The following is a summary of our 11th day on our April, 2013 Israel tour.

April 17 (Day 11)

Jordan RiverToday we woke up at 6 a.m., ate breakfast, and loaded the bus.  We were off around 7:30 a.m.  Our Israeli guide, Shlomo, accompanied us to the Jordanian border called the Allenby Bridge Crossing.  All went fairly well but a bit slow at the border.  We were greeted by “Mo,” our Jordanian guide, as well as our Jordanian bus and driver.

Once our passports were processed, we drove to nearby “Bethany Beyond the Jordan.”  According to John 1, this was the area where Jesus was baptized.  We also read Joshua 2 about the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan here.  This is also where Elijah (2 Kings 2) ascended to heaven in a chariot.

Mt. NeboNext, we ascended from the Jordan Valley to Mt. Nebo and Medeba close by.  From Mt. Nebo we read from Deuteronomy 34 and recalled how it was here that Moses viewed the Promised Land.  Visibility was fair, allowing us to see the Dead Sea and the Jericho area.  It was on Mt. Nebo that Moses died.  In Medeba we visited a church where a mosaic was used as the church’s floor.  This famous “Medeba mosaic” that dates to the 6th century AD includes a map of this region.  Included in this mosaic is a detailed map of Jerusalem, detailing the Cardo and the Holy Sepulcher among other things.

Medeba MapFrom the Medeba Plateau, we drove south on the Desert Highway towards Petra.  The drive took a little over 3 hours.  We stopped about half-way for a brief rest stop.  We arrived at our hotel just outside the entrance of Petra.  We enjoyed dinner together and look forward to entering the site of Petra tomorrow.  We will also drive further south to Wadi Rum for jeep rides before eventually spending tomorrow night in Aqaba.

To see more sample pictures of today, go to the April, 2013 page.

We cross back into Israel on Friday morning!

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