This was a long, but amazing three day trip just across the border to the East of Israel. On the first day as we were making our way down to Petra in the south we stopped at 3 sites.
The first stop was Jerash. Jerash is one of the ancient Roman Decapolis cities. When first walking into the city there is the famous arch know as Hadrian's Arch. The city was complete with a massive oval forum where the market place would have been as well as many temples to various Roman gods and an amphitheater.
This picture is a panoramic I took of the oval forum. The ancient Roman columns are so impressive to see.
Next up on the tour south was Mt. Nebo. This site commemorates the event where Moses looked upon the promised land but wasn't allowed to enter it. What a view! Just to the left of the view (aka south west) you can see the dead sea and our tour guide Sammi said that on a clear day you can actually see Jerusalem. Thats impressive realizing that this site is in Jordan.
In this picture of me you can see the Dead Sea in the background. This was unfortunately the closest I will get to the Dead Sea on this trip. But again, this view thought the camera lens pales in comparison to actually looking over the Jordan River valley.
The final stop on our journey the first day was the Church at Madaba. This church had a beautifully preserved mosaic of the Dead Sea area as well as the Jordan River Valley.
There were other places stopped at on the trip but by far the highlight of the trip was Petra. Indiana Jones anyone? I have so many pictures of Petra I'm having a really hard time sorting through the few I want to post. These pictures are just an overview of some of the general areas that can be seen at Petra.
When first entering the park you have to walk through a long narrow canyon.
This next picture of the treasury is by far the most famous sight in Petra, thanks mostly to Indiana Jones.
This next site was a royal tomb that was converted into a church. The solid rock structure gave this site excellent acoustics and thanks to Christine I heard one of the most beautiful doxologies I have ever heard and probably will ever hear.
The last bit of pics was taken from the area near the monastery. This site was quite the hike to get to but the view was amazing!
This is the monastery itself.
At the very top of the peak on the right there is a building over the site where Aaron was buried. That thought had me pretty awestruck.
Finally I will leave you with a picture of me taking in the view from the top. It's all sky and mountain at this point. God's Blessings.
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