Jordan part 1- The dead sea to Petra

 "Welcome."
It is a pretty nice place where the most common word you hear is welcome. "where are you from?" was always followed with a welcome to Jordan- even the police at armed checkpoints would say this.
We decided to have christmas in Jordan with my mom- it is after all quite close to bethlehem. We also decided to rent a car which turned out to be a great decision- nothing makes you more tuned in to a country than the possibility of getting lost- we only got turned around a few times surprisingly.
Our first stop was a town called Madaba south of the capital of Amman. Cool town just on its own but we stayed due to how close it is the the dead sea. Our first full day found us loaded up and heading west to the "beach" we stopped at Mt. Nebo and as you can see from the first picture got blasted by the wind- I was a bit nervous as to what the temp would be because  there was no way I would skip a chance to float in the water- even if it meant hypothermia. Luckily it warmed up as we dropped, and dropped, and dropped down to the dead sea- it is 400 meters below sea level and is 29% salt water. Honestly it was one of the weirdest feelings I have encountered- you just bob along right at the surface-crazy! Equally entertaining was the group of Iraqi men who stripped down to their tshirts and long johns and started giggling like kids they were having so much fun- they must not see many white kids because they all wanted a picture with Luca. He's like a mini Justin Beiber over here!

This guy was fantastic "you are my first tour today so I'm going to still be good!" he showed us Mt Nebo- where Moses retired of course.

So salty you can read the Vail Daily

Wilder and Lisa with the dead sea behind them.

This kid gets more attention than the rest of the Isom's put together! He's a mini Elvis.

Next we drove south to Petra- quick, name the civilization that carved Petra..... Yeah I didn't know either but the Nabbateans were a hard working bunch- this place is like Moab with rock art! By the end of the day we had walked over 12k and been asked if we wanted to ride a donkey 4000 times "sir, for your children." But the Isom kiddos were as tough as Indiana Jones on this day- a horse ride to the front gate then all on foot. If you ever get a chance- this is one one of those places you really should see- plus you get to wear such great headgear.

After walking about a mile through a slot canyon you go round a bend and see this... and a snack bar of course.

I know parents are always a bit biased but dang these kids are groovy.

Why yes we have been asked to pose for the cover of travelling couples international magazine.

This would be the monastary- or the walk in fridge I can't remember

everywhere we go- cats find Wilder- she is like the cat whisperer

Okay this guy was pretty cool, Luca said "dad he had bullets on!"

for just 1 Jordanian dinar you can get your picture taken by a midget.

To the nabbateans this was a way of bringing water into their civilization- to our kids it was the escape route for Indiana Jones and Short round.

and what day at Petra would be complete without visiting the Indiana Jones Gifts Shop? (yes they sold whips)

Next stop: Wadi Rum and the Red Sea.