Dead Sea and Mount Nebo

Our last day in Jordan we decided to take the King's Highway, AKA, The Scenic Route, back to Amman. We had to be out of the hotel by noon, but our flight to Cairo was not until 8:30pm, so we had time to kill. The concierge had arranged for us to head west and north to the Dead Sea and Mount Nebo before going back to Amman to catch our flight.

Our driver was named Jabil and he met us at our hotel at 9am. He did not speak much English, so it was a quiet ride. He must be very busy though because he had two cell phones that were constantly ringing. He did share his Jordanian version of Fig Newtons with me. They were called Softi Softi's.

The Dead Sea is the lowest elevation of the Earth's surface on dry land. Its salinity is about 33%, which is eight times more than the oceans. Nothing can flourish here, hence the name. Presently, it is a big supplier of potash (fertilizer) and ingredients for cosmetics (the ladies gotta look pretty). We descended down a sharp and curvy road to make our way down to the sea. Not something I could imagine doing on a large tour bus. It was scary enough in a car. As we got lower and lower, the temperature got higher and higher.

Once we were at Sea level, we had about a 30 kilometer drive north towards where the beach areas were. We passed a stone figure that legend claims is Lot's wife (see Genesis), which is made of halite. Although to be fair, Israel claims a similar figure on their side.

The beaches on the Jordanian side are relatively new, but we saw several resorts that were in the process of being constructed. We stopped at Amman Beach, where for 12 Dinars, you can go and float in the Sea and cover yourself with therapeutic mud. Across the sea, we had a great view of Israel.

They say when you enter the Dead Sea you discover cuts you never knew you had. It did sting a little. Ladies are suggested to not shave their legs the day before visiting. I guess it would be too painful. We saw lots of people caked in the black mud, but we did not try it. As soon as you exit, you have shower off with fresh water .

Upon departing the Dead Sea, we made our way back up the mountain, into cooler weather, heading towards Mount Nebo, the site where God first gave Moses a view of the Promised Land of Israel. It is the site of Moses' final resting place as well.

The top offers a panoramic view of the Holy Land, including the West Bank city of Jericho and Jerusalem beyond that.

In 1933, the remains of a monastery and church were discovered and excavation has been happening ever since. The religious site is currently run by a community of Franciscan monks.

After our visit to Mount Nebo, we made our way to Amman's Queen Alia International Airport. We got there about 4 hours before our flight was ready to leave, but better to be early than running late I guess.

I noticed the same corn in a cup phenomenon that we saw in Malaysia last year (see last year's blog entry.... http://ronno1976.blogspot.com/2008/10/corn-in-cup.html). Not sure if there is a connection here or not.

The flight to Cairo took about an hour and was full of geriatric Americans on a Grand Circle tour. When we got to Cairo their group leader tried to take Stuart's suitcase. We waited and waited for it to come off the belt and it never showed. Thankfully we spotted it with all the old people luggage.