Thursday, July 16, 2009

Our visit to Jordan

Hi, In late October and early November of 2008 my wife Ruthe and I took a trip to Jordan and Egypt. This entry will cover only the Jordan part of our trip. We spent 5 nights in Jordan, 3 in Amman, the capital, and 2 in Petra. I have used both my wife's and my photography in this post to provide the best possible idea of what we saw and did.

Our first day in Amman we visited the Citadel, a Roman ruin. The view of the city is from the Citadel as is the structure. From the Citadel we went to the Roman Theater (no photo).

Our next stop was the market. There was a large variety of merchandise for sale in the shops, including these dresses, hookahs (water pipes), and sweets.

Our second day was spent visiting the Roman ruins at Jeresh. This one of the largest Roman ruins in the world.



As I was walking to lunch I spotted this gentlemen. I had promised myself to try for more people photos so I asked him if I could photograph him. He wanted to know why I wanted his photo and I told him he had a very interesting face. It was my first person shot.

My second occurred right after lunch when I encountered a school group on a field trip. These three charmers asked to have the photo taken.

While at lunch Ruthe photographed this gentlemen making Pita Bread.

The next day we visited Mount Nebo, the supposed burial place for Moses. This gentlemen, taken candidly, has walked out to the edge of the cliff to look out to the promised land and is now heading back.

We also visited the town of Malaba this day. It had some shops with interesting items on display.

The highlight of this part of the trip had to be our visit to the ruins at Petra. The structures here are thought to have been built by the Nabataeans. These facades now front empty caves. No one knows why the facades were carved or how the caves were used. This structure, arguably the most famous, is called The Treasury because of its appearance.



People still live in Petra and some serve as performers, such as these guards at the Treasury,

and this gentlemen demonstrating a game.


The last morning of our visit to Jordan I took an optional trip to Wadi Rum. We visited with some Bedouins where these camels were resting.

I hope you enjoy the photos. I'll do Egypt in a subsequent post. Bob Kaplan