Jordan - Madaba & Mt. Nebo

We started the day with a long drive from Petra to Madaba, noting the change in the countryside as we went. Thinking about Biblical times, Petra, with the surrounding vast desert was the land of the Edomites and it was harsh and dry. As we travelled towards the north it became greener. This was Biblical Moab and was the place that Naomi and Elimelech had gone to when Israel was in famine. It was there that their son married Ruth, who returned with Naomi to Bethlehem. Much of this land of Moab was dry too, but not as arid as around Petra. By the time we were nearing Madaba we were back into lush farmland. Our driver suddenly stopped the minibus at one point to show us a particular flower growing wild by the side of the road. It was the back iris - the national flower of Jordan. It only flowers for a couple of weeks each year so we were fortunate to see it. Madaba is famous for it's mosaics and we were delighted to see the exceptional 6th Century mosaic map of the Holy Land that we had read about. Yes, it's true that it really does show fish swimming towards the dead sea and then turning around and swimming away from the salty water. We were then taken to a tourist shop which was also the factory where the items were made. We were told that they place was an initiative of the King of Jordan to employ disabled people. We had a tour of the area where mosaics were being made and marvelled at the way they are all put together. The shop was incredibly expensive, but well worth visiting just to see the items that were so skillfully made. We found some items in our price range, but marvelled at the furniture with inlaid mother-of-pearl which fetched a price in the region of $30,000. Our next stop was at Mt. Nebo to view the mountain on which Moses died, and to see how close he was to the Promised Land. It took a long time to get back through the border at the Allenby Bridge, to return to our hotel in Israel. The queues were long and bags were thoroughly examined. The young lady with us was taken into a room to be personally searched. It's always good to realise that although these things hold us up, it's important for the safety of Israel that everyone does get searched well. Ultimately it keeps out any terrorists, so we need to put up with small inconveniences. The three day Jordan tour was good and our young Jordanian guide, and our driver were very pleasant. Well done, Travelujah!