Tuesday, January 21, 2014

21st January – We head to Petra via Moses’ last stand; Famous Mosaic Map; Old Village and a Crusader Fort

Today we head south to Petra. On the way we visit Madaba, the supposed resting place for the prophet Moses after 120yrs of wandering up from Egypt. th Century.  As well as being artistic it was also informative for researchers, as it was drawn from the Roman’s street directory, which apparently was not all that extensive in those days and other maps of the time that were pieced together to for the mosaic.
Madaba... where Moses viewed the holy lands
While there have been some interesting mosaics uncovered, still no evidence of Moses! At Mt. Nebo we see an interesting map of the holy lands done as a Mosaic in the 6th Century.





We have a buffet lunch, which seems to be quite popular in Jordan as we’ve had one every day so far … and the food seems to be the same as well! As usually souvenir shops surround the restaurant. Riad has many cousins I suspect, so I expect we have a huge network of vendors mapping our every move J ….an occupational hazard when you go on an organised tour.  Julie identified some mosaic covered chairs that she liked. From experience I know it will be the most expensive item in the shop …. She has good but expensive taste. Chairs were only $20,000….but that was with free delivery! (We declined the offer).


After lunch it’s a long drive through the Desert to the small 400+ year old village of Dana up in the hills. Riad used ot come here in his youth. It is a village of stone huts, not unlike where he came from. We see a Camel with a frisky baby camel less than 2 weeks old. 


Have a look at this amusing video clip of the 2 week old camel. The views are spectacular. The village is being ‘renovated’ by hotels that see Dana as a potential mountain retreat. 


We leave Dana to visit a Crusader fort called Shobak Castle. The landscape is barren. The Castle is extensive but no Masata.  





Last stop is our Petra hotel and free Internet…yeah! Dinner is a buffet (what else!). Gearing up for a big day tomorrow.



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