Petra is probably the reason most people including us visit Jordan but we have learnt that there is so much more to Jordan than Petra alone and so much more to Petra than the ubiquitous poster picture of the so-called Treasury building, actually a tomb but thought to contain treasure, though none was ever found. It has been called the lost city, but was only lost to the west and rediscovered in 1812. Bedouin still lived in the ruins of this large abandoned city 2...

We leave the Dead Sea hotel to drive south 5 hours to Wadi Rumm via Bethany on the Jordan River where Jesus was baptised, near the mountain where Elijah ascended to heaven. The river here is barely 10 metres wide, the water murky brown, the river shrunk as water is taken for irrigation on both sides, also causing the dead sea to shrink and become saltier. On both sides of the river pilgrims dunk themselves and a screaming baby fully three times in the holy, b...

A three hour coach drive north to much greener countryside, past poplars and olive trees to Umm Qais and the ruins of the old Roman city of Gadara, site of the biblical story of the Gadarene swine and a viewpoint over the Sea of Galilee or Lake Tiberius with the Israeli city of Tiberius on its far shore, overshadowed by the Golan Heights, its strategic military importance all too obvious, and Syria and Lebanon beyond in the mist. Only the River Jordan marks an...

I love how travel broadens the mind and challenges preconceptions. It is easy to lump all middle east arab countries together but reading about Lawrence of Arabia showed how tribal differences prevented arab unity in the past and still today. Jordan is a monarchy since WW1, a small country of 6 million, 92% muslim and 7% christian. Current King Abdullah 2nd's mother was English, he studied in the USA and at Sandhurst. His father Hussein made peace with Israel i...

I must admit this is something of a cheat as our long weekend in Bilbao was at the end of March, but with all the sightseeing, bars and pintxos (basque tapas) I didn't get around to updating the blog, which seems a bit of a shame as Bilbao is a brilliant city to visit. It apparently rains 45% of the year, but we were treated to warm blue sunny skies and not a drop of rain fell. There is so much more to the city than just the Guggenheim museum such as good food an...