Here we have the Sinai Peninsula. Not sure if Mt Sinai is visible in this pic or not. The water is the Red Sea. Doesn’t look very red though. 
Getting ready to land at the airport in Amman.
Driving into the town of Al Karak.
We instantly concluded that Jordan was better than Egypt. Much less chaotic and friendlier.Pretty much everyone we encountered was very friendly, nice, and honest. This is a road west of Al Karak that snakes it’s way down to the Dead Sea.
This is me enjoying a nice road trip Jordanian style.
Driving along the King’s Highway.
Me with our little mico-machine rental car. We passed lots of fruit stands, and i really wanted to stop and get some, especially from the kid yelling out "mish mish", which i happen to know meant apricots (one of the few arabic words I know).
Colby enjoying the ride from Amman down to Petra. It was a pleasant relief from Cairo.
Goats and goat herders were everywhere in rural Jordan, (which was all we saw). Most of the rural countryside we drove through appeared to be a fairly quiet and simple way of life.
Here I am standing by a really cool overlook. It was one of the most desolate and arid places I’ve ever seen – and yet there were people living out in the open desert here, with little more than a hut for shelter. How they survive is a complete mystery to me.
The Great Rift Valley, a really long division between 2 tectonic plates. I guess this valley stretches from the middle east all the way down into east-central africa.
The town of Wadi Mousa, Jordan – where we stayed. This is the view from our hotel.
Running on the 2 hours I slept at Heliopolis (the cairo airport) the night before, I took a much needed nap once we arrived at our hotel. It was’t luxurious by any standard, except when compared to the Garden City House, where we had stayed in Cairo. We occasionally had hot water, cold water, and lights -but seldom at the same time.
Al Siq, the entrance to the lost city of Petra. You have to walk about a half-mile through this narrow passage to get into the city.
And here we have the first view of Petra. Petra was nice because it felt more like a real national park, with things such as maps, visitor center, trashcans, signs, and a general sense of order (all things that the pyramids were lacking). Of course there was the occasional random moment while viewing something that would remind us that we were definitely not in one of the US national parks.
The treasury, probably the most known part of Petra, and also the coolest. In case you don’t know – Petra was the capital city of the Nabatians, about 2100 years ago. Much of the city was carved out of solid rock as you see here. It has to be seen to be believed.
Me up on the front steps. As you can see, it is VERY large.
This sign suggested taking a guide beyond that point, but we didn’t. We found our way up to the monastery with no difficulty other than the fact that it was about 1000 steps in full desert heat. The fact that my water bottle heated up to probably well over 100 degrees didn’t keep me from enjoying it.
Don’t be fooled by the size of this building in the distance. It’s much larger than it looks. About 150 feet high.
Taking a quick breather before heading back down to the rest of the city.
Some camels hanging out in what used to be the main market street of Petra – about 2,100 years ago. It was cool to imagine what it would have been like.
A cool doorway.
Some arabic graffitti on the ancient doorway.
A random Jordanian flag flying along the desert highway, a modern type freeway that runs from Aqaba to Amman. Occasionally there would be guards with machine guns who would stop you and ask where you were going. It was a bit intimidating at first, but they were always nice, even if they didn’t speak english. One guard even gave us directions to the airport. Even though we already knew the way, it was a nice gesture.
Luckily most of the major signs had english translations on them. Just enough so that we could find our way to Petra and back from the airport in Amman. Although we did get lost once in the town of Al Karak where we missed a turn because a truck was blocking the only sign that had english on it. Here is a video clip.