Crossing the Jordan

After our wonderful stay at the goat farm we started the third day of the Jesus Trail which was roughly 20 km to Arbel. The third day of hiking was much farther than the first two, but also more rewarding. We hiked up and over the Horns of Hattin where we got a beautiful view of the Sea of Galilee. We then made our way down the mountains and stopped at the tomb of Jethro. While most of the group was well clothed, others had to fashion long skirts out of our newly purchased scarves in order to get in (even the boys). We arrived thirsty, tired and extremely dusty to our guest house in Arbel where we were warmly greeted with lemon water and a refreshing pool.
While we all thought the third day of the hike was beautiful, the fourth day was magnificent. The day began by climbing down the cliffs of Arbel which were truly breathtaking. We felt as if we were on top of the world. Unlike the sweltering heat of the previous days, a steady breeze kept us cool in the sun. "500 Miles" by the Proclaimers quickly became our theme song for the hike. "Da da dat da's" rang out in the mountains. A great sense of accomplishment came over us as we finished the hike and looked up at the distance we had come. We finished the day by visiting the Sea of Galilee and Capernaum.
June 10th was a well needed day of rest on the bus. We drove 2 hours to the boarder of Jordan, after which we traveled 4 more hours to the Wadi Musa. Sadam our new tour guide for our time in Jordan generously bought Katie a cake for her birthday! After a long day of driving we enjoyed a delicious dinner and cake on the patio of our hotel as we watched the sun set. Being in Jordan is significantly different than Israel. Put simply, it is very very dry. Also, we no longer have the luxury of drinking tap water, as Mr. Friesen puts it, "it is too hard on our delicate Canadian tummy's". Bottled water is now our best friend, and hopefully now thanks to a certain student's question we all know that we don't need bottled water to shower in.
Today was spent in Petra. Our guide Sadam shared his knowledge of the great city and ancient ruins. We walked through the shaded Siq which opened up to the famous treasury used in the third Indiana Jones movie. You can imagine what song we were singing today. Then we found ourselves climbing roughly 850 stairs to the monastery.  Once again the view was gorgeous, and some of us even walked to a point that was apparently "more than the best view". In addition to this wonderful view we were seated and served hot tea out of good Bedouin hospitality. A truly memorable experience. After walking in heat all day nothing was more appreciated than our trip to the Turkish baths. The cleaning included extremely hot steam rooms, scrub downs, and massages finished off with a clean towel and tea. I have never felt more clean in my entire life. So far the trip is fabulous and we are all filled with anticipation and excitement for our second day in Petra tomorrow.
Rachel Blaine (having two Rachel's can be confusing at times)