Dead Sea and Petra

Dead Sea at morning.

Today we left the Dead Sea and traveled to Petra.  It took most of the day.  We made two stops along the way; one at Mt. Nebo and one at Madaba.

Dead Sea from hotel lobby.

Mt. Nebo is where God showed Moses the Promised Land and then Moses died.  He never did make it to the Promised Land.  After looking out from Mt. Nebo, poor Moses must have said to heck with this and decided not going to the Promised Land may not be so bad.  The site is beautiful and is currently owned by the Franciscan Monks.  They are in the process of preserving the mosaic floor and completely renovating the church.  On a clear day you can see to Jerusalem but today was not one of those days.  There are a lot of people coming and going which makes the site busy.  If you could spend some time there, it would probably be very moving. 

Jordanian landscape.

Monument to Moses dedicated by Pope John Paul.

View from top of Mt. Nebo.

Church at Madaba

We then proceeded to Madaba and visited a church and then had lunch.  After lunch, we drove for three hours to Petra.  It was dark once we arrived, took a walk around and then had dinner.  The hotel is great, as they all were. 

Some of the art inside the church.

Lunch

Entering Petra area.

Tomorrow, we visit Petra and return via camel.  It should be another full day.  Day after tomorrow, we leave for home.