Arrival, and Travel to Jordan

Ed & Cal, discussing trip plans.

Kerry & Cindy wait for connections.

 Tuesday June 14, 2011

by Tom Steele

Have you ever struggled opening a hermetically sealed Kosher airline meal?  Have you ever cursed the Transportation Security Administration for restricting carry-on pocket knives?  Both were done enroute to Tel Aviv as our meals were served among fellow passengers.  Observing our fellow passengers provided an entertaining exercise in observing religious costumery.  Several orders of clothing and hair styles could be observed among observant Jews and Muslims, some of whom were speaking in 

accent free slightly Chicago tinged English.  A smooth flight made the traveling experience a little less religious than turbulent prayer filled flights experienced by most of us. We landed safely at David Ben Gurion Airport at Tel Aviv without incident.  

Our journey of discovery began as we proceeded on a bus through Tel Aviv, past Jerusalem, past the Mount of Olives, into the West Bank, through the Wilderness of Judea, past the Dead Sea, and to the passage to the Kingdom of Jordan at the Allenby Bridge/King Hussein Bridge .... all within the space of 45 minutes.

Jerusalem, from the West Bank side of the wall.

The Holy Land is incredibly compact.  The border transit point is conveniently located in the middle of nowhere.  One of our traveling party discovered that Israeli border police carrying lethal looking automatic weapons don't like their photographs taken.  Chuckles abounded as the miscreant photographer had to stand and have his photos reviewed by the photographed security agent with the single word, "delete," commanded after each photograph.  Travel fatigue also clouds eyes, since one of our travellers could not, after repeated calls for passports, find his.  "You have 36 names and only 35 passports," muttered our guide, Sami.  The passport was  eventually found hanging around his neck.  At last,we were on our way to the truly ancient site of Petra.  Due to travel delays, our trip extended into the desert night.  Thanks to coordination by Dr. Cal Johnson, the only church organist I know with a Phi Beta Kappa briefcase, the Beit Zaman Hotel restaurant remained open to accommodate our 10:00PM arrival.  An exquisite buffet was served serving Western and Middle Eastern specialties.  The coordination required to execute a good tour is almost overwhelming.  Cal, Cindy Saunders and Ed Schneider have our utmost admiration for their planning and hard work to assemble this tour.  Finally, the day was done 34 hours after it began.  Trust me, brushing your teeth after 34 hours is a luxurious experience.  In bed by midnight, with the next day to begin at 6:30 AM.