Low rise, high density

while each black sqaure represented the window to an individual's life, it occured to us that there was so little we knew about the Jordanians, partly due to the biased media we have been exposed to, and partly due to our inept ignorance of places outside our tiny city...

the place where it all started.

four days of holiday give us some free time to catch up with the writing.

After visiting Mt. Nebo, we were led to a Greek Orthodox Church in Madaba to see what was regarded as the oldest map of the middle east constructed of mosaic in the 6th ~ 7th century.

The mosaic covers the biblical land of Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan and of course, what is now, Israel.

The city of Jerusalem was clearly the most important location then, highly developed with city walls, defensive towers, and network of streets.

it then crossed my mind, it probably still is the root of all conflicts there is in the middle east, if not the world, ever since the days of the crusades...

with eyes towards the promised land...

it was written in the Bible that Moses has led the Israelis out of Egypt in search of the Promised land. Yet, for forty years, the party did not reach the land, reasons as well outlined in the Bible. when Moses climbed Mount Nebu, God appeared before Moses and said to him: "I HAVE LET YOU SEE IT WITH YOUR EYES, BUT YOU WILL NOT CROSS OVER INTO IT." ~ Deuteronomy 34:1-7
then, at the age of 120, he passed away, and buried by God in an unknown spot on the mountain.

a life spent serving God no doubt...

but if we look at the World today, with the unending battles between Israelis and Palestinians, between Israelis and the rest of the Arabic countries, and with all the antagonisms between the Israelis and all those standing on the opposite of the world, was it worth it?

leading the chosen people, and spending forty years in the wilderness...yet, even today, peace is a word too luxurious even to murmur...

the hands of God moved in a mysterious way that is uncomprehensible by mere mortals...

where moses was laid

have this habit of visiting graveyard.

there are times when one just want to take a break and don't particularly want to sit amongst strangers in a confined space on a round stool, waiting for your reheated, precooked lunch, under a punishing air conditioner.

taking a walk in a nearby graveyard with a sandwich in hand is actually quite a pleasant experience.

there are countless stories behind every tombstone. Though knowing nothing about how the passed away has lived his or her life, but if you let your imagination flows, and by looking at the engravings, the date when the tomb was set, the workmanship on the stone...you can pretty much conjure up some kind of story which is self entertaining.

but when you see a Memorial of Moses...well, that's an entirely different matter.

regardless of whether you are a religious person, anyone with a fair amount of education will learn of who Moses was.

while AN knows the story quite well, DH has no idea that Mount Nebu was the place where Moses spent his last day, after he was led to see the promised land...

Moses has been wandering in the wilderness for 40 years...

....40 years....a very long time and a very long journey....

while thinking of this, suddenly everything became mute, and was just pondering what was on his mind...

what was it like when Moses was at Mt. Nebu...

forgot to mention that our flight from Hong Kong to Amman was delayed for departure for almost 3 hours, meaning that we did not leave the Hong Kong International Airport until past midnight. The plane landed in some early hours in the morning. The local guide was good enough to have arranged a sumptuous breakfast for us to regain some stamina.

so, carrying a less than able, sleep walking torso, we arrived at Mt. Nebu.

12 hours ago we were still at the comfort of a modern day city, we did find it uneasy, from a psychological aspect, to accept the fact that we were at the place where Moses had his final day...

wild in the open, the wind was howling like mad that sank all other trivial sound, cutting us off from reality and taking us back in time...

first impression of Jordan

Leaving the airport, the coach drove up the highway leading into Amman. The population of Jordan is at around 6 million, of which around 1.3 million live inside the Amman Governorate , and adding to the fact that Friday is the rest day for the week, which explains why that the road appears to be quite empty.

A peculiar observation about the city was that while the capital appears to be very modern, the architecture and building we saw were mostly of recent construction, for a country which has such rich history, there was an conspicuos absence of a wider spectrum of architecture from different era.

Amman Airport

more accurately, the Queen Alia International Airport.

after been travelling for almost twelve hours, we arrived at the Jordanian airport early in the morning. By comparison, this was one of the better airports we have been to: efficient, clean, air conditioned.
the suspended tensile fabric made the space less orthogonal, and definitely less intimidating than some of the other airports in the Middle East.

the air felt cool, refreshingly cool...

we need a break...

2008 has been a year full of ups and downs in all aspects.

time for an+dh to take a break...

our initial options:

1. Okinawa
2. Ireland
3. England + Wales
4. Turkey

and in the final weeks, a few images caused us to make a swift change of mind...Petra and Krak des Chevaliers.

Jordan, Syria, that's where we want to be!