'd conduct our business meeting, and it would turn out to be the most exotic of our International Summit meeting sites yet. 



Friday, April 12 -- Kerak and Petra

     After a great breakfast, we checked out of our Dead Sea hotel and got ready to board our motor coach for the short trip east and then north. I had to get one last photo of this beautiful hotel.

  
   We had one stop scheduled before arriving at our next hotel, and that would be an exploration of the ancient fortress of Kerak, east of the Dead Sea.
      For a period of some 400 years, beginning late in the 11th century, European armies, sanctioned by the Catholic Church, repeatedly invaded the Middle East to wrest Christian holy sites from Muslim occupation. At Kekra, the Lord of Montreal, Payne Le Boutellier, built a fortress that stood as a center of Christian dominance of the region for nearly half a century. It is a "spur castle," meaning it was built on a mountaintop to take advantage of natural terrain that makes it very difficult to besiege. Yet it eventually fell to a Muslim army, led by the nephew of the famed medieval general Saladin, in 1188. But that wasn't the last time the fortress was the focus of armed clashes. Armies battled over the fortress well into the 19th century before the Ottoman Turks established control. In 2016, a terrorist attack at this site left 14 dead, including a Canadian tourist. (We weren't told about that at the time of our tour.)
     But everything was peaceful today, thankfully, and it was a fascinating tour. 

The valley below the fortress. The nearby city of al-Kerak is home to some 170,000 people.

Our guides here were just as knowledgeable as those at the other sites
we visited in Jordan. 

Many windows in the outer wall are
very narrow, allowing archers to shoot
outward while being protected from incoming
arrows. 

The interior of the fortress is a warren of
passageways and rooms. 

While we were there, a drone was snooping around.
No problem, though; it was being used to film
the site for the Jordanian government
to promote tourism. 

Another view from the fortress. 

    After our tour, we left the al-Kerak area and headed north to Petra, which would be the site of our meeting the next day. We would be staying at the Petra Marriott Hotel, yet another fabulous property. Travel Leaders and our hosts pulled out all the stops for our welcome, with a terrific light show illuminating the ruins as we dined under the stars. 

The Petra Marriott would be our home for the final three nights of our
stay in Jordan. 

Cindy and I decided to go GIF for this one!

A view of the mountains from the hotel. 

Twilight at Petra.

After dark, the path to our reception and dinner was lit by
candles. 

Although I wasn't allowed to post any videos (copyright, or something like that),
I was able to get a very good still photo of the show that greeted us
as we sat down for dinner. 

    The light show and dinner were fantastic, a great way to close out another wonderful day in Jordan. The next day, though, we would actually have to go to work. 


Saturday, April 13 -- The Summit and Petra

    Our business meeting this morning was well-attended and, as always, very informative. Lots of exciting things are happening in the travel industry, and we got a lot of information about new initiatives and ways to help our clients achieve the journeys of their dreams. 
     We learned a little more about our hotel, too. The Marriotts in Jordan are the only hotel chain in the world to be fully powered by solar energy. Marriott invested $18 million to build two photo-voltaic solar energy plants, covering 60 acres and producing more than 23 million kilowatt hours per year. Not only does this energy power the hotels, it reduces their carbon footprint by more than 12,000 tons annually. 
     In the afternoon, we had a choice of different tours. Cindy and I chose to visit the ancient city of Petra.
      Jordan considers this ancient city one its most valuable cultural treasures, and for good reason. It is a city that was literally carved into the rock faces of mountains by the Nabataeans, an early Arabic society, about 2400 years ago. Petra quickly became an important center for trade, especially in silk and spices. Traders came from as far away as China and India to the east and Rome to the west. 
     Like a lot of ancient cities, Petra gradually fell into decline and became "lost" to Western travelers. But in 1812, a Swiss tourist, Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, asked his guide to take him to the reported site of the "lost city." He disguised himself as an Arab from India, requesting a visit to tomb of the Prophet Aaron, the brother of Moses, in order to make a sacrifice. Burckhardt secretly made notes and sketches, smuggled them back to Europe and opened the door to further Western exploration of the site. 
     It is truly an amazing place, and this video captures a little bit of its majesty and mystery: Exploring Petra.

     

The ancient city is within walking distance of the hotel...

...although alternative transportation is available. 

We soon entered one of the most amazing ancient
cities left on the planet. The main entryway into
the city is known as the Siq, a gorge nearly a mile long. 

Visitors are easily awed by the huge vertical
mountainsides with the narrow passages in between.

The Treasury of Petra, known as al-Khazneh,
houses the mausoleum of the Nabataean king Aretas IV.
The structure got the name of "the Treasury" because
of Bedouin legends that bandits hid their loot in a stone urn
on the second level. In the 1989 movie Indiana Jones
and the Last Crusade, this is used as the entrance of
the temple where the intrepid explorer finds the Holy Grail. 

If you're so inclined, you can ride around the city in style aboard one of these. 

The Nabataeans were obviously skilled in rock-carving, but they also were
highly advanced in water conservation and the use of dams to control
streams and rivers. 

Cindy and I were very happy to be two of the more than
800,000 annual visitors to Jordan's most popular tourist site. 

After a great day exploring the ancient city, it was equally great to
get back into the 21st century at our hotel. 

     The "lost city" of Petra was truly an amazing place to visit. We would have one more full day in Jordan before heading home. Tomorrow, we would be heading out to Wadi Rum, the Valley of the Moon, for a unique ride through the desert. 


Sunday, April 14 -- Wadi Rum

    Our last full day in Jordan promised to be the most fun. We would be exploring Wadi Rum, and if you've seen Lawrence of Arabia, you've seen it on the screen.

    

    The film tells the true story of T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935), a British Army officer who rallied the Arabs against the Ottoman Turks in World War I. Released in 1962, the film starred Peter O'Toole in the title role and won seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture. It's Oscar-winning title theme, scored by Maurice Jarre, beautifully captures the exotic majesty of the film's story and the lands in which it is set. You can hear it here: Lawrence of Arabia overture. (The title theme has been ranked as the third-best of all time, behind Star Wars and Gone with the Wind.) The film is considered by critics and movie buffs to be one of the greatest movies of all time. And much of it was filmed right here, because this was where Lawrence and his allies had their headquarters during the war. 
    Wadi Rum is also known as the Valley of the Moon. It covers nearly 300 square miles in southern Jordan, and can be explored in a 4-wheel-drive vehicle, on camels, or on all-terrain vehicles. That's what our group signed up to do, and it was a wild day indeed.
    We started our exploration with lunch at a Bedouin camp, certainly one of the most exotic locales I'd dined in, ever: Lunch at Bedouin camp.

As we prepared to saddle up, we were an excited (and masked) bunch.

Wadi Rum is an incredible expanse of desert and rugged mountains.

I did this shot in black-and-white for a starkly beautiful effect. 

Down below us, our rides wait patiently as we do some climbing. 

Luxury camping, known as "glamping" (glamorous camping), is available
at Wadi Rum. Here's one set of tents. 

Another set is composed of tents like geodesic domes.

Inside one of the dome tents. 

Just before sunset, we gathered for an outdoor cocktail party,
unlike any we'd ever experienced. Here's a video of the party:
Desert cocktail party.

As the incredible day draws to a close, the desert presents us with
yet another beautiful sunset vista. 

For dinner, we went to a nearby castle. Outdoor entertainment
was provided, giving us yet another taste
of exotic Jordanian culture: Jordanian dance.

     Our ride back to Petra went rather quickly, and we settled in for our final night in this exotic land. As always, we were getting a bit anxious to return home, but also already feeling nostalgic about our visit. The next day would be a long one, and very soon we would be leaving Jordan behind, reluctantly. 


Monday-Tuesday, April 15-16 -- Heading home

    This would be a leisure day for us, as we'd be leaving for the airport after dinner for a late-night flight to Paris. I spent some time at the pool, and more than a little time at my computer, catching up on work. (It never seems to end, sometimes.) Everybody agreed that this had been one of the better International Summits, and we were already speculating on where the 2020 Summit would be held. 
     Finally it came time to say goodbye to our Jordanian hosts and the Marriott. We'd all had a splendid time, but by then we were all kind of anxious to get going. We were excited to start telling our staff and our clients about what a great destination Jordan is. We were bused back to the Amman airport, and at 1:15 on the morning of the 16th, we were in the air for France. 
     We had all heard the terrible news from Paris that the famed Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral was on fire. From Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, we could not see the smoke from the fire, which by then had been largely extinguished. 

Dawn was breaking over the City of Light when we arrived, and it was
a city of sorrow after the burning of the great cathedral. Within a week
of the fire, a billion euros had been pledged for reconstruction, which
we later heard might take twenty years. 

     It was Tuesday evening in Wisconsin when I got home, after some 24 hours of travel. As usual, I'd been able to sleep some on the transatlantic flight, but not enough to feel rested. The best part about international travel, especially over the oceans, is being in the countries you're visiting. To do that, you have to endure the worst part, which is getting there, and then getting back home. But I had my Kindle and plenty of onboard movies to choose from. 
     We weren't quite sure what to expect from Jordan before our arrival in the Hashemite Kingdom, but we certainly weren't disappointed. I would go back in a heartbeat, for there's much more to explore, even though it's not a large country. The people are very friendly, they are actively seeking North American tourism, and we felt perfectly secure at all times. Quite a contrast from what we see on the TV news about the Middle East, that's for sure. 
     On my next visit, I will see more of this exotic land and meet more of its fascinating people. Until then, for a wonderful visit to your beautiful country, I will say "Shukran jaziilan," which in Arabic means, "Thank you very much!" 
                                                                          شكرا جزيلا لك