A day at the Dead Sea

From Wadi Rum we made our way to the Dead Sea.  This is the Earth's lowest elevation point on land, 429 metres below sea level.  The Dead Sea is so salty that no animals can survive here, hence the name "Dead Sea."

At the Dead Sea you will find only resort hotels, so we splurged and stayed at the Holiday Inn which was very nice.  Lucky for us, they upgraded us to a nicer room with a pool view for free, score! 

After checking into our room, we headed down to the beach behind the hotel to make our way into the famous Dead Sea.  We saw people putting black mud from the sea onto their skin, so we tried that out and went inside.  The sensation of floating in that water is something you need to go and experience for yourself.  You can't even sink there if you tried!  The extreme salinity of the water makes you so buoyant that you can't even properly swim... you just float.  Unfortunately John got some of the salt water in his eye and said it burned like crazy... so I would not recommend splashing around in there!

I didn't keep the mud on my skin for very long because the water was quite salty and I just wanted to wash everything off at the shower nearby.  I'm glad I made a visit to this interesting place.  It was actually quite peaceful to just watch the water which is without any waves, shimmering in the sun with Israel across the way.  It was a nice and relaxing place to end our short trip to Jordan.  This is a country with so much to see, I hope to visit again some day.

Camping in the desert at Wadi Rum

As part of our whirlwind trip to Jordan, we decided to do an overnight camp in the desert at Wadi Rum.  We were picked up by our Bedouin guide Ali and driven in the back of his truck through the desert which was a lot more beautiful than I imagined.  I guess I was just expecting sand, and lots of it!  While there was obviously a ton of sand in the desert, there were also lots of interesting rock formations that were HUGE.  We spent all afternoon driving around seeing interesting desert landmarks such as the mushroom rock, "Titanic," Lawrence of Arabia's cave, the Seven Pillars of Wisdom, ancient rock carvings, the rock bridge, and we even had a pit stop in a tent for some "Bedouin whiskey" (aka black tea with sugar and cardamom).

We stayed overnight in a small tented room and ate a meal of chicken, rice, and vegetables cooked by bonfire, with more Bedouin whiskey of course.  Since the Bedouins are Muslim they do not drink alcohol due to their religion, so they have plenty of tea which was pretty tasty but I'm sure contained a ton of sugar!  At our camp there was a small building with a toilet so out of the two desert camps we've been to (this one, and one in India), this one was the most "luxurious."  The one we stayed at in India had no toilets, so you had to go behind a bush in the sand!

In the desert we expected to see more stars, but since the moon was nearly full it was so bright and lit up the sky like a huge spotlight, making it harder to see the stars.  There is definitely something calming about leaving the TV, wifi, and our modern lives behind and venturing out to the desert for some peace, quiet, and simplicity.  It makes you re-think your life and what is important to you, and reflect on the things in life that you really need.

Amazing Petra!

Petra, one of the new 7 Wonders of the World, should be on every traveller's bucket list... it is quite simply put... AMAZING!!!  A one-day entrance ticket costs around $70 USD but it's worth it for sure.

Petra was the ancient capital city of the Nabataeans, who were spice traders in the 1st century BC.  Most of Petra was destroyed by an earthquake several hundred years later, but it was rediscovered in 1812 by a Swiss explorer.

You must enter Petra through a narrow pathway cut through the rocks which is called "The Siq."  After approximately 1 km of walking through The Siq we caught a glimpse of the ancient Treasury at Petra through the rocks.  It was a very dramatic way to arrive at such an epic destination.

We spent the day at Petra walking among ruins, exploring old temples, tombs, and enjoying the beautiful mountain views from the Monastery.  Walking around in the sand on a hot day can make you tired, so I somehow convinced John to ride a donkey up the mountain to the Monastery after being warned that it was a long, steep climb.  Next thing I knew I was on the back of a donkey named Shakira, holding on for dear life as she climbed the stairs up the path.

The Monastery was just as impressive as the Treasury (the famous building everyone has come to know Petra by).  What was great about visiting Petra at this time was the fact that it wasn't over-packed with people.  There were definitely a lot of tourists there, but the place is so huge that you don't feel like you're crowded.

 

Petra was one of the filming locations of the movie Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  I felt a bit like Indiana Jones exploring this ancient city which is full of mystery.  Definitely the highlight of our trip to Jordan!

Amman and the Jordan River

John and I started off the UAE National Day holiday in style, checking in at the airport lounge in Dubai before our flight to Amman.  It was pretty sweet!  It was the first time I've ever been in an airport lounge and now I'm officially hooked.  There was a buffet, drinks (also alcoholic), magazines, couches, wifi, and a place to take a shower at an extra charge.  People pay for this kind of comfort but luckily we got free access using our credit cards!


Our flight to Amman was 2.5 hours and I was so stuffed from the buffet at the lounge that I didn't eat much of my meal on the plane.  After arriving in Amman, we were greeted by our driver Omran, who picked us up quite late at night and brought us to our hotel downtown.  The air was so cold I could see my breath, first time that I've been able to do that in a few years!

Luckily for us the temperature warmed up a bit by the next morning.  After a breakfast of pita bread with zatar, hummus, and olives, we were off to check out the Roman Amphitheatre in Amman.  It is around 2000 years old!

From there we headed to the Jordan River to see the place which is believed to be the Baptism Site of Jesus.  It was amazing to be in a place where such a huge event took place.  Today, the river has meandered away from the original spot so the site is dry, but not too far away you can find the Jordan River.  I was surprised by how narrow it was.  You could literally wade over to Israel, but of course you can't cross the border that way and I'm sure a guard would catch you and send you back!  Near the river there were also a number of churches of various denominations.  The whole area was very peaceful and not overcrowded with tourists.  It was nice to visit in the off-season, as I imagine it would be busier during the summer months.

After our stop at the Baptism Site we got back in the car with our friendly driver Omran who told us a lot about Jordan as we drove to see a sunset at Dana Biosphere Reserve, and then on to Wadi Musa, several hours away.  From the first day we were impressed by the hospitality of Jordanian people and how beautiful the country was.