Johnsons in Arabia: September 2015

Monday, September 28, 2015

Our Desert Journey Continues

This is one of the best road trips we have ever done! I wish the pictures could do it justice. I think all of our traveling friends need to experience this country and I especially hope to bring my mom here one day. She would love it!

It is the oldest place we have ever experienced and the entire time we felt like we were on a movie set. The boys were so excited about this place. We watched Indiana Jones The Last Crusades days before we got to Petra. Watching that movie motivated our boys. They walked a total of 7 miles that day and climbed 1000 steps to the top! Bryan and I were so impressed by their enthusiasm and interest in such a historical place. (You can learn more about Petra here. )

In the Siq.

On our last turn of the Siq we spotted the Treasury. Goosebumps!

Exploring the Siq.

Doing our 1000 steps.

We took one 30 second break while climbing the 1000 steps.

This is what we found at the top of the 1000 steps. Amazing! It was built as a tomb.

Taking a rest.

Resting and watching the goats.

Finally they got to ride donkeys. However, we were tricked and this was a two minute ride!

The famous Treasury.

The people fascinate me. Isn't she beautiful? She was selling water around step 500. Everyday she sits there and sells water.

This lady is 17 years old and has been working on the top of the mountain since she was 3. She likes to talk to tourist and offer tea. She also makes dolls and sells pieces of jewelry. A few of my doll collecting family members will be getting one for Christmas.

This little boy was selling rocks.

This little girl also sells rocks. The boys bought a few rocks from each child. We also had a long discussion about how children's lives are different all around the world. These kids do not get to go to school, travel, out to dinner or stay at hotels which really makes our boys think about life. I love how their little minds seem to grasp how lucky they are to have this wonderful life.

Caron and I had tea. Caron drank out of an old, dirty can and I had a sticky shot glass. I prayed that the water was boiled long enough.

Finally, we rode horses instead of hiking the last 20 minutes of gravel road.

I didn't even know that was in the background. I was so focused on Carter, whom we left behind.

On to the Dead Sea! The Dead Sea is about 3 hours from Petra. The GPS we followed took used a circuitous route. We followed main roads, gravel roads, mountain roads, narrow roads, roads with carcasses, and roads that seemed to lead us to the end of the world. However, we never gave up and were never completely lost. We found the dead and relaxed our tired muscles in the 2nd saltiest place on earth. The dead sea is 31% salt and nothing can survive! It actually feels oily to the touch. Floating in the dead sea was another amazing experience we had in the past week.

I brought out People magazine! I paid $10 for this magazine in Saudi and it is littered with stickers to cover up women who are showing too much skin. Makes me laugh!

Carter only made it this far. He had too many cuts from our Petra trip, which stung in the salt. In fact, many places would sting! Places you wouldn't even think about began to sting! We didn't last too long.

All you do is sit back and float. It is difficult to even put down your feet to walk out.

Bryan floating!

The group relaxing!

Dead Sea Mud!

Rubbing the dead sea mud on your skin is supposed to have a lot of health benefits.

We splurged and stayed at the top resort. Can you see the Dead Sea and Israel/Palestine?

The infinity pool. This was a freshwater pool but had a sand bottom at one end. Loved it!

That is the end to another amazing trip by the Johnsons and with a group of amazing friends. We feel so lucky to have all of these experiences and live the life that many people dream. If any of you ever get the chance to work overseas, then seize the moment and make this dream come true. It is a life changing experience! Also, remember that we are always up for an adventure and would love to meet our American family/friends anywhere in the world! Well, almost anywhere.

Desert Road Trip

Never in a million years would we have dreamed we would be driving 10 hours through Saudi Arabia heading to Jordan. I feel like I am living in a constant dream these past few years ( A Good Dream! ) During this drive I was trying to calculate how many Americans could say they have done this drive. I am thinking less than .5%, which made this trip even better. We felt like we were on a true adventure into the unknown. Many ask if it was scary. I think our definition of scary and your definition of scary are two different things. We would never take our kids on an adventure if we thought it would be scary. Enough said. :)

We did our trip with a total of 9 families, but in our caravan we were a group of 5. We left at 5 a.m. and were at the border exactly 10 hours later. Our drive was on the straightest road we have ever traveled. I do believe we would go for hours at a time without a curve in the road, so the above picture is quite unique showing one of these curves. The drive took us through desert, mountains and along the red sea. We would travel through small towns that had only a gas station and a mosque. The areas we traveled through were very remote and rarely did we see others unless it was around prayer time. The mosque would be quite crowed during prayer which was interesting since we never saw very many people on the road. Where did these people come from?

It is very uncommon to see women when traveling outside of large cities. During this 20 hour trip (10 hours each way) we saw a total of 3 women! This total comes from looking inside cars and at the gas stations. So, when our cars would pull up to a gas station and 5 ladies would get out we were quite the scene. I am sure these towns are still talking about the ladies that wanted to use some of the worst bathrooms ever! That is a different blog story. (You know how I like to talk about bathrooms around the world.) Saudi is a country that isn't set up for road trips. I think most people just stay in their towns and do not travel far from home.

Once we finished our paperwork at the border we entered Aqaba, Jordan. This is a resort town on the Red Sea. We stayed our first night and the last two nights in Aqaba. This is where the Red Sea ends and it is shared by 4 countries, and you can see all of these countries: Saudi, Jordan, Egypt, Israel/Palestine. Our first night we watched the sun set over Egypt. Like I said, it feels like we live in a dream.

We promised my mom to take this snowman around the world. Yes, that is a plunger. He is a bathroom snowman that sings a little jingle each time you enter the bathroom.

10 hours of driving, 90 minutes at the border, and now we can relax!

Our first night.

Sunset over Egypt

Our first stop was Wadi Rum. We spent a day on a 4x4 excursion through the beautiful desert and then camped in a bedouin camp. Bryan and Cameron slept under the stars and Carter and I slept in the tent. It was such a peaceful place that will always have a special place in my memory. You can learn about Wadi Rum here.