We landed in Amman, the capital of Jordan at night and a long flight above the city and all its lights told us that it was a very large city. Later I read that the city has over 4 million inhabitants. I couldn't wait to wake up in the morning and see the city in daylight. I immediately noticed that the architecture was significantly different from anything I had seen so far, the houses were built like cubes, almost exclusively grey and the city seemed crowded at first glance, even though there were not many people on the streets.
We just drove through the city and headed for lunch in the smaller town of Madaba and at a restaurant recommended to us by a Jordanian friend. The food was extremely tasty, and the vegetables were prepared in many different ways, from salad to grilled, and the chicken was one of the tastiest I've tried so far. After lunch, we visited a 1,500-year-old church, with an original mosaic on the floor, and there we were greeted by a very kind man who sprayed the mosaic with water to make it better visible and took pictures of us all at his express request. Cheerful, after an excellent lunch and a beautiful church visit, we left Madaba and headed towards Mount Nebo, ten kilometres away, the place where, according to the Bible, Moses saw the Promised Land, and where he also died. According to the Old Testament, God told Moses to climb Mount Nebo to see the Promised Land before going to the Kingdom of God. That place and the view of Israel and the Dead Sea leave you breathless with their beauty and impressiveness. Even though it was extremely hot, I felt a tingling sensation from that sight and the mythical, historical place so familiar to all of us from the teachings about Moses and the history of Christianity.
After visiting the Moses monument, we went down to the Dead Sea, which Jordan shares with Israel. It was extremely hot outside with temperatures around 38 degrees and I couldn't wait to refresh myself in the sea. We drove to the beach "O beach" where foreigners swim and went down to the beach by quite long stairs that were exhausting in the heat. The heat was hellish, and we all rushed to get our hands into the water as soon as possible, about which we had heard so much, floating in it without effort or swimming. Entering the water was a shock. The water was too warm, I would say that the water temperature was about 33 degrees, possibly higher. It didn't cool us down at all and I got out of it with the same vigour with which I entered the water. I started to take a shower because I needed to cool down in any way. There followed another disappointment, the water from the shower was too hot, there was no cooler at all, and for a moment I had the feeling that I was in hell. I advise visitors to the Dead Sea not to go there in the middle of summer because I can't imagine that anyone would find such a sweltering experience from the air and from the water to be a pleasure at the same time. There is also a swimming pool on the "O beach" beach, which was a little cooler, although still too hot, so we stayed there for a while with pleasantly chilled water and juices. This was followed by a long four-hour drive through the night, across the Jordanian mountains and the desert to Petra and the "7 Wonders Bedouin Camp", where accommodation awaited us.
Kristina
Thursday, August 24th, 2023
Svjetla Ammana, planina Nebo i pretoplo Mrtvo more
U Amman, glavni grad Jordana, smo sletjeli u noći i dugo prelijatanje kroz grad i njegova svjetla rekli su nam da se radi o vrlo velikom gradu. Kasnije sam pročitala da grad ima preko 4 miliona stanovnika. Jedva sam čekala da se ujutro probudim i da vidim grad po danu. Odmah sam uočila da je arhitektura bitno drugačija od svega što sam do sada vidjela, kuće su grđjene kako kockice, gotovo isključivo sive i grad se činio već na prvi pogled napučen iako na ulicama nije bilo puno ljudi.
Kroz grad smo se samo provezli i uputili se na ručak u manji grad Madabu u restoran koji nam je preporučila jedna prijateljica Jordanka. Hrana je bila izuzetno ukusna i povrće je spremano na puno različitih načina od onih na salatu pa sve do roštilja, a piletina je bila jedna od ukusnijih koju sam do sada iskušala. Nakon ručka obišli smo jednu 1500 godina staru crkvu, sa jos orginalnim mozaikom na podu i tu nas je dočekao vrlo ljubazan čovjek koji nam je špricao mozaik vodom kako bi se bolje vidjelo i slikao nas sve po izričitoj želji. Veseli, nakon izvrsnog ručka i krasne crkvice napustili smo Madabu i uputili se prema desetak kilometara udaljenoj planini Nebo, mjestu na kojem je, prema Bibliji, Mojsije ugledao Obećanu Zemlju i na kojoj je također preminuo. Prema Starom zavjetu Bog je Mojsiju rekao da se popne na planinu Nebo kako bi ugledao Obećanu Zemlju prije nego što ode u Carstvo Božije. To mjesto i pogled na Izrael i Mrtvo more ostavljaju bez daha svojom ljepotom i dojmljivošću. Iako je bilo strahovito vruće prošli su me trnci od tog pogleda i mitskog, povijesnog mjesta toliko nam svima znanog iz učenja o Mojsiju i povijesti kršćanstva.
Nakon posjete Mojsijevom spomeniku spustili smo se do Mrtvog mora koje Jordan dijeli sa Izraelom. Vani je bilo strahovito vruće sa temperaturama oko 38 stupnjeva i ja nisam mogla dočekati da se osvježim u moru. Dovezli smo se do plaže “O beach” na kojoj se kupaju stranci i do plaže smo se spuštali dosta dugim stepenicama. Vrućina je bila paklena i mi smo svi pohrlili da se što prije dokopamo vode o kojoj smo toliko slušali, o plutanju u njoj bez napora i plivanja. Ulazak u vodu je bio šok. Voda je bila pretopla, rekla bih da je temperatura vode bile nekih 33 stupnja ili viša. Uopće nas nije rashladila i ja sam jednakim elanom sa kojim sam ušla u vodu iz nje izašla. Krenula sam na tuširanje jer sam imala potrebu da se na bilo koji način rashladim. Tu je uslijedilo još jedno razočarenje, voda iz tuša je bila pretopla, uopće nije postojala hladnija i ja sam na trenutak imala osjećaj da sam u paklu. Preporučam posjetiocima Mrtvog mora da ne idu u njega sredinom ljeta jer ne mogu zamisliti da bi za bilo koga takovo pretoplo iskustvo iz zraka i iz vode istovremeno bilo užitak. Na “O beach” plaži ima i jedan bazen koji je bio mrvicu hladniji, iako još pretopal pa smo tamo jos neko vrijeme ostali uz ugodno rashlađene vodu i sokove. Nakon toga uslijedila je duga četevrosatna vožnja po noći, preko Jordanskih planina i pustinje do Patre i “7 čuda beduinskog kampa” u kojem nas je čekao smještaj.
Kristina
Četvrtak, 24. kolovoza 2023.
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