Day 4 — Jordan River, Bet She’an, Crossing into Jordan
This was another full day, but maybe not so much to write about as yesterday. Well, I’ll try to be shorter, anyway.
I overslept this morning and so missed the readings on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, but I was in time to see the sun rise over a bank of clouds. It was a peaceful beginning to a busy day.
After three nights at the Ron Beach Hotel, we checked out, loaded up the bus, and headed for our first stop, a Baptismal site on the Jordan River. Apparently, because of political considerations, this was the closest that Christians could get to the place on the Jordan believed to be where John the Baptist baptised Jesus (after which Jesus saw the heavens open and heard God call him His beloved son). So this facility grew up around this spot and people come to visit and be baptised here. They’ve built some mini-amphitheatres with seating and paved ramps (and railways, lest anyone fall down or go where they shouldn’t!) for the purpose.
Nancy read a sort of combined version of the story (each Gospel is a little different — surprise, surprise) which was lovely. Then we had some time for reflection and/or shopping. I think we all did a little of each. Then it was back on the bus to our next stop, Bet She’an National Park.
Bet She’an is an ancient city that, like many others in the region, had waves of inhabitants over the years who built and re-built it. Before excavations began in the 1920s (and continued in earnest from 1986), the entire city was covered in dirt — just another hill in the area. You can see from the model just a portion of how it looked in its heyday. One portion of its history is that after Saul and his sons lost the battle at Mt. Gilboa and died, their bodies were displayed on the city’s walls. Soon after, King David took the city and it became the administrative seat of the region. Then the Assyrians came, then others, including the Romans who did some major building. (Check out the picture of the folks in a line sitting on what look like posts in the wall. This was the public latrine, with no separation between men and women. Ha!)
After, or I should say, during this tour, we got well baked. The temperature was well over 110. That, combined with the sun and humidity of the area, had us all dripping wet and red faced. So we took some time to cool down in the shade (though not in air conditioning) and had lunch.
Then it was on to the border crossing into Jordan. No pictures of this; they’re forbidden. We first had to go through Passport Control to leave Israel (walk past the guy with the automatic rifle, stand around, stand around, get in line, wait, finally get stamped). Then we had to grab our luggage and walk to a waiting area. We were waiting for the bus that would take us over the bridge (over the Jordan River, down the center of which is the border between Israel and Jordan) to where we would go through Passport Control to enter into Jordan.
There was a long wait for this bus and people were filling up the waiting place. When the bus finally came, everyone there (not just our group but many other, local folks), surged forward to load suitcases in the bottom storage area, then pushed to get in line to actually get a seat on the bus. Of course, everyone had to show a passport to get on, and provide a ticket. It wasn’t exactly a madhouse, but let me just say that it wasn’t a very orderly process and we saw some tempers flare — thankfully not ours!
Here let me do a short paean of praise for our guide Mishi. He really took care of us. He let us know where to go and what to do (and what to watch out for), did all the negotiation (everything seems to be a negotiation here), got us in place, got — and handed out — our tickets. For instance, on the Israeli side, he got an extra window opened up (there had been only one) so we could get through faster. And when the lady there shut that window after getting about 5 folks through (her lunch time, apparently), Mishi arranged for it to be opened again until we were all done. Thanks Mishi!
So after we rode that bus over the river (not very wide at this point you realize), after a long wait (stuck in traffic? couldn’t see) on the bridge, we were finally dropped outside the Immigration Control office on the Jordanian side. (No pictures allowed here, either.) We had to leave our luggage outside while we were in line inside. And when I say outside, I mean in the heat, so whoever was watching the luggage again got well baked. At least it was shaded. Whew!
Here is where we met Fadi, who will be our tour guide in Jordan. He had things well in hand and got us through this portion of the experience. After we were all photographed, thumb-printed, and stamped, we picked up our luggage and walked it to another building where we had to pass it through a scanner. We picked it up from there and walked, finally, to our new bus.
After a quick pit stop (called “W.C.” here, for water closet and the first time I saw water hoses in each stall, but no toilet paper — um, use your imagination), the bus progressed to the next gate where our passports had to be checked again before we were finally allowed in the country.
All that took less than two hours, which Fadi said was pretty good. What a process!
We had about a two-hour bus ride into Amman. Once there we got a good overview of the city, from the poorer, crowded areas, along a thoroughfare with beautiful public buildings, through a shopping district, past the U.S. Embassy (no pictures here, either), to a wealthy area with large, beautiful houses, and finally to our hotel. A quick freshen up (me for the shower, right away, after peeling off some pretty stinky garments) and change of clothes, then dinner and a little exploring around the hotel.
Then, off to choose a selection of today’s pictures for the blog (see below) and to write this. Now that I’m done, I’m off to upload and then hit the sack. Couldn’t resist including the picture of the hotel room. See what a great sleeping experience I have waiting for me? G’night y’all!
