"Too bad your trip to Jordan must have been canceled. I just read about the demonstrations in the New York Times," a friend emailed me.
Wrong! I read the email on my first slightly jetlagged day in Jordan as I walked around the impressive Roman ruins in Jerash, which is thirty miles from the capital city of Amman. Yes, there had been a small, quiet demonstration in the capital city on Friday after prayers. But Jordan has a progressive-thinking Hashemite King, a direct descendant of the prophet Mohammad, and seems to be able to keep order in his kingdom and the affection of his people.
My emailing friend was not the only one who tried to discourage me from visiting the Middle East at this time. “Is it safe?” several friends asked. “What if there is trouble? How will you get home?” another wondered. And my husband, who had once been a derring-do foreign correspondent prepared to fly anywhere from Cuba to Cambodia at a moment’s notice was the most concerned of all.
And, yes, I had to acknowledge there is a fighting on the ground and a no-fly zone over Libya, violence continues in Syria and Yemen and the demonstrations have begun again in Egypt. The Middle East is on the front page and boiling. Should all this have made me cautious and stopped me from going where I wanted to go?
Not really. For, although Jordan borders Syria, Iraq, Egypt and Israel, it is a relatively quiet and peaceful place. More important it is filled with sites I have always wanted to see, especially Petra, “a rose-red city half as old as time,” and Wadi Rum, the desert enclave where Lawrence of Arabia planned his successful assault on the Red Sea port of Aqaba.
So I went and saw and loved Jerash, for starters, where veterans of Jordan’s army reenact maneuvers of the Roman legion in the ruins of the still intact hippodrome. I once studied Latin but I never knew that legionnaires, enlisted for twenty five years, trained eight hours a day, every day, and during battle had maneuvers that allowed a soldier to fight the enemy for only eight minutes before being replaced by another. The barbarians had to keep fighting fresh troops. No wonder Rome’s legions conquered the known world.
Then, for me, it was off to the city of Madaba where in a sixth century church there is a detailed mosaic map of the Holy Land, the oldest in the world. Although a Muslim country, ten percent of Jordan’s population is Christian, and many Christians live in Madaba, which is filled with early churches.
In fact, Jordan is rich with Biblical sites including Mt. Nebo, where Moses first looked down into the Holy Land, Herod’s palace where Salome danced and John the Baptist was beheaded, the hill where the Prophet Elijah was said to ascend into Heaven in a chariot of fire, and , perhaps, most important of all, Bethany Beyond Jordan, where John baptized Jesus. I toured the baptism site, guided by an enthusiastic archeologist, who pointed out the remnants of a 4th century church where the earliest pilgrims worshipped. And, of course, before I left, I dipped my foot in the river Jordan.
The best part of my trip was the places I had always longed to see: Petra and Wadi Rum. We all know Petra from that scene in “Indiana Jones and the Lost Crusade” and think, before one goes, it is just one beautiful street of façades carved into colorful cliffs. That might be enough but Petra, a world heritage site, really is a city, hidden, within a canyon encompassing miles and miles of elaborate tombs, altars, obelisks and even a well-preserved amphitheater. In the surrounding region there are hundreds more elegant tombs and temples, all beautiful and all carved more than two thousand years ago.
Spending a day there, walking through the winding canyon, looking up at the intricate, embellished rosy cut-rock cliffs is truly magical. I found myself not only marveling at what I was seeing but at Petra’s mysterious founders, the sophisticated Nabateans. They were wealthy and sophisticated traders and clever engineers, brilliant at capturing the water they needed through an elaborate system of pipes and cisterns. Their city became an important stopover for camel caravans laden with silk and the spices of frankincense and myrrh.
The most well-known building in Petra although now called The Treasury is really a tomb or temple that has both Hellenistic and Egyptian touches. Incorporating the best in the world in design at the time. Can you understand that for a New Yorker like me, I felt, quite a home in cosmopolitan Petra and wished I could stay there even longer?
There was also the day and the night I spent in the moon-like landscape of Wadi Rum. This pink desert valley in the south of Jordan is dotted with craggy cliffs and spectacular sandstone mountains. No, thank you, I didn’t ride through the desert on a camel like some visitors do, but spent hours bouncing around in a 4X4.
Lawrence of Arabia undoubtedly was Wadi Drum’s most famous visitor and though I’m sure he loved and admired his Bedouin companions, he mustn’t have liked hanging out in a tent all that much. He insisted on having a stone house built for him. I think I can understand why. I spent one night in a tent in a Bedouin encampment and It was, shall I say, an experience. The roast lamb was good, the stars were bright, the bed was very, very hard.
Before I left on my trip, one friend, who was not discouraging, said, “You must go. You only really regret what you don’t do.” He was right. Jordan was terrific. And now I’ve heard that Prince William and his bride may be going to there on their honeymoon. I’d advise them to go, Petra is unforgettable.
And it is interesting to be in a Middle Eastern nation and hear early in the morning and throughout the day the melodious call to prayers. Though few women were completely veiled, most covered their hair with scarves, and many wore long black abayas, even on the beaches in Aqaba. It made me uncomfortable but it is their unquestioned reality and important to see.
My trip also made me realize once again that traveling, especially when you are older, is the one thing that can fill you with wonder, teach you new things and give you the experiences you need to make you, once again, feel young.
Check out this slideshow of highlights from my trip.
