August 3, 2017: Side Trip to Petra and Bedouin Camp

August 3, 2017: Side Trip to Petra and Bedouin Camp

Play time!  We took a side trip to Jordan, where we visited Petra and Wadi Rum (next post) and stayed the night in a Bedouin camp.

Images copyright Casondra Sobieralski. Contact for image use permissions.

Petra

from the UNESCO site:

"Inhabited since prehistoric times, this Nabataean caravan-city, situated between the Red Sea and the Dead Sea, was an important crossroads between Arabia, Egypt and Syria-Phoenicia. Petra is half-built, half-carved into the rock, and is surrounded by mountains riddled with passages and gorges. It is one of the world's most famous archaeological sites, where ancient Eastern traditions blend with Hellenistic architecture."

Click any image for a larger view.

the famous Treasury

The geology looks like dripping ice cream. 

More funky rock.

Treasury again, on the way out of the valley:

Nearby Bedouin Camp

July 28, 2017: Arava Valley, Masada, and the Dead Sea

July 28, 2017:  Arava Valley, Masada, and the Dead Sea

Copyright Casondra Sobieralski.  Contact for use permissions.

In one packed day, the IRES team and I did 3 sites: an agriculture center in the Arava Valley that is doing some innovative water conserving farming techniques research; Masada, another of King Harod's building projects; and the Dead Sea.

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Arava Valley

Masada 

 --from the UNESCO site:

"Masada is a rugged natural fortress, of majestic beauty, in the Judaean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea. It is a symbol of the ancient kingdom of Israel, its violent destruction and the last stand of Jewish patriots in the face of the Roman army, in 73 A.D. It was built as a palace complex, in the classic style of the early Roman Empire, by Herod the Great, King of Judaea, (reigned 37 – 4 B.C.). The camps, fortifications and attack ramp that encircle the monument constitute the most complete Roman siege works surviving to the present day."

The Dead Sea 

 You can't actually stay in the Dead Sea for very long.  It will suck all the salt out of you.  

But even for a 10 minute soak, it's worth the trip for the experience.  You just hang suspended on the water, like you are on another planet with different physics than earth. And the water is not warm, but HOT.  It feels magnificent. Very relaxing.

Except if you get the super salty water it in your eyes!  That really hurts!!!  

salt on the Dead Sea