Day 12 – Saturday, September 14: Departing Amman / Jordan Crossing, Wadi Rum
Six in the group began their flight home from Amman while the rest of us began our day in Jerusalem with breakfast. After checking out, we loaded the bus and drove to Elat in southern Israel. The temps in the south were once again a bit warmer than Jerusalem, with highs around 95. We read from Luke 10 as we left the hotel.
Timnah/Tabernacle Model
We left the 7:20 today from Jerusalem and drove south along Rt. 90. We passed by Jericho, Qumran, Ein Gedi, and Masada and the Dead Sea. Continuingsouth through the Aravah (Rift Valley), we made a brief stop at Kibbutz Yotvata (for ice cream!) to Timnah. In ancient days (13th-12th century BC), this was a copper mine of the Egyptians. Here we walked through a full-size replica of the Old Testament Tabernacle. As we left the site, we read from Hebrews 9. We also hiked up and over Solomon’s Pillars where we saw a Temple of Hathor (the Egyptian goddess of fertility who took the shape of a golden calf).
Red Sea / Rabin Southern Border Crossing
Next, we drove to the Coral Beach in Elat and enjoyed about an hour on the shoreline of the Red Sea. Some in the group got wet in the beautiful aqua-blue water. There is lots of coral here and colorful fish.
We then drove to the border crossing with Jordan. The border on the Israeli side is named after the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The border crossing (we walked across to Israel) was very easy and we we crossed in record time with no issues at all!
“Today wad another blessed day! Following our travel down to Elat and the Red Sea, the border crossing into Jordan went very well. This was followed with a fantastic time in Wadi Rum. The beauty of the area is stunning. We are now at Captains, a Bedouin camp in the desert.”
Wadi Rum
Once we made the crossing, we met Sammy our Jordanian guide. We began driving north on Jordan’s Dessert Highway. We turned east to take us to Wadi Rum in this part of southern Jordan. This area was made famous by Sir Lawrence of Arabia during WWI (this British officer helped the Bedouin fight against the Turks), two jeeps (really, 4-wheel pickup trucks) were awaiting us to take us through the desert. It was a lot of fun driving through the sand. The views were amazing as well. We stopped by a Bedouin tent for tea and coffee. We made it to a rocky hill where we enjoyed a wonderful sunset. The jeeps then took us to Captain’s, our “Bedouin-style camp” for the night. Following a unique dinner (prepared underground), we enjoyed a bonfire before retiring for the evening.
Day 13 – Sunday, September 15: Wadi Rum, Petra
