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Aqaba food

Sunday, July 30th, 2006

Aqaba dinner

One of many dinners in Aqaba. People here don’t eat until 9 or 10, but we don’t mind because the heat is wicked before the sun has been down a couple of hours. The dinner included hummous, labneh with mint, which is like a light cream cheese, foul – a dish of ground beans and olives, light and crunch falafel, some salad bits like tomato and lettuce and onion, and a flat bread baked with a sesame paste. And of course mountains of pita to get it from the plate to our mouths. We only ate about half of everthing. The owner of the restaurant lived in North Carolina and owns three Dairy Queens. But he said cryptically, ”but things were different after September 11.” And walked away. Not the best reflection on the fine state of North Carolina.

-posted by Thrashin Badger

Petra II

Sunday, July 30th, 2006

monastery
On our second day in Petra we hiked to the far end of the area and up a long trail to an incredibly large carving called the Monastery (note the people at the bottom for scale – yes, they are very hard to see, like little ants, or people from far away). Apparently priests would hike up to this building carved into the hillside for some religious ceremony or another. Of course, the area was abandoned more than 1,500 years ago, about the time Europe was entering the Dark Ages, so take that with a grain of salt.

This trail had no shade and took us about an hour to reach the top once we started climbing. Just 5 minutes past the Monastery was a stunning overlook. Our pictures didn’t do it justice, but we did have a delicious lunch of Laughing Cow cheese, fresh pita, and carrots. And Tang.

mountain lunch

Opposite the Monastery was a little tent selling souvenirs, water and tea, and food. On the way down we saw how they got all the water up the mountain. These bastards (the donkeys, not the drivers), which also carried tourists up, left plenty of stinky trail markers.

water donkey

The Grand Temple, back at the main city center, had a hexagonal pattern floor, which, for whatever reason, I became obsessed with. So here is a picture of me standing on it. And below it an overview photo of the Grand Temple.
great temple hex

great temple 2

Next to the temple were some excavation sites. It was incredibly exciting to see how the archeologists, presumably from Brown University, dug rectangular pits looking for ruins. All those 7th grade social studies fantasies were staring me in the face.

dig

In Petra there is a 6th century church, which I believe is Byzantine, which had some beautiful mosaics. The camel and leopard (?) were just two of about 50 mosaics that ringed the inside of the church.
church

cat mosaic

camel mosaic

A 7000 seat amphitheatre was carved into the cliffs in the 1st century AD by the Nabataeans. Rumor has it that Andrew Lloyd Weber learned his trade under Nabataean masters 2000 years ago and he has been wandering the desert in search of inspiration for the interim, apparently without much luck. But that is just what I heard from a Bedouin who lived nearby…
auditorium

-posted by Thrashin Badger

First impressions of Aqaba

Friday, July 28th, 2006

We left Petra this morning by minibus and arrived in the port city of Aqaba before 10 a.m. After three days at a hostel that was high on friendliness but a little low on cleanliness, we decided to splurge on a room at a posh hotel (or at least it seems like it may have been posh forty years ago) with a swimming pool. Although neither of us enjoy swimming and didn’t even bother to bring swimming suits, it’s nice to know it’s there for us if we change our minds. Our large Oriental-style room even has a balcony which would probably overlook the ocean if it was on the fourth floor rather than the second floor.

After settling in, we attempted to walk one kilometer to Downtown Aqaba for food and to view the port but were foiled by the unrelenting sun and 37C heat. After a mere 200 meters we found an internet cafe which has DSL and it looks like we may be able to get shwarma across the street. Maybe when it cools off a little in a few hours we’ll venture out of the internet cafe and across the street…

(BBC Weather reported it is 37C in Cairo today. Ai yai yai).

Petra

Thursday, July 27th, 2006

Here are some pictures of the ancient Nabateaen city of Petra. It was built in the third century BC. And we walked on it, through it, past it. We even laid down on the sacrificial table at ”The High Place of Sacrifice.” The city was a crossroads for the frankincense and myrrh trade from East Africa, as well as whatever else could be carried by camel from Africa to what is now Syria, Israel, Lebanon and further afield, as well as to the Saudi peninsula.

as siq
Hiking in for about a kilometer through a most amazing slot canyon. They call it the Siq. It was used as a ceremonial entrance to the city of Petra, by religious processions. Along the walls are small, worn away recesses where candles were placed for ceremonies at night. To the left you can also see a small canal carved into the wall. It was covered in flat stones and carried water along the Siq for surely nefarious purposes.

approach to treasury
At the end of the Siq you round a corner and see an incredible 2300 year-old building. It is called the Treasury, but in actuality it has nothing to do with money. Almost all of the remaining buildings in Petra were shrines or tombs or served some ceremonial purpose.

petra treasury
The doorway of the Treasury leads to a single large room, with another doorway in the back. I am assured that it neither leads to the holy grail nor Harrison Ford memorabilia.

camels
Camels. In Petra. They stink. But I wanted to take one home anyway.

d inside room
Here is the Thrashin Badger himself chillin in a tiger room. I may be the only one who calls it that, but the colors made it look like tiger stripes. I don’t think there are any tigers here though. They would eat the camels. And the innumberable donkeys that are offered up for rides. And the innumerable tourists who would probably eat the camels too if they were told it is a local dish.

royal tombs
The Royal Tombs. Unlike the Treasury, these are actually royal tombs.

high place of sacrifice
After a vigorous hike up a canyon in the shade, we hit on ”The High Place of Sacrifice.” This is also exactly what it was. From the sacrificial alter (on the right at the small steps) you can see down on most of the Petra valley. S is on the left. She forgot her goat, so she had to take a time out and think about being more responsible in the future. The entire year’s crop of baklava may ride on that missed sacrifice. But Thrashin Badger stepped up and sacrificed a bit of Oreo, some Laughing Cow (La Vache Qui Rit!) cheese, and some drops of Tang to the Nabataean gods of yore.

indiana jones
This is the real Indiana Jones. Brown University is excavating the Grand Temple. It is a fascinating ruin, but you have to wait for another entry to see better pictures of the Temple itself.

Photos from Jordan

Monday, July 24th, 2006

Downtown Amman
Amman may not have a lot to offer a tourist, but it does have its charms. Besides, it’s only an hour or so by minibus to Jerash…

Temple of Artemus
Jerash is a town which has ruins of ancient Gerasa, built around 100 A.D. There are remains of temples, theatres, shops, homes, a promenade, churches and an oval plaza.

Chariot rutes
You can still see the grooves made by the chariot wheels on the promenade.

South Theatre
It was amazingly hot – here I am finding shade wherever I can.

Jerash
The happy travelers

Ok, here are photos you may actually like

Monday, July 24th, 2006

Here are some photos of recent travels in Turkey.

Cappadocian valley
We traveled 12 hours by overnight bus to visit Cappadocia, a region in central Turkey famed for unusual rock formations created from erosion of layers of volcanic tuff and basalt. Definitely worth the 12 hours (24 hours really, counting the ride back to Istanbul…)

Underground room
In Cappadocia there are a number of underground cities carved by the locals as a place to hide from invaders and for storage in times of peace. This particular underground city we visited was eleven stories deep.

D in passageway
The passageways between rooms were built for only one person to pass at a time. This was a strategic move in that it allowed them to pick off the invaders one at a time as they descended into the city.

East meets West
East meets West. D and I took a ferry ride out on the Bosphorus River on our last day in Turkey. This bridge connects the European side of Istanbul (left side of pic) with the Asian side.

Request for photos granted

Monday, July 24th, 2006

Here are some of our favorites. Enjoy (yum!) 🙂

Cheese plate (Edinburgh)Cheese and meat plate in Edinburgh

Blue pastaCuracao pasta to accompany the cheese and meat plate

Kebabs in IstanbulKebabs in Istanbul

Last supperThe last supper mural above the dining table of 11th century monks in Cappadocia

Ahhh….(cough, gag, recover)…ahhh…Amman

Saturday, July 22nd, 2006

Getting off the airline, which feels like it was built for a Sultan, in Amman was less of a shock than a relief. After Turkey’s almost sterile exoticism, here was bright, dusty, grease-stained desert city. Peugot taxis drive the streets honking for customers and dirty beige building cover the small valleys and hills of Amman. In most ways Amman is ugly. And there are no tourists.

Perhaps there would be tourists if there were anything to see in Amman. Aside from a Roman amphitheater and some anicient ruins, there is really no reason for someone looking to visit “sights of interest” to spend any time at all in Amman. There is a museum dedicated to the king’s collection of classic cars though…

But Amman is charming. Near the city center shops line the streets at night and sell everything from cheap lighters and houka pipes to t-shirts, bags, muslim barbie dolls, dishes, and knives. How about a Ronaldo jersey with your kilo of almonds? Just as you wish.

And at night lights come on and the apartments and offices that in the daytime were blocks of cement set down in close quarters around the city become beautiful. A little like a giant christmas tree melted over the city.

Walking today into a section of town on a hilltop, sprinkled with a few trees, we found a little Friday-only market. Little tents lining a narrow street sold paintings of Bedouin, face-painting (for the kids we presume), antique knives and money, homemade candles and that sort of thing. Not much different from something you would find in middle America.

At a tent selling little baked goods we samples some sweets and S decided to buy stuffed grape leaves. Just two. I sensed danger. In Thailand we often tried to buy just two pieces of fruit, but often walked away with two kilos. A kilogram is more than you think.

It looked like S might have succeeded this time, but confusion checkmated us again, and we walked away with two plates of stuffed grape leaves. Without S’s intense, unknowing negotiation though, I am afraid the plates would have been piled high instead of just covered. We ate every one of them.

-posted by Thrashin Badger

My new favorite airlines

Saturday, July 22nd, 2006

Ah, Royal Jordanian Airlines – where everyone feels like a king, or at least like they are in business class.

Waiting in the terminal to board Royal Jordanian flight 0166 from Istanbul to Amman yesterday was the first time I felt like we were getting close to the Middle East. Most of the men were businessmen, carrying their briefcases and ready to get to work. A few families were flying as well; the women wore headscarves or black robes and veils covering all but their eyes.

We boarded the plane and walked to row 10, which is economy class, but when I sat down my knees were a good six inches from the back of the seat in front of me and my hips did not hit the edge of the seat, brushing up against the person seated next to me. Each seat had an individual tv screen, much like JetBlue, however because the seats were at least two inches wider, the screen was like a large movie screen, waiting to delight me with on-demand movies and tv programs. While we waited for the plane to launch the screen switched between a map of the region and a diagram of the plane’s orientation in relation to Mecca (at least, I think that’s what it was – it was in Arabic after all).

Thirty minutes into the two hour flight, I am comfortably watching “Failure to Launch” (a movie which is only entertaining if you are at 30,000 feet) when we are served a full dinner, complete with proper silverware. The chicken on a bed of rice was succulent and flavorful and I finished it off with a moist brownie and mango juice. Did I mention that I could cross my legs with the tray down and my knees didn’t bang the tray?

Ah, Royal Jordanian Airlines…

-s

Like the desert sands, our plans shift

Wednesday, July 19th, 2006

Update to everyone who has kindly expressed their concern for our plans to go to Lebanon and Syria:

We have decided to forgo our dream of entering Syria by train from Turkey and will be taking a pass on the entire country (as well as Lebanon) this time around. On Thursday, we will fly to Amman, Jordan where we will pick up the train and continue our plans for travel through Jordan from there.

 İ can hear the sighs of relief from our friends and family all the way from America…