Petra, Jordan - it has been a while...

PHOTOS HERE

Hi all!

I know that the last update was not too long ago but I think that a visit in Petra (Jordan) pays the effort...

So as you probably understand, I went to Petra in Jordan for the 2nd time for me. This visit, not as the first one, I went together with two friends from the Technion. We went alone, not as a part of an organized group but by our selves. It was really great!

We went to the border near Eilat on Thursday afternoon. We crossed to the Jordanian side and took a taxi to Wadi Musa. After a 1.5 hour drive we arrived to Wadi Musa, the village just near the archaeological site of Petra. Over there we went to Cleopatra Hostel. They welcomed us with a cup of tea and a smile. They were very nice and welcoming. It was already evening so we placed our things in the room and went to eat.

Next day in the morning, after a light breakfast, we went to the historical site. We walked all over the site- came in through the Siq to the Khazneh (the most known photos are of the Khazneh behind the walls of the narrow Siq), walked along the main road, climbed up the stairs carved in the stone to the High Place of Sacrifice and the Obelisks, came back down, went to the Roman like theatre (about 7000 places), continued to the Royal Tombs, walked along the Cardo (the main street), and to our final place - Ad-Deir, we climbed about 800 stairs.

Of course I have to mention the Toilets in the middle of the site - placed in a cave digged in the sand wall, very nice indeed. Also- we were thirsty so we stopped to drink some Bedouin tea, we were hungry so we ate some lunch in a buffe, nice. In the last place we visited - Ad-Deir, we met a couple from Holland who also stay in the same hostel as we did. We also met a group of Israelies who traveled over there as well.

After a long day of walking through the whole site, we came back to the hostel to shower and rest a little bit. Then we went together with the couple from Holland, Bas & Grit, to have dinner in a Turkish restaurant. On the next day we got up in the morning, packed our things (not too many...), said goodbye, and came back to Israel, again through the Arava crossing, where we left Tal's car.

Three more men I have to mention:

Musleh- our kind host in Cleopatra hostel, Tal's future husband after I sold her to him for 60 camels... And the second one is Ali- a tour guide, speaks 4 language and counting (Arabic, English, Italian, Spanish), and a very interesting man to talk to. The last one is an American from Illinois who came with us in the taxi back to the border. He told us that this is his 1st time outside the US, he decided to go to our region after he had a dream where he saw through a bird's eyes which was standing on Moses' shoulder, looking down from Mt.Nevo. Because of his dream he decided that he has to flourish the area and create a huge lake here... He was weird...

For conclusion- it was great to be back to Jordan, specially to Petra (where I haven't been for 9 years) and this time free. I recommend you all- GO to Petra, you wont be sorry!!

Yinon A.

Short update after a long time...

Hi there!

It has been a long time indeed since the last time I wrote here... So I just want to share with you what's going on with me these days.

First of all, in the end of last August I finished working with the youth in Dalia. It was two great years with the kids. I have learned a lot, had many excitements and educational events and much more.

Before that, on July, I had started working in SAP Labs IL in Karmiel. That is a very different direction of work "territory" that is new to me- working in a office all day, driving 50 min' to work and back each time, working outside of the Kibbutz... It is quite interesting transition...

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Right now, except for my work, I'm in the middle of the exams period of last semester. Some of the exams are behind me, and some are still ahead. After I'll finish those exams it will be the end of the first half of my degree (2 years out of 4...). Next semester is due to start on the end of this month.

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So- take care and have fun, don't forget to take a look in my Picasa photo album!

Yinon A.

Trip to Wadi Kelt - Kibbutz Dalia

PHOTOS HERE

Hello you all!

As part of the celebrations of 40 years to the reunion of Jerusalem, Kibbutz Dalia organized a trip to Jerusalem and its surroundings. The trip had 4 different groups which one of them went to Wadi Kelt (north-east to Jerusalem, more or less in the occupied territories). I was "in charge" of this group, not as a tour guide but as the "responsible man"...

Anyway, the trip was very nice. The terrain is quite similar to the one in my last trip to Jordan. We had water streaming all along the way. In some places there were pools which some of us entered into. Unfortunately I did not enter- not enough time and I did not want to have the "wolf" (if you know what I mean...).

In the end of the trip, which took us about 4 hrs, we went to Kibbutz Ramat-Rachel where we met the rest of the groups for lunch. It was very nice, the food was good, the atmosphere was better.

For conclusion- it was a very nice trip, I would love to do it again without a deadline...

Trip to Jordan - Wadis: Mukheiris, Manshala, Himara, Daba, Atun

PHOTOS HERE

Hi there!

I have just came back from 4 days of hiking in some beautiful wadis (rivers) in Jordan, just near the north-east coast of the Dead Sea. The wadis we hiked were: Wadi Mukheiris, Wadi Manshala, Wadi Himara, Wadi Daba & Wadi Atun.

We started on Friday the 6th of April when we crossed the border from Israel to Jordan in the Sheikh Hussein crossing on the Jordan River (near Beit She'an, IL). We took a taxi to movenpeek hotel, on the north-east coast of the Dead sea, where we planned to start our trip. On the way we stopped to buy some food for 4 days.

After about 2 hours driving in the taxi we reached our starting point. We started hiking up in Wadi Mukheiris. It's a beautiful wadi with streaming water, canyons and some small waterfalls. The water in the wadi were a bit salty in the beginning but got better as long as we walked up the stream. Some of the waterfalls we had to bypass around, climbing on rocks and the steep sides of the canyon. In the end of our trip in the wadi we reached a tall waterfall of about 20m and a very nice cave with water coming from the middle of it. We stayed the night in the wadi and on the 2nd day we continued to Wadi Manshala.

We climbed out from Wadi Mukheiris and started walking towards Wadi Manshala. It is also very beautiful, as the last wadi, with lots of palm trees hanging from the side walls of the canyon. In this wadi we walked down through it, also bypassing some waterfalls we could not go through. In the end (the middle of the wadi) we reached a waterfall we could not go down, that was where our trail went outside of the wadi. We climbed out and spent the night above the wadi.

On the 3rd day we continued to Wadi Himara. On the way we saw a lot of sheep herds, ewes (mother sheep) and lambs. When we got to Wadi Himara we walked down in it until we've reached the tallest waterfall in Jordan- 80m high. Its stream was quite weak but still if was very nice. We went down, bypassing the waterfall, just to reach the bottom of it. from the we continued in the wadi until we got to the 2nd 80m waterfall, only this one got out from the canyon through a crack in the red stone wall of the canyon. This waterfall was beautiful from its top. It was too bad that going down is only possible with climbing equipment (ropes...). That was the spot where our trip in the wadi ended. We got out of it and walked down west towards the road on the coast of the Dead Sea.

Because we had planned our trip for 4 days and finished the trek in 3 we've decided to start another hick in another wadi- Wadi Zarqa Ma'in. We planned to hitch-hick to the starting point of the trek, just near Hammamat Ma'in (Hot spa), and from there to descend. We've succeeded to hitch-hick to the junction above Hammamat Ma'in. But when we tried to go down to the starting point (avoiding the road and the buildings down) we did not find a suitable way to do so. It was already evening so we decided to stop, spend the night there, and decide what to do the next morning.

In the morning of the 4th day we went back to the junction above Hammamat Ma'in and hitch-hiked to two wadis we wanted to visit: Wadi Atun & Wadi Daba. First we went to Wadi Daba. It is a 30min walk in each direction. The Wadi has a stream of hot water. As you go further into the wadi the water gets warmer. It was very nice. 2nd we went to Wadi Atun, also with a stream of hot water. Here it's about 1h in each direction. In the end of the "way" there is a 15m waterfall of cold water and beside it there is a hot stream that created a hot "bath". So we took a cold shower and a hot bath...

After that we came back to the road where we set to meet Amjad our taxi drive. We met him and started our drive back to the border crossing, not forgetting to stop to buy some Arab sweets and Guava juice.

One thing we forgot to buy in the beginning of the trip- tea, coffee & sugar. All the trip we had talked about it... Any way it was a GREAT trip!!