Before leaving for Israel, I found out I would occasionally travel into Jordan to bolster our security cooperation mission. To me, Jordan was an afterthought. I knew I would go, but I had no desire to learn much about it since I thought I would travel in, do work-related objectives, then travel back into Israel. That assumption was categorically wrong on many fronts. The biggest mistake I made was not learning anything about Jordan. Jordan is a country rich in history and I am thankful I later learned some of its history. Jordan is also a beautiful country to visit. The sites and people are wonderful and a pleasure to explore. Thankfully, we would occasionally have time after our mission to travel a bit. While I did go to Amman several times, while there I did not have time to explore. My exploration of Jordanian history took place outside metropolitan areas. During this Jordan series I discover the histories of Mount Nebo, Kerak Castle, Petra and finally Wadi Rum in Southern Jordan.
2 Quick Stories, Story 1
Before delving into one of the four sites, I need to tell two stories. My first trip into Jordan occurred about 2 weeks after I arrived in Israel. We were headed in for a training conference. For this mission we would cross at the King Hussein Bridge (or Allenby Bridge), which is just east of Jericho. It was, however, not my first visit to the border. I visited the crossing on my first day in the office picking someone up and bringing them back to the Consulate. I knew the Jordan river formed the border between Jordan and Israel at this check point, but I didn’t see it during my first visit. So, when I finally crossed over, I was excited to see the river. This is the river Jesus was baptized in, and, the site the baptism occurred at is very close to this border crossing. This made the Jordan River in this location very important historically speaking. After processing through Israeli security, getting everything approved and waiting on line, we finally drove across the bridge. I was sadly let down. I didn’t see the river! At this time of year (end of October), before the rain started, the river is weak, and the heavy vegetation on either side of the water blocked my view. I was disappointed. Several days later when we came back, my spirits lifted, but just barely. I saw the river, but, again, at the time it was more like a big stream and did not impress me. When I visited the actual baptism site several months later, the river had gained some depth and strength, but I could throw a paper airplane over it since it was so narrow. Stay tuned for that trip.
Story 2
The second story involves a vehicle mishap. When we traveled in Jordan, we tried to keep a low profile. While the country is safe for the most part, you just never know, so we were as careful as possible. Working our way back to the border crossing one mission we decided to take an alternate route through a town our security personnel told us was potentially dangerous instead of around the town which would take longer. Our lead vehicle spotted an issue and avoided it by leaning across the yellow line, but my trail vehicle didn’t see the problem until too late, and, by then, a large truck appeared in the opposite lane. The hazard was a pothole the size of Montana. We hit it the hole straight on. As soon as we hit, the tire blew and we had to pull over to change it. Remember, we were trying to avoid a potentially dangerous situation by getting through the town as quickly as possible. That plan failed miserably. Imaging traveling though a desert country in the Middle East and you see 5 or 6 Americans, dressed in slacks, shirts and ties, along the road trying to change a tire as quickly as possible. I almost wished there was a camera around to video us. I’m sure we looked like a NASCAR team trying to change a tire while a couple of us watched the roads to make sure no one was going to stop and harass us. To make matter worse, the spare was just a temporary donut, that was almost out of air. It was supposed to have around 50 or 60 psi of air, but it only had 17. We limped the car across the border, made it about several miles in and stopped at the only gas station around where we learned just how low the spare was and filled it so we could baby it back to Jerusalem.
Thankfully my other trips into Jordan were not as nail-biting. Learning about and seeing Jordan should be on your bucket list. Don’t make it a “If I can get there I might”, make it a “I am going next month.” Stay tuned for more of this series. Come back every week to read additional adventures Beyond Last Week, and good luck traveling.
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