Jordan

Jordan is a relaxed country in the Near East which we visited on the first half of our trip to Jordan/Syria.

Amman

File size 92 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Amman is considered a very modern arabic city, but the impression you get from the Citadel is different. The enforced uniformity of small stone buidlings sprawling everywhere gives it a touch of a distant past - even though Amman was not much more than a small town 50 years ago.

Aqaba - Royal Diving Club

File size 66 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. I thought that the underwater life in the Red Sea was great (I have seen all of Nemo's friends), even though the coral colors were somewhat dull. Notice the building activities on the beach and that air temperatures could not really afford the strong breeze in March.

Wadi Rum - Wadak Rock Bridge

File size 73 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Wadi Rum is a very impressive piece of landscape, even though the country tends to be quite uninteresting in this respect, especially along the major north-south highway from Amman up to Ma'an.

Jebel Rum

File size 57 kB. Only JPEG. Detail of Jebel Rum, taken from Wadak Rock Bridge. You will notice that there has been quite some driving around in the plain.

Petra - The Treasury

File size 114 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Needless to say, the Treasury was what I basically knew about Petra before I came there even though I never quite understood why someone would build a city in a canyon. The answer is simple. Today's Petra is a city of the dead, including the Treasury which is an astonishingly well preserved tomb at the end of as-Siq, the canyon which is the only easy entrance to the city.

Petra - High Place of Sacrifice

File size 88 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. The High Place of Sacrifice is probably descriptive enough as a location. The actual sacrifice place is about 10 metres along the ridge of Al-Madbah, though there is not much to see apart from the great view. With a bit of imagination you can discern the Royal Tombs down in the valley (left half of the image).

Petra - Descent from High Place of Sacrifice

File size 101 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Hiking down on the west side of the High Place of Sacrifice enables you to see zillions of tombs along the way. Notice the so-called Roman Tomb down in the valley on this steeper part of the hike.

Petra - Urn Tomb

File size 85 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. The Urn Tomb is one of Petra's Royal Tombs, with a remarkable view from its terrace into the ancient city and the mandatory souvenir shop at the strategic location where all visitors pass.

Karak

File size 87 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. View from the very neckbreaking top of the crusader castle in Karak. In the extrapolation of the castle's moat you can distinguish the Dead Sea.

Mount Nebo

File size 76 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Enjoy the view Moses might have enjoyed thousands of years ago. Today we are looking into the lush greenery of Israeli-occupied West Bank, with a glimpse on the Dead Sea's edge. The Moses Memorial Church in the backdrop is well worth visiting, like the rest of neighboring Madaba.

Jerash - Oval Plaza

File size 86 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Our group on Jerash's former Roman Forum, quite large and oval for a change.

Jerash - South Theatre

File size 86 kB. Choose JPEG or Java Viewer. Jerash's ruins do not need much imagination. The Nymphaeum, for instance, is remarkably well preserved up to its original two stories. Or the South Theatre, on the very southwestern edge of Jerash.