We started our 5th day with one last breakfast at the Leonardo Club Hotel. The hotel was very accommodating and centrally located. We were a little sad to leave the Sea of Galilee. We were amazed at its beauty and its significance to Bible events. Ferrell and Eli, we are sure, could fill 10 more days of information about the Galilean area. That could actually be one trip in itself.
Today we headed to the Jordan border, and at that point we had to leave our favorite guide Eli, behind. We will miss him for the next couple of days, but he will join us again on Thursday when we reach the Israeli border to head into Jerusalem. He will be with us for the rest of the trip.
We went through two check points to get into Jordan. Everyone was very friendly helping us get into the country, and we had no problems. We met our Jordanian guide, Tekeq. We have found him to be very knowledgeable and very friendly. He will be with us until we reach the Israeli border on Thursday.
We left the border and drove to Jerash. It is the second largest city of the Decapolis. It is possible that Jesus visited here. We learned about Greek and Roman architecture. Absolutely amazing engineering feats. They had technology in their own right. Of course, all of what we saw had been excavated. The area was so large that we didn't have ample time to visit all of the sight. The buildings, columns, and roads were massive. They unearthed a theatre, small shops, and a large forum where caravans road through and traded goods. After walking a bit of the grounds, we watched a Roman soldier demonstration, a gladiator demonstration, and a mock chariot race. The exhibition was well worth the time.
We finally reached the city of Amman. We will be viewing more of the city as we are heading out toward Mt. Nebo and beyond tomorrow.
To everyone following all of the blogs, we hope you are enjoying them. We are all having a great time with lots of snickering and laughing. The bus ride alone is all the entertainment we can stand. At different times you can hear different travelers talking about what they are going to do with all that they have learned, and that is so invigorating. Hope you all are learning much from our journey.
And yes, we are really in Amman, Jordan!
Hey, I'm enjoying reading the details of your trip and seeing the pictures! You look like you are all having a great time.
ReplyDeleteI think it's great that you are able to have Oreos for lunch over there. That's my kind of meal. ;)
We'll be praying for you all and thinking about you, looking forward to your return home.
~Kerry & family