Mount Nebo is an elevated ridge that is approximately 2680 feet above sea level. The view from the summit provides a panorama of the Holy Land and to the River Jordan valley. The West Bank city of Jericho is usually visible from the summit, as is Jerusalem on a very clear day. Mount Nebo is where Moses was given a view of the promised land that God was giving to the Jews. According to Jewish and Christian tradition, Moses was buried on this mountain but his final resting place is unknown. (Wikipedia)
The sign shows the cities that you can see in distance - Jericho, Jerusalem, etc.
The girls thought this toilet was fun. None of the bathrooms in Jordan have toilet paper. Luckily we carried our own.
Then we drove to Madaba, which is best known for its Byzantine and Umayyad mosaics, especially a large Byzantine-era mosaic map of Palestine and the Nile delta. Madaba has a very long history stretching from the Neolithic period. (Wikipedia) We stopped at a mosaic factory were we got to see mosaics being created by hand – pretty amazing. We purchased one in the circle of life design. It is being shipped to Larry’s office in Dubai. I can’t wait for it to come in.
The first picture is from the drive between Mt. Nebo and Madaba. The 2nd is from the mozaic floor in the church in Madaba. It shows an ancient map of the area.
This is a picture of the mozaic that we purchased.
Next we drove to Karak. Construction of the Crusader castle began in the 1140s, under Paganus, the butler of King Fulk. The Crusaders called it Crac des Moabites or "Kerak in Moab", as it is frequently referred to in history books. (Wikipedia) There is a long history of the castle, but it is too much to put here.
We had lunch at a restaurant very close to the castle. It was in a building that looked just as old. There wasn’t heat in the building so we wore our coats while eating. We ate from a traditional Arabic buffet – which would be our lunch almost every day. At least there was chicken and rice for the girls. Hopefully by the time we leave the Middle East they will learn to like Arabic food.
Below are some pictures of the Karak castle and the views from it. It was huge!
This is me, Dani and Elle during lunch.
After lunch we drove to Petra. We all took in a few cat naps along the way. The countryside is beautiful. It is common to see Bedouin tents here and there and herds of goats. We stayed at the Crowne Plaza tonight. We walked into town and ate at a local pizza joint. The girls were very pleased for some American-type food. The hotel has an interesting terraced design where most of the rooms are outside.
This is a view of the hotel during the day and at night.
