Holy Land Pilgrimage Journal (Day 13)

Tuesday, 24th September 2019

Once we left our hotel at the Dead Sea, we were on the road pretty much all day today. We followed the Israeli Jordan border all the way down to the Red Sea and crossed at Aqaba. At the border was our first drama for the day. Three of our tour group were pulled up on the Jordan side of the border by customs. It seems their souvenirs purchased in Israel breached Jordanian law. The offending items were a small menorah (a Jewish candelabra). Instead of just confiscating the items, they sent our group back over the Israeli border to dispose of them before letting them through customs. Two of them were actually escorted out by a soldier. You can imagine their stress and anxiety during this ordeal. As a result, we were all held up at the border for over an hour. After finally clearing immigration, we set off on our long journey back up the east side of the border towards the ‘Wadi Rum’ desert. Just before we reached the main highway in Aqaba, a car drove through the wrong side of a roundabout causing drama number two! The bus driver took evasive action, causing the bus to sharply veer onto the opposite side of the road, as he locked up the brakes. Fortunately, we avoided an accident… just! With a few frayed nerves, we continued on through the desert and enjoyed the magnificent views of the barren, rocky mountains.

Our destination was the ‘Wadi Rum’ desert, where we set off for a two-hour jeep ride through the desert. This was the scene for our third drama, which I will get to in a minute. Again, we were confronted by stunning views of the ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’, which were featured in the movie ‘Lawrence of Arabia’. This place was a photographer’s paradise with the desert sand against the imposing rock faces and the deep blue sky. 

Halfway through our desert adventure we stopped by a Bedouin village where they provided camel rides. A few of our group jumped at the opportunity for a short camel ride in the desert, when one of our group, Liz, came crashing to the ground when the rope holding the saddle broke. She didn’t seem to be hurt, just a little shaken. During afternoon tea at another nearby Bedouin tent, the shock of the fall hit hard, causing Liz to feel quite ill. She was loaded into one of the vehicles and rushed off to the nearest clinic for medical attention. After a lot of drama and an ambulance ride to the hospital 70 km away, she was cleared of any major injuries. All of this meant we arrived in Petra, our final destination for the day, quite late. We praise God that all three of these incidents only resulted in a bit of inconvenience and discomfort, when you consider how much worse each situation could have been. God’s hand has certainly been upon us today and we have been blessed by the rugged beauty of His mighty creation. Driving through the barrenness also gave us a brief insight into the hot, dry and tough conditions that the Israelites would have journeyed through when they left Egypt during the Exodus. Any wonder they complained so much and wanted to return to Egypt. The vulnerability of this desert space is very real and presents a similar life of challenges for the Bedouin today!

Throughout this pilgrimage, we have been treated to some exceptional accommodation in very fancy hotels. Never before have we stayed in such places! Our hotel in Petra, where we will spend our final two nights is simply beautiful, offering very fine service, facilities and food. We have been so blessed to receive such generous hospitality. It is hard to believe our journey is coming to an end, but we look forward to the final experiences on our itinerary before leaving this intriguing part of the world.