Petra - The pics speak for themselves!

I've always dreamed about visiting Petra, and all of the tv shows we've seen did not prepare us for the beauty and uniquness of this place. It is MUCH bigger than you'd imagine, and it takes 30-45 minutes to walk into the main part of the ruins. We did not have time to stay for the candle-light evening show, so I guess we will have to return. For anyone planning a trip to the Middle East, we would suggest at least 5 days in Jordan, then 3 or 4 in the UAE.

Dead Sea

Well, now I know where the story of Jesus walking on the water probably originated. There is no way to describe the buoyancy of the Dead Sea. You just bob up & down and cannot sink. You could easily bounce your way across the sea from Jordan to Israel. It's water that feels slimey and tastes horrible, stings your eyes to the point of temporary blindness, burns any shaved skin to the point of tears and if you're a guy and pee shortly before entering the water, you'll want to detach your genitals for about 30 minutes to an hour. (There are signs warning small children of the bouyance issue and eyes, but no mention of the shaving or peeing issues!) Any way, it was worth the pain & suffering. Oh, and the mud is gross!

Where Have They Been Lately?

Here in UAE! I've been so busy with the holidays and work that I've neglected to post in 6 weeks. We had several XMAS parties, put up a tree and saw the decorations at the mall. But I guess since we live here, we didn't bother to take any pictures to post. I mean really, you all have XMAS trees at home and the malls are decorated, and you don't take pics and post them, so why should we? Seriously, though, it was stupid on my part. I've been asked, "What's it like to be in a Muslim country for the holidays?" Well, here in Dubai, the malls are decorated, all the Christians put up trees (real ones run about $200US), the stores play both religious and secular XMAS music and you can buy a whole ham in the pork shop! The weather is the only non-XMAS aspect really. So sadly, I have no pitures to prove all of this. Next year, I promise. Now I have to post more pics from JORDAN!