Jordan Day 12, June 23

After a delicious breakfast at the hotel, Eva and Walter and I headed to the gate about 8 AM so we could take the LOOOOOOONG hike to Jabel Harun, or Mt. Aaron. Though Aaron died elsewhere (see Deut 10:6) his remains have been moved to the mountain about 7 kilometers to the south of Petra. There is now a lovely bright white mosque at top. You can see the Promised Land from the top. Oddly enough, the Wadi, or wash or river bed that Petra is built on is known as Wadi Mousa, or Wadi Moses and it is thought that the rock that Moses struck to get water flowing is here in Petra.

After walking about 2 hours we ran into a Bedouin family who lives in the caves below the snake monument. We were invited for tea as all passersby are and accepted once we heard an offer of a car ride to the base of Jabel Harun. In the cave we found 4 women, 13 children, a hoard of flies and floor mats waiting. 3 of the women were wives of our host Gaseem and 9 of the children were his. He was recently left by a fourth wife and is looking for another and Walter graciously volunteered me. HA! Walter dancing with the eldest son looks like this.

Some of the most beautiful girls ever. The one in pink was so shy that she would cover her face when she caught you looking at her and then giggle insanely.

After tea and lute music and dancing, we loaded into the diesel 4x 4 truck and drove ½ an hour to the base of the mountain. On steep parts, we had to shut of the AC (which didn’t work anyhow) and we bumped and crept our way over dry river beds and past ancient caves that serve as dwellings to local families. Here is Mount Aaron from a distance. The tiny white speck at the top is where we went.

It took us about an hour to summit and the view from the top was stellar. We could see for miles, into Israel, over all of Petra, over the Great Rift Valley and into the towns of Ma’an and Petra. There were even some recently excavated, not yet open to the public ruins that we could see up there. The mosque was locked but we had Walter. Here is how we all got to see the interior. Walter got shoved through a window. This is the end we got to see of Walter.

A view from the top looking toward Ma'an in what is Biblical Edomite territory, with a bit of the terrace around the mosque in the foreground.

We ate some snacks we had toted to the top with us, soaked in the amazing vista and then hit the path back to the bottom. In another hour we were back at the Roman Theater. Round trip – 5 hours, 6 liters of water each (did I mention it’s blooming hot here?) and 1 amazing Sabbath hike.

Walter left us to go see the Monastery and Eva and I returned slowly to the hotel, sans animal power this time, to shower and shop and get some dinner. We turned in early. We had plans for 5:30 AM the next day.