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The hotel is very new and large. It consists of lots of different
buildings and we were scattered amongst them. It was most pleasant with little gardens in
between the buildings. |
| We woke up at 8:30 to find that it was still just raining. The tougher, or
perhaps more foolish of us found our way to the beach at the end of the hotel garden, and
here we had our swim in the Dead Sea. |
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I say swim, but in fact it is very difficult to swim as you just float.
Try to put your legs down and suddenly they appear back on the surface again. The salt
water can find its way into any cut that you may have. |
| We set off again in our coach for a long drive South. About three and a
half hours later we got to Little Petra. This was the trading post for the people who
lived at Petra which we are all looking forward to seeing tomorrow. The camel trails could
be as many as 1,000 camels in a caravan, so there was no way they could get into Petra
itself, so Little Petra served this purpose. We entered through a narrow gap and then
walked between these high rocks. |
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Friday 29th March. We drove to Petra this morning. Poor
Sue still has a bad knee from her fall in South Cerney just before we left, so she took a
ride to the Treasury in a horse drawn cart. The rest of us walked down the gorge which got
increasingly narrower as we approached the Treasury, which was a very thrilling sight when
we got there. |
| The Treasury is however only the start and we walked on through Petra
stopping to see sand pictures being made in glass bottles, and to have a glass of most
interestingly flavoured Arabic coffee. Young children and adults tried hard to sell us
many things including coloured stones that they usually gave to us free when we failed to
buy anything, hoping that it would turn our consciences and make us buy from them. |
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We stopped to see many sights of tombs and wonderful carvings in the rock
faces, including this theatre. Modelled like a Roman theatre, but instead of being built,
it had been completely carved out of the rocks. |
| After an excellent lunch we persuaded our guide that some of us wanted
more time to explore right up to the monastery at the top. Margaret and myself took a
terrifying trip on donkeys while everyone else walked. Before getting our donkeys we were
surrounded by about 20 donkey owners all shouting at once that their donkeys were the
best. Margaret had to change donkeys because its owner decided that she needed a stronger
one. My donkey ran up the steep steps at breakneck speed, overtaking other donkeys and
pushing people out of the way with its head. However the trip to the monastery was
certainly well worth while. |
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Saturday 30th March. We drove along the King's Highway
until we came to Kerak where we assembled outside the castle while Ali told us a bit about
the Crusaders. This castle was the most Northern and was far from being set up for good
and moral reasons. It was run by a very nasty man until he accidentally encountered
Saladhin's daughter. This was his undoing as he was attacked and beaten before being
killed. |
| The castle did stand on a wonderfully high mound of pure rock which gave
them excellent views of the surrounding countryside. |
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Driving on from Kerak we came across some black iris which is the National
flower. We got to Mount Nebo from where Moses saw the Promised Land. Here we saw amazing
mosaics and had a short service for Easter Eve. |
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| It was quite late before we got to our hotel at Amman. Here, one of our
group, Pat, met up with her daughter and the Jordanian man, Sufyan that she is to marry.
They had a very happy reunion and Pat spent the evening with them. |
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Sunday 31st March. Easter Day. We started the day with
a tour of Amman. Here we see the Mosque. |
| Then we drove on to Jerash which is a Roman City, the largest of the
Decapolis. Here we are exploring the theatre. |
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We had a long walk to the other end to find the Temple. These pillars
survived the great earthquakes because they are not solid. Ali our guide inserted his keys
under the base of one pillar and gave it a push. As it swumg the keys moved up and down. |
| Then we drove to the Syrian border and here we had to say farewell to our
wonderful guide Ali who had been so good to us over the last few days. However we were met
by an agent who helped us through the formalities which took a long time. Then at the
Syrian entry point we met up with our new guide, Ahmed. |
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He took us on to Bosra which is another Roman city. Here there was this
extremely well preserved theatre. |
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Billie & Margaret on their camels before we got back onto the bus to
drive to Damascus.. |
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| Monday 1st April. We spent the whole of today touring
Damascus. First we drove and visited the Church built on the site where St. Paul, or Saul
as he then was, received his vision, and was blinded. |
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We drove back into the city to visit the museum. |
| Then we visited the Omayyad Mosque which is the largest ancient Mosque in
the world. |
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We visited Azem's Palace. |
| Then we walked down the Street called Straight to find the Church built on
the site of the house of Ananias where Paul was led while still blinded. He stayed here
for three days, then scales fell off his eyes and he could see again. He started preaching
Christianity immediately. |
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However the Jews set out to kill him as he had turned against what he had
been preaching, and the Christians had to let him down in a basket from this window so
that he could escape. |
| Tuesday 2nd April We did quite a lot of driving today
to get right up to the North to Lattakia where we stayed the night. On the way we first
visited the Monastery at Seydnaya where they have an icon, said to have been painted by
St. Luke. |
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Then our next stop was at the convent at Maaloula. Here they still speak
the ancient Aramaic language that Jesus would have used. We looked round their wonderful
church and then a girl prayed with us in Aramaic. |
| Our final stop was at the magnificent Cusader Castle of Crac des
Chevaliers. This is the biggest and most complete Crusader castle anywhere in existance. |
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Ami on the Castle walls. |
| Wednesday 3rd April We drove first to Ugarit which is
an extensive historic site where tablets were found containing the first known alphabet. |
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Then a fairly long drive to the North East to find St. Simeon's monastery. |
| For around 35 years St. Simeon lived on top of this pillar. From the
picture you can see the width, but the top has gone. Initially his pillar was three metres
high, but people found that they could touch him so he had it extended to nine metres
high. From the top of this pillar he preached non stop and people came from everywhere to
listen to him. Once a week they sent up food for him and they chained him to the top of
the pillar so that when he slept he didn't roll off. When he died he was taken to St.
Sophia at Istanbul. |
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When we arrived at Aleppo we found ourselves in a wonderful new hotel.
Pity we couldn't stay longer. |
| Thursday 4th April. We left the hotel and spent an hour
or so exploring the magnificent citadel at Aleppo. |
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From the top of the citadel we had wonderful views over the city. |
| A bit further on we came to Hama, one of the oldest cities in Syria and
renowned for its huge wooden water wheels. |
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Friday 5th April. We woke up and walked out of our
hotel at Palmyra to see this wonderful view over the magnificent remains of this second
century city. The tour took all morning and we took so many pictures that this can not do
justice to such an incredible place. |
| While walking round one of the magnificent tombs John & Robert had to
demonstrate their musical skills. |
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After lunch it was a long drive back to Damascus, but we stopped half way
at a Bedouin cafe where our leader had his rest reclining against a camel saddle. |
| And so our holiday came to a wonderful climax as we were taken out for
dinner for our last night. We were met off the bus by a group of dancers who escorted us
through the streets. We had music, singing and dancing while we had our meal. Some of our
party actually joined in and danced with them. It was a tremendous evening never to be
forgotten. Tomorrow we fly back home again. |
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Raymond Fenton |
