Petra, Jordan, Tel Aviv and Eliat, Israel

                              Beginning the walk through the 1200 m long, deep gorge in Petra

On the bus going out of Jerusalem, our guide gave her version of the settlements, describing what was "C" land, approximately 60% of the West Bank, and A and B lands.  (Much displacement and hardship comes in the C land as a result of Israel's control of security matters and civil matters such as zoning and building permits--a simplified explanation.)  She said this land is sparsely settled, and the Palestinians could live in Area A communities, which comprise about 18% of the land and all of the Palestinian cities.

Since I've covered Galilee, where we went from Jerusalem, I'll move on.  From Galilee, we stopped at the Baha'i Gardens in Halfa--a beautiful place.  We could only walk in a small part of the gardens as we weren't Baha'i, but viewed them from the top.

 
Traffic in Halfa and that leading into Tel Aviv made our travel slow.  In Tel Aviv, we checked into another luxury hotel, this one with dramatic public spaces.  The huge bathroom had only one sink and the shower was in a high tub with a small stationary shield to keep the water from the rest of the bathroom.  I was not impressed with the design.

Eating and shopping seemed to be the primary agenda for most folks in Tel Aviv.  Simone and I walked to Old Jaffa, beautiful along the sea, and found a delightful small Greek restaurant in which to dine.  It was my favorite restaurant during the trip, though the next evening's dinner with the women from Atlanta was quite enjoyable too.

Simone and I spent the next day--Israel's Independence Day--away from the group.  During the morning when most endured (or enjoyed) talks, we went to the Tel Aviv Art Museum--WONDERFUL!  Arriving shortly after opening at 10, we left as the doors were closing at 2 pm--early because of Independence Day.

We did a lot of walking--toured a number of the Bauhaus (white) buildings on foot--and arrived at Independence Hall where we were meeting the group--early.  Standing across the street and then sitting on the steps where the guards and Simone flirted, we watched Israeli's being turned away from the Hall because they closed early, knowing that our group would be going in at 4 pm.  The experience of being where Israel was declared a country could have been very moving, and it was--a bit.  It was however, an opportunity for propaganda speeches.

                                                             Independence Hall

    At the Greek restaurant in Jaffa

More happened in Tel Aviv--the birthday dinner for my benefactor and pushing through the outdoor market place.  Try, on a Friday afternoon, arranging a dinner for eleven on Friday night in a busy city, especially one where many are closed for Shabbat.  At the last minute we had a change and dined in a restaurant that was not on the tourist circuit.  Yeah!

I will write one more post--overall impressions.  In that post I will include the amazing staff at the hospital in Safed where they treat patients from across the border in Syria and the Bedouin women weavers.

Now Petra:  First we had to cross the border into Jordan--at least a two-hour ritual of going through one check point and then another--two in each country--and there were thirty-nine of us.  We then traveled by bus for another two or so hours through the desert to Petra.

     Six of our group rented horse-drawn carriages to ride to the main sight we would see--the treasury.  The rest began our walk, a guide leading with mixed results, down the narrow gorge, As-Siq, pictured above.  Below we caught our first glimpse of the treasury from As-Siq.

Petra was created and settled by the Nabataeans, ancient Arab tribes who settled in Jordan more than 2200 years ago.  They were clever and achieved a thriving kingdom that stretched to Damascus, including parts of the Sinai and Negev deserts, ruling the greater part of Arabia and controlling trade routes.  This I learned from travel books and the brochure we were given in Petra as I only faintly knew of these ruins before looking at our travel agenda.  It would have taken three or four days to do justice to these amazing ruins.  We had about three hours, and folks moved slowly, limiting our tour sites.

Here -- the treasury, the jewel of Petra, comes into view from As-Sig.  It was the tomb of a great king and perhaps was later used as a temple.  You can gauge it's height by looking at the people below.
Another view:


















Most of our group walked beyond the treasury and saw more elaborate tombs of royalty.











Smaller tombs were those for the common people.














And we were supposed to climb these steps cut into the rock to the view from the High Place of Sacrifice--but most of the group ignored the pace of the guide, and again, a late lunch at a nearby restaurant was a priority.

The anesthesiologist from San Diego is in the foreground.  The folks below rode back.  I enjoyed a brisk walk back with one of the women from Atlanta as we were the last to leave the area where these later photos were taken.

  A line from a poem by Dean Burgon--a rose-red city half as old as time--is descriptive, but in no way can words or these photos begin to describe this matchless place.