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The first day started off with a three hour camel ride in Lawrence’s old stomping grounds, Wadi Rum. Yes, camel riding is the iconic Middle Eastern experience (not to mention Lawrence’s preferred method of transportation) but believe you me, we could have lived without the angry, farting camels and all the leg and back pain associated with being perched atop them for three hours.

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Next it was off to the black basalt columns of Umm Qais, but not, of course, without a bit of a run-around first. After happening upon a bus to the awful, awful city of Irbid, we intended to catch another bus to our hostel in Umm Qais. Instead, an opportunistic Jordanian man attempted to drive [...]

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The Quarryscapes project started in 2005 and is now almost finished … The project is basically an effort to study and raise awareness about ancient quarries in the eastern Mediterranean area. In this context, we in Jordan studied ancient Bronze aged quarries in the Jafr area, Nabatean quarries in Petra and Roman quarries in Jerash. In the upcoming meeting, I will present some of our work in Jerash.

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The Times Online is reporting that Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras will take to the stage next weekend in the ancient Jordanian city of Petra for a £5,000 ($8745 USD) a head charity concert celebrating Pavarotti’s life on behalf of both United Nations relief programs in Afghanistan and local Jordanian charities.

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Chef at Large, Michael Smith & Prince Mired Al Hussein of Jordan get cooking on the Food Channel the help of the Petra Kitchen.

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In the film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” Harrison Ford finds the Holy Grail. In real life, there are many tourists whom find a similar treasure in the magnificent structures that make up the ancient Nebatean city of Petra. Below are some excerpts from some recently visiting this “New World Wonder” – sharing their life-experiences there in photos, video, and prose:

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“You want a horse? You wont make it five feet” – This was the advice of a young man who is part of the “horse mafia” that operates here in Petra. If you go into Petra as a group you have to pay an additional 7 JD on top of the large sum of cash you already dished out. This money goes directly to the horse mafia in order to keep them off your tail and to allow you to ride a horse if you wish.

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dj.tigersprout of Aminus3.com shares with us this gorgeous picture as one of many he’s taken of the moonscape of Wadi Rum … describing the grandeur that inspired the likes of T.E. Lawrence, when DJ writes:
i happily leave you with another near monochromatic ochre desert shot i dug up the other night — it never made [...]

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Me personally, I enjoyed my visits to Mount Nebo especially the latter.
There was no haze that evening and from this 3300 ft. elevation located just 6 miles north west of Madaba, giving me an opportunity to look out onto “Gilead, as far as Dan,” and seeing for miles what Moses was recorded seeing in Deuteronomy [...]

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Earlier this week, Barak Obama delivered a speech facing the ruins of the Umayyad Palace, adjacent to the Temple of Hercules, both located on the historic Hill of the Citadel. Known as Jabal al-Qal’a as in the Arabic, or Rabbath-Ammon to afficianatos of antiquity, the site offers travelers to Amman an opportunity to take at least 9,000 of history … contrary to the chronology offered by ABC New Senior National Correspondent Jake Tapper. Here are 24 things Senator Obama may have seen while there:

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