- Part One -

Crossing Jordan.

Day One - 050408 - 1200H

'twas high noon when we walked out of the airport.  The scorching rays of the sun hit my face, yet strangely, I didn't feel its heat.  It was probably neutralized by the cool breeze of the wind.  As I gaze my eyes upon the horizon, I beheld the environment totally different from the country I was born.  Not much vegetation, few trees, lots of rocks more brown than green.  It was clear to me, I truly am far away from home.  This experience would've been impossible for me to live, had I not died back then, I never would've made it here. 

It took us exactly 10 hours and 40 mins to get here. This sums up the 5 hrs and 15 mins from Manila to Dubai, 3 hrs and  lay-off .then 2 hrs 25 mins from Dubai to Jordan. Not bad, I think.  I used to drive in shifts to travel this long, and It would take me far down South of Luzon, but it's quite amazing to think that with roughly the same amount of time, an airline can take you about half-way across the world.  Out from the airport, we headed for our first destination by land, 4 hours away.

I thought the Republic of Jordan holds little significance with regards to biblical history.   But as we traveled, the guide brought us to places which, amazingly is quoted from the Old testament.  The land of Jordan was the ancient the land of the Amalekites, the Amorites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites and all the neighboring kingdoms of Canaan which Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and Joshua had to travel, pass by, propose treaties to, and even conquer.

After a brief visit to the Ancient Mosaic Orthodox Church, we headed to the top of Mt. Nebo.  As quoted from the Bible, this was where Moses saw the glimpse ot the Promised Land. As I stood at where Moses was, I gazed upon all Israel.  It was like the course outline of all the places we will be visiting.  As it is the highest peak in Jordan, Mt. Nebo gives you a captivating view over all Israel, the Jordan river and even of the Dead Sea.  I began to recall the great stories of Moses, the greatest prophet, and stood in awe of God's greatness.

 As we descended to the River Jordan, found at the border of Israel, we started to feel the heat from the sun.  The guide explained that it is because we were heading towards an area which is below sea level.  I marveled at the site of this somewhat desolate place, situated nearly the lowest part of the earth.  I look around and see no houses, or any man-made structures or even local people living.  My mind played tricks on me, using my weird imagination: I wondered if the bus left us out here.. then there would be no way of getting out.  We would surely die out here! Hehe... nevertheless... the hills, the desert, and the river, this place is so scenic.  Not a bad place to die... I thought. ^_^

It has been more than 28 hours since I had my last sleep. We left Manila 12 midnight the day before, so needless to say, I didn't have the chance to sleep that night.  Traveling 5 hrs westward clearly states that the time zone is 5hrs late compared to Manila.  All the unceasing motion from plane-to-plane, bus-place-bus and walk from point A to point B (which is not less than an hour)  got me exhausted in my first day.  My eyes are drooping, body is shaking, and my head started nagging me to find a bed.  I really need to rest or I would'nt have half the the strenght to last the whole trip.  At last, 9pm local time (2am the next day for Manila time) I finally saw the hotel that would shelter us on our first night in this foreign land.  Exhausted and starved, I devoured the buffet dinner and started unpacking.  I still had to assist my mom as she writes her pleadings for the cases she left  here in Manila.  Man!  what a lady! She even has reserved energy to do her work back home while she is touring overseas, does she ever get tired?

NoXQzes Status Update:

050508 / 0200H local time - Status: KO'd