Magic Tales of the East
MAGIC TALES OF THE EAST
Jordan has become a very popular travel and leisure destination in recent years.
The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, one of the oldest countries in the world, has long been forgotten and, as it were, fell out of the maelstrom of world history for several centuries. The revival of the state falls on the first half of the 20th century. And world fame and huge popularity falls on the second half of the last century. Thanks to the Hollywood films "Indiana Jones" and "The Last Campaign of the Crusaders", today almost everyone knows about Jordan, or at least about its main attraction, Petra.
What is Jordan? Why is the flow of tourists wishing to see this country increasing every year?
The fact is that a trip to Jordan surprisingly combines several areas of tourism at once. These are amazing historical monuments for lovers of educational tourism. Beautiful hotels, sandy beaches and coral reefs on the Red Sea in Aqaba for beach lovers. Thousands of tourists go to Jordan on pilgrimage tours associated with many biblical stories. Fans of extreme sports are waiting for the amazing beauty of the Wadi Rum desert, jeep trips, overnight stays at Bedouin camps. It is impossible not to say about special medical tours to the waters of the Dead Sea. And all this in Jordan, and all this, if you really want, you can see and combine in one trip.
A small group of us gathered, we ourselves developed a route for moving around the country and determined the period of acquaintance with Jordan in two weeks - to see as much as possible and relax on the Dead and Red Seas.
The plane flight Kyiv - Amman arrives in the capital of Jordan late in the evening. Travel time from the airport to the city center is no more than half an hour. Our acquaintance with Jordan began the next morning. Traveling around Amman, the words from the old favorite movie immediately come to mind - “the city of contrasts”. Here you can see the terrible slums of the Palestinian neighborhoods and the houses of the local rich, the doors and walls of which are decorated with huge pieces of gold woven into quotes from the Koran. A huge national flag flies over the entire city. The height of the flagpole is over 160 meters, and the flag is over 40 square meters. The most interesting sights of the capital are the ancient Roman amphitheater built back in 151 BC, but where even today the most significant cultural and entertainment events take place. You should definitely visit the Temple of Hercules towering over the city. Everything is interesting here - ancient buildings, the remains of temples, a siege well and a modern archaeological museum, which has an excellent exposition. From the top of the hill of the Citadel, a panorama of the entire city opens up. But you should not stay in Amman for a long time, one or two days is enough. There are many other interesting places in the country.
When traveling in Jordan, be sure to visit Jerash, a city whose history goes back thousands of years. Having emerged on the site of rich trade routes, the city attracted both enlightened Greeks and Roman legionnaires, and later entered the possession of the Umayyad empire. The city died instantly, during one of the strongest earthquakes, Jerash literally swallowed up a huge mudflow and mothballed amazing ancient buildings for many centuries. This mudflow helped save the city for modern archaeologists. Imagine twenty - thirty of our Chersonesos - Tauride. This is modern Jerash. Many ancient buildings of amazing beauty have been perfectly preserved. The most significant of them are the famous "Street of Columns", the Arc de Triomphe, built in honor of the arrival of Emperor Hadrian in Jerash in 129 AD, the Oval Square, the Temple of Zeus, the ancient theater, temples with amazing mosaic masonry. Archaeological excavations of ancient Jerash continue to this day. Today, races are held in the city once a week at the ancient hippodrome, which completely recreate the ancient competitions. Every day, tourists are waiting for a theatrical performance of Jordanian musicians. Hospitable hosts will be happy to take pictures next to you and let you knock or blow on national instruments. Amazing discoveries await all lovers of history and travel in Jerash.
From Jerash, our path lay to the south of the country, along the five-thousand-year-old Royal Road to the Byzantine city of Madaba. The town is small, with an ancient history. Interestingly, in a Muslim country in this city, most of the population are Christians. There are a lot of mosaic workshops in the city, and it is no coincidence that the city has been famous for mosaics since Byzantine times. Here on the floor, in the central temple of the city, the main attraction of Madaba, the Byzantine mosaic map of Jerusalem and other sacred places of the East, has been preserved. But the city of Madaba is only an intermediate stop on our journey. A few kilometers from the city, the most significant place for many pilgrimage tours in Jordan is Mount Nebo (Mount Nebo). This is the alleged place of death and burial of the Prophet Moses. At the entrance to Mount Nebo, there is a monument by the road in honor of the visit of these places by Pope Paul John 2. On the top of the mountain, there is a symbolic staff of the Prophet Moses, which, according to biblical legends, snakes wrap around. In the ancient Christian basilica, Christian services are constantly held by pilgrims from many countries of the world. We have witnessed such a pilgrimage tour. From the viewing platform in front of the Temple, you can see the Jordan River, the Dead Sea, and the ancient paths. It is said that in good weather the roofs of Jerusalem and Bethlehem are visible from here.
Not far below is the sacred for all Christians - the Jordan River, the place of the baptism of Jesus Christ. We go down to the river. A hundred meters from it is an Orthodox Church. Our guide says that "it was built with the money of one Russian, Seryozha. " At the baptismal font we meet a group of ladies from St. Petersburg. They have been coming to Jordan to the Dead Sea for more than a year. This time there are several people in the group who were not baptized. The local Orthodox priest agreed to perform the rite of baptism. A spontaneous decision is born in us, although we are all already baptized, we ask permission to undergo the rite of baptism again in this great Spiritual place for all Christians. Permission received and we are also baptized in the Jordan River.
Today, the Jordan River is not much larger than our Yalta Derekoika. Its muddy waters serve as the border between the two states of Jordan and Israel. We are on the side of Jordan. Barbed wire opposite. Even during baptism, it is strictly forbidden to go beyond the middle of the river. Shots may be fired. Only one day a year is this invisible border open. On the bright day of the Baptism of the Lord. On this day, at a certain hour, white doves are released over the river from both sides. And from two sides, Christians descend into the river to bathe in the sacred waters. During these hours there are no borders, no states, no nationalities. During these hours, all Christians are one, the children of God.
Having made a pilgrimage to the Holy places, we go to the Dead Sea. Here, of course, the main goal is water procedures, mud baths. True, on the first day, one of the Germans on vacation sadly reported "that today the dirt has not yet been brought up. " It wasn't delivered for them. Our dirt is everywhere. And to Deutsch's great surprise, we did find this dirt. Two days at the Dead Sea flew by quickly. Ahead of us was one of the most attractive parts of our journey - the pink city of Petra.
Legends about the mysterious capital of the ancient Nabateans, Petra, about countless treasures hidden among the rocks and sands, have long excited the imaginations of Europeans. More than one adventurer went on unsuccessful and sometimes deadly expeditions. Ancient legends say that the ancient Nabataeans deliberately incorrectly indicated the location of this city on ancient maps in order to hide this sacred city from prying eyes. Only in 1812, the Swiss explorer Burckhardt, was able to persuade the Bedouins to open a path for him through the deep Siq gorge to Petra. Petra is very rich in its amazing history, and even more rich in legends and traditions associated with it. According to legend, in one of the rocks in the vicinity of Petra, Moses carved water to drink his people, who fled from the troops of the Egyptian pharaoh. The most amazing and famous place in Petra is Haznat el-Faroun, which is called the "Treasury of the Pharaoh". In pursuit of the Jews, led by Moses, the pharaoh decided to hide countless treasures in Petra, which prevented him from moving quickly. He hid the treasures securely, but he could not overtake Moses and his fellow tribesmen.
Modern Petra can be called a tourist Mecca. The city has more than 800 monuments. It seems that each stone breathes history. Here, ancient monuments, amazingly beautiful rocks, gorges, and bizarre stones intertwined into a single whole. You can talk about Petra endlessly, remembering every monument, every quaint cave, colorful Bedouins - the modern owners of the city. We lacked one excursion that took place all day in this city. And we signed up for the Night Petra tour. 300-400 people gathered. Everyone was divided into two large groups of Spanish speakers and English speakers. After a short introductory conversation, we again walk along the Sik Gorge. Its length is more than a kilometer, the height of the rocks above the narrow passage is about 90 meters. In the sky are huge, completely unfamiliar stars of the East. Along the entire path, every 2 meters, candle-lanterns are installed. We walk quietly, without talking. That's what the guides asked for. This is mysticism! Some kind of huge living mass quietly stretches along the bottom of a deep gorge, only the shuffling of soles on ancient sand is heard, gloomy rocks come close from two sides, huge stars are overhead. The climax comes when we go to the main square of the city (it is in front of the "Treasury of the Pharaoh"). The entire square is lit by hundreds of lit candles. Ancient columns are lost in height. We sit in a circle on mats, we are served tea. And the Bedouins begin to play desert music on instruments unfamiliar to us. Quiet, mournful music, the ruins of an ancient mighty city, a huge black sky and stars. . . Something unearthly, not real. It seems that you are flying into the depths of centuries. The performance had already ended and the tourists were drawn along the gorge back to the modern one. world. But apparently the impression for everyone was so strong that they walked just as quietly, without talking. And it seemed that we really did not want to part with the unknown that we touched.
Our journey continued through the Wadi Rum desert. We could not even imagine that the desert could be so beautiful. This grand desert is truly a paradise for nature lovers and artists. The color of the sand changes every minute, picturesque severe rocks hang over small oases. Scientists believe that under the sands of Wadi Rum there is a huge accumulation of water. Once upon a time, important trade routes passed here. Even older rock paintings have survived. Life in the lifeless desert has always existed. We drove through the desert in jeeps. We made frequent stops at the oases. In one of these oases there was a camp where the famous English spy Lawrence of Arabia lived for many days on a secret mission. Today, the desert is inhabited by Bedouins who are happy to plunge into the tourism business. By the way, we were very sorry that we did not immediately book a tour with an overnight stay at the Bedouin camp. At these stops, tourists will find an unforgettable local flavor, traditional Bedouin dishes, songs and dances around the fire. What amazing pictures of the sunrise and sunset over Wadi Rum could then be taken. Today, the desert especially attracts lovers of extreme tourism. Here you can travel in jeeps, organize survival tours, go in for mountain climbing and now fashionable climbing (sports speed climbing).
The next page of our journey through Jordan was the page of the Middle Ages. By the end of the 12th century, Christianity and Islam, having divided a good half of the then known world between themselves, opposed each other for many thousands of kilometers. The crusaders and Sultan Salah ad-Din (Saladin) were the symbol of confrontation in the Middle East. Jerusalem and the holy places of Christianity became the center of the struggle. The pinnacle of this struggle was the third crusade (1189-1192). It is about these exciting events of medieval history that the excursion to the Crusader castle of Karak tells. The spirit of the Middle Ages is already felt at the entrance to the legendary fortress. Travelers will see defensive walls with narrow loopholes, gloomy dungeons, labyrinths of stone halls and endless corridors. The strongest impression. It is reinforced by the story of the most famous ruler of the castle of Karak - the knight Reynald de Chatillon. The man is clearly not ordinary and left the most controversial opinions about himself. So the Muslims called Rene "a wolf dug in the valley. " They saw in Ren de Chatillon the personification of stupid barbarism, rudeness and cruelty. Christian sources describe him as the noblest knight, defender of Christian shrines and ideals in the East.
A visit to this most interesting monument of the Middle Ages ended our cognitive part of the journey through Jordan. The remaining days were planned as a holiday on the Red Sea. It should be remembered that before Jordan did not have access to the sea. Only a friendly gift from Saudi Arabia allowed the country to have its own seaport and an excellent, progressively developing resort in Aqaba. Fine modern hotels of the highest level have been built in the city. Warm sea, beautiful beaches, coral reefs, diving, boat trips - all this attracts more and more tourists from different countries every year. A lot of rest here and our compatriots. When we received beach towels at our hotel, in response to our English greeting, we heard the Russian “Good morning! ”. Moreover, the girl working at the hotel turned out to be not only a compatriot, but also a countrywoman from Yalta. Our vacation on the Red Sea coincided with the great Muslim holiday, Ramadan. There are many religious restrictions in the Arab world these days. This includes a ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages. And so I wanted to try Jordanian wine, which our guide praised. We shared these problems with the guys from St. Petersburg. “No problem, ” they replied. There is a small shop next to their hotel where a nice girl from Sumy named Oksana works. Oksana understood us perfectly, and we tried Jordanian wine. We told Muscovites about the beautiful Ukrainian girl, Muscovites told Kharkiv residents, Kharkiv residents told the people of Kiev. And when the latter came to the store and said “Hello, good girl Oksana! ”, The latter’s amazement knew no bounds. “And how do you all know me?! ” In short, the rest at the Movinpik hotel was a success. I also remember boat trips to Egypt to the island of "Pharaoh", and diving, unforgettable dishes of national cuisine from lamb. And what kind of coffee is sold in Jordan! You can't buy this anywhere else. We took him home in kilos.
Two weeks spent in Jordan really turned out to be magical days in the tales of the East. As a memento of this amazing country, we took away numerous souvenirs, travel notes, Jordanian coffee, wonderful photographs, excellent tan and very
good memories.