Off to the Promised Land we go...

Where we stayed - Alcazar Hotel



From Aqaba we took a taxi over to the Jordan/Isralei border. We'd heard that some people can be detained on the Israeli border for hours, so we were pleasantly surprised to waltz on through customs/immigration without any problem. We headed straight for the bus station, but unfortunately there were no seats on the next bus to Jerusalem, so we chose to take the next bust to Tel Aviv then connect from there to Jerusalem.

The Western Wall - Wailing Wall

What can you really say about Jerusalem? It's everything that you can possibly imagine one of the holiest places on earth to be like and more! Jerusalem is home to some of the most holy sights to 3 of the main religions in the world. First, it has the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at the site known as Calvary or Golgotha (the place where Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected), it also has the Western Wall (the Wailing Wall), the only remnant of Judaism's holiest of shrines and also the Temple Mount, which contains the Dome of the Rock which houses a slab of rock which Muslims believe Mohammed ascended to heaven from and which Jews believe is the foundation stone of the world itself...

The Stone of Anoiting

Jesus' tomb inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

It seems like very where you turn in the Old City you'll find something of religious importance to someone. We visited numerous churches, including St Anne's which is thought to be the birth place of the Virgin Mary and we also walked along the path which Jesus is said to have had taken whilst carrying the cross.

Dome of the Rock

We also took a trip over to the West Bank to visit Bethlehem. We wandered around inside the Church of the Nativity before entering the underground Grotto of the Nativity, to view the spot where Jesus is said to have been born.The grotto was jammed packed full of pilgrims praying, singing and holding mass and it was quite surreal witnessing people becoming overwhelmed with emotion and openly weeping and kissing the spot where Jesus was born.

Dallas was pretty stoked to see all of the nativity scene figurines in the tourist shops and had fun playing with them, especially Baby Jeje...

By far the most important thing we did in Jerusalem was that we celebrated Dallas' 4th birthday... xxx

The spot where Jesus was born

Wadi Rum

Where we stayed - Golden Tulip

Enroute to Aqaba, we stopped in Wadi Rum and did a 2 hour desert tour on the back of a 4x4. The kids had a great time bumping around in the back, and we adults also enjoyed the awesome views too...

Our driver drew Dallas a camel

We spent 2 nights in Aqaba basically just blobbing and sorting out our Egyptian Visa's. In true Middle Eastern style the man at the embassy said it would take no longer than 1 hour... that interprets to at least 2.5hrs of just sitting around and waiting whilst trying to entertain 2 tired, hot children which isn't much fun.

Aqaba is hot... bloody hot!! When we arrived at midday it was stiffling, I don't know the tempreture but I'm sure it was in the high 40's. When we went out for dinner on our first night it was 39 degrees at 8.30pm!!! The best thing about Aqaba is that it is a tax free zone, after paying way too much for beers, it was nice to finally buy some cheap ones (and boy did we take advantage!).

Beautiful Petra

Where we stayed - Shara Mountains Hotel


We'd hired a driver from Madaba to drive us down to Wadi Musa via the King's Highway, with stops along the way. We stopped at the lookout to view the breathtaking Wadi Mujib, it's a spectacular valley about 1km deep and over 4km from edge to edge. We also paid a quick visit to Karak, an ancient Crusader castle.

Wadi Mujib

I had been looking forward to visiting Petra for AGES, so I was pretty excited when we finally arrived in Wadi Musa. We made sure we had a early night, so that we could be up at crack of dawn to go and visit Petra before it got too hot.

Petra is simply amazing. I think my favourite part was walking though the Siq then catching my first glimpse of the Treasury... It's beautiful.

Madaba and surround

Where we stayed - Mariam Hotel

From Damascus we headed over the border into Jordan. We had a great taxi driver who helped us navigate our way through the border formalities, before dropping us in Amman. From Amman it was another short taxi ride out to Madaba, a smallish town closer to some of Jordan's main sights.

Jordanian road hazard

The next day were were up early to meet our driver, who would take us to Mt Nebo, Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan and the Dead Sea.

Mt Nebo is the place where Moses is said to have seen the 'Promised Land'. He then died, aged 120 and was burried somewhere in the area. From the lookout you get spectatular views across to the Dead Sea, Jericho and you can even seen Jerusalem.

Mt Nebo

View from the lookout

Bethany-beyond-the-Jordan is a pretty important place for Christians, becuase it is the place where Jesus was babtised by John the Baptist, where the first 5 apostles met and where the prophet Elijah ascended to Heaven in a chariot.

Jesus' baptism site

And the Dead Sea, well this place is just a trip!! It is the lowest poin on earth and the water has such a high salinity level that nothing but microscopic life forms can survive in it. The water almost feels like baby oil because of all the salt, and you can acutally feel the resistance when walking in the water. It is the most surreal feeling floating in the water. (If you ever go to the Dead Sea, make sure you DON'T shave for a few days beforehand!!!)

Floating Alain

The Dead Sea (Amman Beach)

Damascus

Where we stayed - Damascus Hostel

The kids with Raymond (the hostel owner)

The first thing we noticed about Damascus was that it was so much cleaner than the rest of the country, I don't know if it is becuase its the capital city or what, but you really do notice the difference. We were lucky enough to stay in the beautiful 'Old City' part of Damascus, where most of the main sights are located. We spent our time wondering around the wonderfully confusing labrinth-like old souqs full of merchants selling their wares and people busily going about their daily business. We also visited the most beautiful mosque in the world - Umayyad Mosque. It is adorned by the most amazing golden mosaics which are 37 metres long.

2 of the 3 little turtles

The highlight of our time in Damascus though were the staff at the Damascus Hostel. They were absolutely lovely, the place is run by a super friendly Middle Eastern man who lived in Perth for 40 years before returning to Syria to open the hostel... Oh, and they had 2 rabbits (Baba Ghanoush and Fattoush) and 3 turtles, much to the kids delight.

*** If your ever in Damascus, you have to go down Bab Touma and find the waffle shop. They do the most amazing chocolate waffles, which they then dunk into the delicious hot chocolate sauce. OMG, they are devine!! ***

Minaret at Umayyad Mosque

Inside Umayyad Mosque

Umayyad Mosque courtyard

Palmyra

Where we stayed - Al-Nakheel Hotel

View of Palmyra from the Citadel

Citadel at sunset

From Hama we headed into the desert to visit Syrias 'must see' sight, the beautiful ancient ruins of Palmyra. Our first night there we headed up to the hiltop citadel, where you get spectacular sunset views of the ruins. You can literally see the ruins turning a lovely rose colour before your eyes, it's amazing.

Palmyra with the Citadel in the distance

The next day we were up early and headed out to the ruins before it got too hot, for a bit of exploring. We were virtually the only people out at the site (it was 7am after all), so we took full advantage of wandering around without hordes of other tourists.

Hama

Where we stayed - Riad Hotel

Noria

From Aleppo, we headed south to Hama and boy was it was such a nice relief to arrive in a town which was actually clean (we even saw street-sweeps!!). Hama is a pretty cool little town best know for it's ancient waterwheels, also known as norias, which line the Orontes river. You can hear them making an eerie groaning noise as they turn slowly through the water.

Riah Hotels new reception staff

We stayed at the uber friendly Riad Hotel, which is run by Abdullah. This guys has never left Syria but he has the most amazing Australian accent when he speaks English, it really is extraordinary! He arranged a day trip for us out to the amazing Crusader fortress of Crac des Chevaliers, where we spent 3 hours exploring the vast ruins. This amazing place was built in 1031 and has fantastic views across Syria and Lebanon.

Crac des Chevaliers

View of Syria from Crac

Crac des Chevaliers