The trip to Jordan was a last-minute decision. A visit to Petra has long been on the agenda, but I did not rank it as a top priority until I came across a special offer by Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Amman.
As I had only 10 day's time to visit the country, I decided to stay in Madaba instead of Amman, to give myself one whole day's time to visit the holy sites and tourist attractions in the East Bank of the Jordan River - Mount Nebo, the Baptism Site, the Mozaic City of Madaba, and the Dead Sea. Every guesthouse in Madaba will be able to provide their guests with convenient day trips to nearby sights. The guesthouse I stayed at in Madaba help me find two other travellers from a nearby hotel to share a car with me, which allowed me to save up quite a bit of money.
Going up Mount Nebo
This ridge is about 20 minutes away by car from Madaba. According to the Bible, Mount Nebo is the place where Moses was allowed by God to take a look at the Promised Land. It is also the place where it is believed that Moses had been buried.
Nowadays Mount Nebo is a huge tourist attraction in Jordan, drawing millions of pilgrims and secular visitors like me every year. The place has been declared a Holy Site by Christians, although pilgrims of all faith, including Muslims, flock to the site to pay their respect as well.
There is no official ticket booth on Mount Nebo. Instead some middle-age men sitting near the entrance chat away in the shade while tearing out a ticket from the booklet. Each person pays 1JD (about 1 Euro) for entrance to the Holy Place. it is very cheap when the entrance fee to the fabled lost city down in the south is more than 23 JD for a one-day pass.
There is a church, decorated with beautiful mosaic floors, built to commemorate Moses. At the time of my visit, many parts of Mount Nebo had been sealed off due to an extensive restoration programme.
In addition to paying homage to Moses, most visitors, pilgrims or not, come to Mount Nebo in order to re-live Moses' experience of a glance over the Holy Land from the top of the ridge. Too bad for me: the sky was so hazy on the day of my visit, I could hardly see anything except for the road which winds its way down the valley. No Jericho, no Nazareth, no Jerusalem. Nothing but for the dry, dusty and arid hills all over the place.
I am not sure what Moses had seen on that fateful day of his life. Perhaps the view from the top several thousand years ago was much more lovely than what it is now. But if I were Moses, I would have certainly asked God: 'Can we not be given another place? I am sure there are better places around.'
As a matter of fact, the view of the other side of Mount Nebo (seen in the photo above) is much more pleasing to the eye. Unfortunately it is not in the direction of the Holy Land, but rather inland towards Jordan. Hence not the Promised Land for the Israelis.
This famous sculpture of the Brazen Serpent, by Italian artist Giovanni Fantoni, has become a landmark of Mount Nebo. Two popes and countless other state dignitaries who visited this holy site had stood near the cross, look out into the valley beneath and (hopefully) see Jerusalem and the Promised Land.
Copyright@2010. All text and photos by YC Cheng. All Rights Reserved.
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