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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 12:00 |
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Winter break, Jordan - Amman - 14 December 2007
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Belle Vue Hotel and Trade Centre, 2nd Circle, Jabal Amman, Amman
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2nd Circle (Roundabout) - there are 7 circles in Amman
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Aideit and Azzat in front of the hotel
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At the hotel lobby
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At the hotel lobby
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Our 2007 winter holiday in Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It was awesome! We celebrated our Eid Al Adha in Amman, the capital of Jordan. We performed our 'solat' Eid Al Adha at a mosque, nearby to the hotel where we were staying. We are thankful to be blessed by Allah SWT for the blessings, means and the opportunity to visit/ 'ziarah' this Land of the Prophets.
We were in Jordan from 14-22 December 2007. We travelled nearly 2,000 km, trying to 'cover as much as possible', but had to drop several sites/places from our itenarary due to time factor (limited daylight due to winter).
Palestine and Jordan, the Land of the Prophets. The Land of the People of the Book. Monotheism of God - Tawhid - The believe in one God. In our travels, we met people (same bloodline, same look and culture, same mannerism, same food and, may actually speak the same language) and found many 'overlapping situations' (you will be able to see this in the photographs that I took).
True enough, mind you, they had centuries of, Nabateans/Arabs/Nomadic tribes; Greek; Romans; Byzantine; and Islam.
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 11:00 |
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Winter break, Jordan - Amman - 14 December 2007
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View of Belle Vue hotel from the street
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View of Amman from the hotel room
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View of Amman - the tall cylindrical tower is Le Royal Hotel
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View of Amman from the hotel room.
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 10:55 |
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Winter break, Jordan - Amman - 14 December 2007
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Aideit and Azzat with a Jordanian policeman
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Aideit and Azzat with an officer of the Royal Jordanian Police Constabulary. It was nice of him to have allowed a photo opportunity with our boys. Azzat was, especially, excited about this.
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 10:52 |
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Winter break, Jordan - Al Sultani Rest House - 15 December 2007
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On the way to Petra, we stopped at Al Sultani Rest House along the desert highway. The ambience at the 'rest house' - cosy, warm and authentic.
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 10:50 |
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Winter break, Jordan - Petra and Wadi Mousa - 15 December 2007
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Petra rocky plateau from afar
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Wadi Mousa from the valley below
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View of Petra and Wadi Mousa from the car.
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 10:45 |
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Winter break, Jordan - Petra - 15 December 2007
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Tourist office at the entrance to Petra
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The start of the visit
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Tomb of the Obelisks and Tomb of the Triclinium
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Petra! Remember the movies 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' and 'The Mummy Returns' - they were filmed here. The name 'Petra' is derived from the Greek word meaning 'rock'. Petra is a rocky plateau surrounded by sandy plains. Petra is the legacy of the Nabateans, an industrious Arab people who settled in Jordan more than 2000 years ago. They dominated trade routes of ancient Arabia, levying tolls and sheltering caravans. Ultimately, however, the Romans annexed Petra.
To explore Petra fully will take 3 days. You will have to stay in Petra. What we managed to see and visit is only a small part of Petra. From the entrance of the Siq to the 'Khazana' (Treasury) alone, made famous by the Indiana Jones movie, is at least 1.2 km. There is a shrine (makam) for Prophet Haron (Aaron) high atop Mount Aaron.
(More photos under construction!)
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 10:30 |
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Winter break, Jordan - Wadi Mousa - 15 December 2007
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The rock where Prophet Mousa struck his staff
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Aideit taking water from the source
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The source of water - under the rock - its clear and clean
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Spring of Prophet Mousa (Mosses) at Wadi Mousa. It was reported that Prophet Mousa struck a sand-rock with his staff and it sprang water, ever since. The water is clear and clean, even though it looks 'dark' in the photographs as the base of the source is dark stone and pebbles (it may be basalt rocks [volcanic in origin]) We drank the water and brought some back to Amman. The water remained cool and refreshing for days.
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 10:20 |
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Winter break, Jordan - On the way north - 16 December 2007
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We stop by a roadside stall on the way north to visit Umm Qays, Ajloun and Jarash, passing through Irbid and Yarmouk. The scenes in the photographs are of orchards/farmlands in the valley; growing oranges, apples, grapes, olives and tea.
We passed through Irbid, Jordan's 2nd largest city with a large university, Irbid University. In Yarmouk, we passed the area of the Battle of Yarmouk, where the Muslims led by Khalid ibn Al Walid were victorious against the Byzantine. Khalid ibn Al Walid later went on to conquer Al Sham (modern day, Syria) and establish an Islamic government and administration in Al Sham.
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 10:10 |
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Winter break, Jordan - Umm Qays - 16 December 2007
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Umm Qays (known as Gadara in Roman times), city of 'new Athens', as called by a Roman poet. Umm Qays was built by the Romans and was known as a cultural centre and, home to Roman poets and philosophers. Umm Qays, Jarash and Amman were once Roman Decapolis cities.
Umm Qays is perched on a splendid hilltop overlooking Jordan Valley and Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) and, Golan Heights, Syria.
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| Friday, 14-Dec-2007 10:00 |
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Winter break, Jordan - View from Umm Qays - 16 December 2007
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Palestine and Lake Tiberias (occupied)
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Another view of Palestine and Lake Tiberias
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Golan Heights, Syria (occupied) - note fertile land
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Panaromic view from the hilltop of Umm Qays: Palestine and the fresh water lake, Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee) - now occupied territory and, Golan Heights - occupied territory - Syria.
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