Mount Nebo, Madaba Mosaics, and a Castle

On Day 3 of our trip, Pete and I were picked up by a driver in a sweet Mercedes to go on a guided tour for the next three days.  Our first stop with our driver (Wajdi) was Mount Nebo - where Moses was given a view of the promised land that God was giving to the Israelites. It is also thought that Moses was buried in the area. The weather for our journey was absolutely perfect, and it was so nice to be away from the sweltering heat of Abu Dhabi.

Jordan is second in the world for producing mosaics (after Italy).

An Italian artist was commissioned to produce a sculpture for the summit of Mount Nebo. The result was this piece based on the biblical story of how Moses supposedly turned a snake into a staff.

The overpriced tourist-trap mosaic shop in Madaba. There is a foundation in Jordan that was started by the Queen to employ handicapped women in the country. The women work a max of 4 hours a day producing some pretty amazing mosaics. Unfortunately, they are sold for wayyyy too much! (We were able to get a deal on 2 when we went back to Amman)

We also stopped at Kerak Castle, which was built during the time of the Crusades. It is pretty huge and impressive, but it was insanely windy when we were there, and Pete and I realized that maybe we're not the best tourists when it comes to visiting old ruins. (This staircase led to a doorway that was a total dropoff with no guard rail or anything - probably wouldn't see that at home!) 

Every place we stopped had tourist police. We're not really sure exactly what their job is, but I guess they must be necessary.