Greetings,
There have been multiple frustrations in writing and sending tis blog. My main intent at a time of unrest in the middle east, was to assure loved ones at home that we are ok. We are! We are traveling well and seeing spectacular sites. There have been multiple frustrations however, in sending this blog. Jordan had no internet connections and my computer seems to have a mind of its own.
Following worship(located amusingly in the hotel bar)) yesterday morning, led by Brian Henderson, we spent the day in the rose red city of Petra. It is the ancient Nabataean city carved out of rose colored rock. It served as a main stop on the trade route, the King’s Highway before the time of Christ. It is tucked down into high rocks which look like sand castles. It is Petra into which Harrison Ford rode in the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Some of us walked the five miles to the monastery at the topmost elevation. That walk included 800 steep uneven steps up. The preserved chapel at the top was worth the sore muscles this morning.
Today saw us four wheeling in the Valley of the Moon. In the Biblical story, this is the area of Midian Wadi Rum is a vast silent desert and starkly beautiful . It is one of the most stunning desertscapes in the world. It is best known because of its connection with the enigmatic British officer T.E. Lawrence, who based here in the Great Arab Revolt of 1917, The movie Lawrence of Arabia was filmed in the area through which our vehicles drove. Only one truck got stuck in the sand J We doubled up and made it back for lunch at the “Rum Gate Restaurant”
I am now typing at a table looking out at the Red Sea in Eilat, Israel’s southernmost city. Tomorrow the adventure continues north to a copper smelting mine dating to the time of the Exodus.
Blessings to our loved ones
Mary Hulst
