"Christmas morning- Part deux" - January 3, 2011

We got back to Abu Dhabi late so "Christmas morning from family" was delayed to this morning.  The kids were very excited to open their presents.

I don't know who is having more fun with dressing up the dolls - Wayne or Samantha?

Nice pout Sam!   Gotcha, no those are not Rice Krispies in the box.  :)

Patrick is loving his cool things he got for Christmas.

Sam likes to get new clothes, especially when they're pink.  Work it, Girl!

Madaba - January 2, 2011

This was our last holiday breakfast - I guess it is up to us again to make breakfast and clean up after this :(  The kids did really enjoy the honeycomb that they put on their toast every morning.

We had all day to tour around before heading to the airport for around 4ish.  So it was off to Madaba to see the Byzantine-era mosaics.  The most famous one is on the St. George's church floor - the oldest Palestine map in existance.  It was orginally 15m to 25m long and 6m wide, made up of more than 2 million pieces and made in AD 560.

Around the church there were more mosaics of various biblical scenes.  They were quite beautiful.

After the church we wandered around the town and checked out the touristy  shops.  We went into one shop where a student was working and they let Patrick and Samantha have a go at making a mosaic - such concentration.  I think it was the only time on the whole trip that Samantha was actually quiet.  This was great for us and the shop keepers because it gave Wayne and I time to shop (we ended up getting a really cool piece).

We did some touring of the country side (below) and went to Wadi As-Seer.  We went past a Roman aquaduct and the Iraq al-Amir (Caves of the Prince) on the way to the Qasr al-Abad (Palace of the Slave).

This palace is thought to be pre-Roman; built between 187 and 175 BC.  There are still some animal carvings left: panther water spouts, a lioness and her cub, and some eagles.  The blocks for the building are the largest  blocks found in an ancient structure in all of the Middle East - 7m by 3m but only about 20 cm thick.  This made the stucture susceptible to the earthquake in AD 362.

Our final pictures of our Jordan trip were taken when I made Wayne stop so I got get some shots of the huge cacti that they used as fences and boarders (below).

We also tried to do a little bit in Amman but got frustratingly lost in the narrow, crowded, one way streets - so we gave up and headed to the airport.  All in all it was a wonderful vacation and we got to see so many cool sights both here and in Egypt.

Back to the Dead Sea - January 1, 2011

We woke up to a very cold New Years morning and off we went for some sunrise shots - the first of the year!  :)

Everyone had breakfast together and then we cleared out of the camp.  We were travelling back to the Dead Sea for tonight.  We had planned a few stops to break up the drive.  On the way down to Petra we had taken the Kings Highway but decided on the Dead Sea highway for the way back.  We got to see some very neat rock layering along the highway (below).

Our first stop was at Shobak castle.  It was built by Crusader King Baldwin I (AD 1115).  There were many nooks and crannies that we could explore.  We went down passageways, under arches, into dungeons, and even went into a secret passage that lead you outside the castle.  It was so pitch black dark down there you couldn't see your hand in front of your face - good job we had our headlamps. 

On the tower there were Quranic inscriptions carved in Kufic script (Right) which was neat to see.

Samantha decided she would like to be a solider when she grows up.

After the castle we continued on our drive on the Dead Sea coast road.  When we came out of the mountains and were on the flats before the sea there were a lot of farms; most of them tomatoes.  We saw so many trucks laddened down with tomatoes - we also got to see why the tomatoes are usually soft when we get them.

The drive along the coast was very nice and the scenery was beautiful.  The water was such a pretty aqua color along the edge.  Once we got closer we were able to see that is was because of the large accumulation of salt at the waters edge.

To get close to the water's edge we had to climb over salt encrusted rocks.  It was neat to see the different water lines - there was a large band of salt and then gravel and sand and then another large band of salt.

At the water's edge the salt pellets made up the beach instead of sand.  Some of the pellets were fairly large.

At the resort the boys decided that they needed one more swim (float) in the Dead Sea before heading back to Abu Dhabi tomorrow.

Little Petra/Wadi Rum - December 31,2010

Today our plan was to be in Wadu Rum for the early afternoon.  We started the morning in the fog but it made for some awesome views / pictures :)  Our first stop was at Little Petra (Siq Al-Barid).  It was a mini Petra with a smaller scale siq (400 m) to walk through.  There were houses, temples, water channels and some cool places to explore.

Wayne and the kids in the siq (left), a set of stairs that led to somewhere at one time but now just up to nowhere (middle) and a dining room (right).

The kids found a few holes to poke their heads through.  Samantha found one that looked to have been a water channel at one time.

The picture on the right is from the "Painted House".  It is said to be a rare example of Nabataean paintings.  We were able to see some birds (along the bottom) and vines in the painting.

It was a very cool hike and at the end of it there was a geocache!  :) 

Next stop Wadi Rum.  We met our guide at the small town before you go into the wadi area itself.  There we got into the back of the pickup to be taken out to our camp.  What a view and fun but bnouncy ride...

Once there we found out what tents we would be in and stowed our luggage and headed out for a little exploring.  It was a beautiful place and our only regret was that we didn't have more time to do some actual exploring farther afield than just at our camp site.  Oh well, maybe another trip is needed to Jordan? 

We were able to do lots of rock climbing on our exploration (left and middle) and the view from the top was amazing.  Note: I know you have been hearing that a lot but it was very cool.  We could see our whole camp from the top (right).

Patrick and Samantha got an impromtu science lesson from Wayne (left) and then found a mushroom rock to hide under (middle).

We climbed down and decided to go another route - around the "mountain" if we could.

Patrick (left) pointing to the top where we eventually built an Inukshuk (middle and right).

We made it!!! (upper right).  Wayne contemplating his route up (left).

Wayne checking out the view and our tents.  Patrick checking out his bed - not bad for the middle of the desert! 

 

Samantha what on earth are you doing?  She was very focused on writing her name and Patrick's.

They even had camels that we could ride on.

Here we are waiting for the sunset and contemplating life in general - who am I kidding, we were just enjoying the view and waiting for a photo op.  We ended up waiting for a very long time but with it being so cloudy I only got a few (dozen) pics.  :)

 

Once we got our sunset shots we went back to camp to sit by the fire because it was starting to get cold.

We had a wonderful night chatting and listening and watching the Jordian dances that the Arabic men did.  I even got up to join in the fun - mind you it was to stay warm.  It was a wonderful New Year's night.  Wayne and I still went to bed relatively early as per usual for a New Year's night but what an experience.  I'm so glad that we did this.

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!!