Middle East

Love Jordan. Hospitality second to none! I mean how many places do the police check not only your driving license but also if you need coffee, a wash-up and chat. All the more impressive as there was little to no english - so we conversed in sign-language! We were also adopted by a local Jordanian family and got to share some of their rich family orientated culture. Snorkelling in the Red Sea, floating on the Dead Sea, the heady heights of Petra (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom!!), dining with Bedouin families, camping in cool nature reserves .... oh my goodness, I knew hardly anything of this country - I would definately recommend it as an alternative place to bring a family.
 
We reluctantly left Jordan ... and got into Syria safely, but less than 12 hours in - well, suffice to say at this stage that we are still recovering from almost a full night dealing with rather a sensitive issue, arriving at our hotel with the kids about 3.30am. Damascus is an amazing old city and is one of the longest continually inhabited cities in the world. We love old Damascus, and are spending an extra day there today looking at one of the old Damascan houses. Next we head northwards to the lost city of Palmyro (woops - is that the right spelling?) Our guide books got left behind in the lost boxes for Africa - so we rely on a pdf LP guide book. We have a great selection of books for crossing Africa if anyone's interested?!!
 
We continue home school as long as it's not too hot. All three kids have jumped a couple of years in their reading - which is great. We will do some Islamic studying today, and usually try to cover the geography or history of the countries that we're passing through. Asher has a maths rich diet! The kids are looking forwards to getting back into ordinary school routine. Nothing like absence to make the heart grow fond(er)!

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