Day 16 - hot (29degC) dry, windy Big road trip today - after a super size breakfast at the Dead Sea Holiday Inn. Started at Shunet in the east side of the Jordan Valley just in front of the Gilead Hills, where Bert and the NZMR struggled to clean out the Turks in 1918. Fertile, irrigated farmland now, still a small village. Couple of pics then onto Mt Nebo where Moses saw the Promised Land and then promptly died. He never made it over the River Jordan. Mt Nebo area is desperately dry on the west side, not so bad on the north and east. There is a modern Franciscan Church there now and it is a key site for Christian pilgrimages - heaps of busloads of pilgrims from all over the world were there and we got through it quickly.
From the top of Mt Nebo you can easily see the Promised land as well as the Moabite Hills and the Ammonite Hills beyond (see pic). Makes me think of FM.
Then it was on to Madaba, viewed the oldest surviving map of the Holy Land in the world - a ceramic map in the floor of a church. Otherwise a nice agricultural town of about 85,000 people with a reputation for religious tolerance between Moslems and Christians. Had interesting culture around the law - even these days if someone is killed, the murderer and his father and grandfather and all the family are sent into exile for up to 3 generations! Big reason to not do it I would say.
Then we drove south for 1hr to a huge Crusader castle at Kerak - which has totally dominated the landscape since 1142 -and was there to protect Jerusalem from the south. Fascinating stuff - apparently last used by ISIS about 10years ago for warlike purposes.
Then it was on down further south for a couple of hours to Petra. Just booked in here and went out & to buy dinner - local dish called Gallayah - mince, onions, tomatoes and lats of herbs with pita bread - mmmmm!
Doing the Petra walk (about 5-6km) tomorrow - early start to avoid the heat.