Sunday, June 30, 2019

Holy Land Tour 2019 (Day 9-10)

Here are clips I took from the last days of our vacation.

Day 9:
This day was spent walking down the valley and the ancient road to the ancient city of Petra, a city of the Nabataean Kingdom inhabited by the Arabs in ancient times. It's a 3 km hike down. Along the way we saw ancient carvings on the sandstone rock walls and statues, eroded through time and restored for tourism. For those who don't want to walk down or up the entrance, they have horse carriages. We walked all the way down. We finally reached The Treasury (Al-Khazneh). It's believed to be the mausoleum of the Nabataean King Aretas IV in the 1st century AD. Further inside are other tombs, the Monastery (Ad Deir), and a massive Roman theatre, positioned so as to bring the greatest number of tombs within view.

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The Treasury (Al-Khazneh) in the ancient city of Petra

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A panoramic view of the tombs surrounding the mountains in the ancient city of Petra

After Petra was a 5+ hour drive on the King's Highway to Amman, Jordan.

Day 10:
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A view of the intact Oval Plaza in the Roman Ruins of Jerash

We started the day at the Roman Ruins of Jerash. Called the Pompeii of the East, Jerash's archeological site house one of the most preserved Roman ruins in the world. Still intact is Hadrian's Arch, built in 129 AD to honor the visiting of Emperor Hadrian. From the entrance is the hippodrome. Further in the back is the South Theater, Temple of Artemis and of Zeus, the Oval Plaza, a large Nymphaeum fed by an aqueduct, the Tetrapylon of Jerash, and many more Roman architectures preserved and restored.

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The long colonnaded street (The Cardo)

Our last stops where Ajloun Castle in Ajloun and Our Lady of the Mount Church in Anjara, which houses the cave where Mary, Jesus, and his disciples stopped and rested as they traveled between Jerusalem and Galilee.

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Ajloun Castle

We went back to our hotel for an early dinner and rested for a bit before we headed to the airport for an early morning flight at 1:00AM.



I'm done.

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