Middle East Trip - Part 3 (Jordan)

27/11/09 (cont.)

When we reached our hotel in Amman, it's already dark. Everyone was hungry... so we went for jalan-jalan cari makan around the downtown of Amman.. :)

Welcome to Jordan kids :)

King Hussein Mosque in Amman downtown..

More on the King Hussein Mosque..

Fast meal... the local fast food restaurant... quite nice! Ala2 Mc D and KFC la gitu.. :)

Nampak tangga ni... teringat citer 'Nur Kasih'... we missed the final episode which was aired on the same night this picture was taken..... :P

Bought a few interesting souvenirs at his small shop...

Our original plan was to spent 1 night in Amman.. then the next day we plan to cross the border to Jerusalam. Berhajat sangat nak tunaikan solat di Masjid Al Aqsa. That night hubby called our Jordan's travel agent that was supposed to guide us to Jerusalam but we were informed that the border to Jerusalam was closed for a few days due to the Eid celebration. Aduhhh.... nak geram pun ada... sebab aritu before datang pernah dah tanya if the gate would be closed during Eid... but the agent bersungguh2 convinced us not to worry as the gate would not closed... ciss!! Nak buat camana kan... the agent said he'd update us on the latest news the day after tomorrow... aduuuhh... sabar je lah. So we decided to go to Petra the next day...

28/11/09

The Palace hotel arranged for a taxi driver to send us to Petra. The driver waited for us at the hotel lobby around 7pm at the hotel lobby... and off we went to Petra... woohoo!! :)

Welcome to Petra!!! So excited!!! :)

Waiting for Ayah to get tickets...

The entrance tickets... :)

Aiyooohh... we had to walk quite a distance to see the famous spectacular rose-stone city of Petra!! Penat siut! No kidding!!


The kids got the chance to ride a horse.... and their parents had to walk... (urgh.. life is so unfair, eh? :P )

Kids enjoying the horse ride :)

Kids had to walk now.... we had to walk for quite a distance.... phew! But the experience of walking between the sandstone cliffs.... AWESOME!! :)

More walking... between the rocks and cliff...

Watch out for the horse carriage.... !! Walk slowly dears... (macam dah kepenatan je kids tu)

Almost there!! Dah nampak sket Al-Khazneh dari celah2 batu tu...

Finally!! I saw it then with my own eyes!!!

THE famous Al-Khazneh in Petra, Jordan.

I often saw the photos in internet, books and movies... could not believed that I was finally there!!!! Such an amazing structure! Built in the 3rd century BC by the Nabataens, who carved palaces, temples, tombs, ect.. from the sandstone cliffs... amazing!! :)

Al-Khazneh - So grand!!


Policeman!!???? Sungguh bergaya! :)

Tired after the long walk... rest kejap... eating breads and biscuits! See how lapaq Izzat was!

Mommy and Izzat :)

Izzaty and a local Arab-Badwi..

Petra is so huge!! More walking!!

Oh... Izzaty's TY Bear was in Petra too! :)

Berkilo2 meter berjalan.... penat.. but such an amazing experience!
Then.... lepas kepenatan... nak balik..had to make aU-turn to exit (same route as we entered!)... arghh.. jalan lagi!!

One family pic before we leave Petra..

Leaving Petra.... GOOD BYE Petra... SANGAT PENAT, okay?! But it was such an amazing experience to be there!! :)

We were so tired and hungry... decided to eat first before going back to Amman. Makan 'ayam golek' at this restaurant in Wadi Musa.... sedappp!! hingga menjilat jari!! :)

After 5 whole hours on foot at Petra.... the kids were so tired... lelap dlm taxi on our way back to Amman... *kesian*

Sunset on the way from Petra to Jordan... very, very beautiful!

29/11/09
We waited till 9pm for our travel agent to call... and later he confirmed that the gate to Jerusalam was opened... but very limited time... and atas nasihat agent tu... we decided not to go today... as there were a group of Britain who wanted to cross over to the border... tapi yang Kristian je yang lepas masuk... orang2 Islam tak dibenarkan masuk pulak... boleh pulak macam tu?? tsk.. tsk.. Orang Y*hud* ni... suka hati dia aje!!! :P So to avoid complication... tak jadi lagi cross the border today...

So we decided to go to Madaba, Mount Nebo and Dead Sea today....

Madaba is the most important Christian center in Jordan. It's most famous site is the Mosaic Map in the 19th- century Greek Orthodox St George's Church. The Madaba Mosaic Map is a unique piece of art realised in 6th century A.D. as a decoration for the pavement of the church. The mosaic was later discovered accidentally in 1897 while constructing a new church for the Greek-Orthodox Arab community, which was then settling on the very ruins of the ancient town of Madaba.

Outside St George's Greek Orthodox Church - I hate entering a church (done that a few times when I was in Europe to visit the Vatican City and a few other places) but I really want to see this historical mosaic map!

The Madaba Mosaic Map is a unique piece of art realised in 6th century A.D. as a decoration for the pavement of the church. The mosaic was later discovered accidentally in 1897 while constructing a new church for the Greek-Orthodox Arab community, which was then settling on the very ruins of the ancient town of Madaba. The mosaic represents the biblical land from Egypt to Lebanon, including Sinai, Israel, Palestine, and Trans-Jordan. Unfortunately the northern part is almost completely lost and the rest suffered a lot of damages.


More on the mosaic map.. once a clear map with 157 captions (in Greek) of all major biblical sites from Lebanon to Egypt.... amazing!

Us and the mosaic map.. I felt so awkward in the church! :P


At Mount Nebo... at the background... On a clear day... you'd see Jerusalam... wallahualam.

Mount Nebo - the place according to Bible, Moses (Nabi Musa) saw the Promised Land... wallahualam.

Mount Nebo - Cuba2 juga buka mata beso2... kot2 nampak Masjidil Al Aqsa.... tak nampak pun.. :(

At Dead Sea... the lowest point on the face of the earth!! The kids were so excited nak float in Dead Sea! Yours truly malass.... tak kuasa nak tukar2 baju!

The kids just found out that Dead Sea was no ordinary sea... LOL! The Dead Sea is warm, soothing, super salty water – some 10X saltier than any ordinary sea water (that's why it's so easy to float in Dead Sea!), and rich in chloride salts of magnesium, sodium, potassium, bromine and several others! Badan Izzat tak tahan kot... he complained sakit!! Kesian... hehe.

After berendam in Dead Sea... berendam in the pool la pulak! Tak sejuk ke diorang nih??

Last pic.. before leaving Dead Sea :)

On the way back to Amman, we asked the taxi driver to bring us to Cave of the 7 Sleepers (Ashabul Kahfi).... another great history that was written in our Holy Al Quran...
"Dan mereka telah tinggal tidur dalam gua mereka: Tiga ratus tahun dan sembilan lagi. (Kahfi, ayat 25)"

Outside the Cave of the 7 sleepers..

Inside the Cave...

Inside this hole there are the bones of the 7 sleepers... wallahualam...

Back in Amman that night... the kids requested to eat 'ayam golek' again. So we go ronda2 cari makan again while watching night life in Amman downtown...

We found this restaurant that sold 'ayam golek'. Went for dinner to this restaurant for 2 days in a row... just to eat 'ayam golek' !!! ;)

30/11/09
Hajat to Jerusalam masih belum sampai... too complicated lah... so we decided to go to Jerash... another amazing place!!

Welcome to Jerash... :)

Met with Malaysian students (the girls) from Egypt who came to Jordan during the Eid break... on the right most is a Malaysian student (the one and only hero - well, other than my little Izzat of course!) from Jordan who was kind enough to bring the girls jalan2 around Jordan :)

We missed the show.. tapi sempat la ambil gambar ngan one of the cast members yang gagah perkasa nih :)

Jerash... Beatifully preserved Roman city at north of Jordan


Ada gaya model tak?? huhu... :)

Another beautiful scenary at Jerash.

Met another Malaysian student (the girl in white tudung in the middle) with some students from China. Those Chinese students can speak a little bit of Malay... so cool!! :)

1/12/09
Hajat nak ke Jerusalam masih tak kesampaian... thought of going there one whole day and balik hari... tapi was told that the border was opened from 9am till 2pm only and impossible to be back on daily basis.... so terkubur lah hajat for this trip... :(

Decided to explore Amman today instead...

Downtown Amman seen from the top of hour hotel..

Infront of our hotel entrance...

Some Syrian (but bought in Jordan.. hehe!) delight to bring home.. most of those are made from pistachio.


A Palestine restaurant..

On the last day in Amman.. I wanted to eat Pizza... got tired of eating chicken! So we found this small restaurant which served delicious sandwiches and pizzas!! See how I enjoyed the Mountain Dew drink?? Dah lama tak pekena.. hahaha!

Wah! Izzat got kedai in Amman??!!! I also found one 'kedai Izzat' in Damascus! So famous lah you Izzat! :)

This Palestine Juice was recommended in the Lonelyplanet.com book... tapi tak de la best mana... masam jer.. :P

That night... hubby called the travel agent for the very last time. He was so frustrated for not being able to go there... he wanted to stay (at first he wanted all of us to stay.. tapi ongkos nya mahal kan.. sebab kena beli new flight tickets.. so I let him stay while me.. and the kids go home.. huhu!) to proceed with this plan of his to go to Jerusalam. I prayed that night that he would make the right decision coz... I myself was a bit worried about hime alone in Israel!! Entah macam mana.... at the very last minute... he decided to follow us home (alhamdulillah! dear God.. I am so thankful!!) So we left Amman that night for Dubai...

At Dubai Airport..

... and later from Dubai.... back to Kay Ell.... wooohoo!! I am so glad to be home!!! There's no place like home... hujan emas di negeri orang.. hujan batu di negeri sendiri... still I love MALAYSIA ;)