Crossing the Border to Jordan!

Day 11 – Wednesday March 10 “The Other Side of the Jordan”

Transfer to Jordan at Allenby Bridge. Bethany-beyond-Jordan, Mt. Nebo, Madeba.
CINDY

The border crossing was not too bad. I heard it’s getting back into Israel that will be the problem since Jordan is a Muslim country and not on the greatest of terms with Israel… we’ll see..

Our bus took us to the border crossing. There we said our goodbyes to Ayaad, our trusty bus driver, and to Hal, (I will miss him…).. crossed through border control and found our tour guide and Jordanian bus driver once in Jordan. The crazy thing: we had an armed police man accompany us throughout Jordan. His name was Solomon. Hopefully, he would be wise with that rifle. Lol. We were assured by our tour guide from the beginning that the armed police man was there just to move traffic. Pft. Right. We’ll see. Lol.
Well the fact is that Jordan is trying to increase its tourism. So they want all their tourists feel safe. Yeah. Man with gun. I totally feel safe. Ha!

Well Jordan here we come!

We were driven through miles and miles of stark desert. It was hot that day! Nearly 100 degrees.. it gets hot when you are below sea level!
We passed Bedouin settlements upon Bedouin settlements. They are makeshift tents usually in a cluster. The men wear the red Bedouin scarves (they look like the Palestinian ones but red and white instead of black and white). They are out leading their sheep to find some tuffs of green pastures wherever they can find and some water. Camels also became a usual sighting☺

We arrived to the Jordan River to the place where Jesus was baptized. Let me tell you. It was not a glorious place AT ALL. I always pictured a gentle running clear river where Jesus went down and came out of us. NOPE. It was mucky and muddy and dirty. Ew. Seriously. I did not even want to put my finger in it. The Jordan river is the border between Israel and Jordan. I stood there on the Jordan side. I could literally just walk across the river and in 30 seconds be back in Israel. Hmm. Tempting. Ok. Back to the river. So yeah, it was not nice looking at all. And all I could think “Jesus, really? Really? You went down in that? Out of the many waterfalls, clear springs in Israel.. you decided to come here to this place of the Jordan and be baptized?!” wow. Here we were below sea level. Something Hal said when we were in Israel still resonated within me “Jesus went to the lowest place on earth to even go lower still.” Lower still…Sit back. Reflect. Wow.




We also got to go to Mt. Nebo.
Random sighting: a monk smoking a cigar with a camera around his neck! Lol. I wish I had taken a picture!

Mt. Nebo is where Moses stood and saw the Promised Land.. the land that he was not able to enter.. but he got to see it. I stood there. There was much dust and haze in the air so you couldn’t see that much in the distance.. but I can imagine.. just everything that Moses saw for the last 40 years: desert. Sand. Everything mostly in unicolor. Dryness. A few green or brown patches of some vegetation. Hot. Weariness. A Hope Deferred at times. Moaning and groaning. AND THEN. He climbed this mountain by himself and looked over : WOW! Color everywhere! The mountains. Valleys. Hills. Water. Even the desert bloomed on the other side! Wow. The promise was not just a figment of his imagination. It’s real. It wasn’t something empty without sustenance. He was now able to see it with his own eyes. God is not a liar. He is true. He is truth. He is faithful… to fulfill every promise. He truly has the best in store for you… abundantly!.. not just enough.. but more than enough.. more than you can ever imagine.. surpassing every expectation and breaking every doubt and ungodly belief. Wow. Wooooooooooow!

standing atop Mt. Nebo.. unfortunately you can't see much b/c of the haze :(