Dead Sea

On our way, we stopped at Lot’s Cave. For the religious ones, you may remember the biblical story of Lot, the nephew of Abraham who fled (and was spared by God) from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and whose wife was turned to a pillar of salt for taking pity on the sodomites destruction, and then it’s also goes that his two daughters later spiked his drink to have sex with him (purportedly in this exact cave) to carry on the family line. They gave birth to the forefathers of the Moabite and Ammonite peoples.

Once you take in your first glimpse of the pearly white salt-encrusted shores of the Dead Sea you’ll soon realize being below sea level is not the only bizarre thing in this odd place.

Pulling over at the Dead Sea for a chance to walk down to the water for a closer look. With 33.7% salinity, it’s the second saltiest body of water in the world (the first in Djibouti). This is 8.6 times saltier than the ocean and there are no fish or natural plants living in it, which is why it’s referred to as “dead.”

Nature’s beautiful lasagna layered canvas of salt and mud.

The coral-resembling salt formations on the coast were one of the most fascinating natural phenomena we’ve ever seen. All the salt hardens and crystallizes as it splashes up on the shore and dries. Walking on the salt encrusted earth makes for a bumpy, hard walking surface as you enter the water. It’s also an excellent time to grab a salt scrub pedicure compliments of Mother Earth.

A close-up of a salt formation (finally found an excuse to use our macro lens!)

Although there are thankfully kilometers and kilometers of undeveloped beautiful coastline on the sea, you can’t enter the water just anywhere. Most of the coastline is cliffs, the water level of the Dead Sea has dropped 30% in less than 40 years. Where there aren’t cliffs you can access the sea shore to take a dip, but you’re missing one crucial resource… fresh water. You need fresh water to rinse the thick oily and uncomfortable layer of salt off after swimming. So unfortunately you’re faced with only two other options to swim in the Dead Sea… go to the public beach which costs a ridiculous 25 Jordanian Dinars ($35) per person, or stay in the cheapest hotel you can find with a private beach, in our case, for $65/night. Uh, guess which option we chose? Yes, we bucked it up and stayed…in…a…Ramada Resort. Our first “resort” on this trip. It turned out to be well worth the splurge! And we thoroughly enjoyed the facilities. Interestingly, when we opened the bedside drawer we did not see a Gideons bible, as you would find in any good chain hotel from the States, instead they offered a religious icon in a drawer, pointing the way to Mecca for prayer.

Walking down to the beach, it was time to get mudded-up in the provided Dead Sea mud pit from the hotel. Mandy cakes the delightfully squishy, slippery, and malleable mud on. Our kind of beauty treatment!

After we were completely slathered with the good stuff, you’re supposed to let it dry on your skin to maximize the mud’s health giving benefits so we posed for a couple pictures once we found a mudless-handed person to hold our phone.

Having a good read while we float. The high salt content makes the water super dense so you float, like a cork… literally, you couldn’t sink yourself if you tried! It’s a very strange sensation.

The sea was a beautiful aqua color.

Mount Nebo

The next day we pushed our little rental car to climb out of the lowest point on earth to a height of 710 meters on Mount Nebo. Another biblical v.i.p., Mount Nebo is mentioned in the Bible as the place where Moses was granted a view of the Promised Land. Moses was also supposedly buried on this mountain.

Amman

Rolling into the capital city of Amman (population 4 million), we returned our rental car (because Amman drivers are crazy and Greg wasn’t taking his chances.) Our plan was to take the bus the hour into town, but fortunately we had been welcomed into a Jordanian family, thanks to Mandy’s Jordanian cousin-in-law, Mohammad who now lives in Indiana. His cousin (also Mohammad) graciously picked us up at the airport and dropped us in a whole new Jordan land…a tequila bar. He was so fun to get to know.

We then checked into our apartment in Amman, which we loved ($30/night). It had a kitchenette, separate bathroom and bedroom and terrific view of the King Abdullah mosque. Side Note: Jordan all in all, was one of the most expensive countries so far on our journey. We averaged about $75/day, much of this due to more expensive accommodations, the price of the Jordan Pass (visa and entrance fees), and the rental car and gas (because despite its location with oil rich neighbors gas is not that cheap here!)

The shopping malls in Amman are ultra modern architectural showpieces. This was taken at the five-level Abdali Mall.

And another posh shopping district called “the Boulevard.”

If you’re looking for some Jordanian sugar crack, you’ve found it in hlava. Made from sugar and tahini, other ingredients include chocolate or nuts. This flaky treat which looks like fudge but more the consistency of divinity is highly addictive. Don’t start.

Taking a closer look at the gorgeous blue domed King Abdullah Mosque. Holds 3000 worshippers. A few (basic) things we learned about Islam:

• the call to prayer happens five times a day
• The holiest day of the week is Friday with the afternoon prayer being the most important
• They hold high respect for many of the same figures who are in the Bible including Moses, Job, Abraham, Noah and Jesus who are honored as prophets
• They believe in angels

• Muslim means “anyone or anything that surrenders itself to the true will of God”
• The Qur’an was not authored by Muhammad. It was authored by God (Allah), revealed to Muhammad (a prophet.)
• The word “jihad” does not mean “holy war”. It actually means “to struggle” or “to strive.
• Everyone we spoke to was quite happy to talk with us about their faith, or customs and welcomed our curiosity

Shopping in Jordan is easy!! One side of the label is Arabic and the other in English. Also, we have to commend Jordanians’ on their English overall. It was rare to meet anyone who spoke no English. It’s a required subject they start learning in elementary school. It was extremely easy to get by any language barriers in Jordan.

A hijab store! So many colors and styles to choose from. Btw, we had to look up the difference in types of head coverings. We saw so many while in Jordan. A hijab just covers the hair and neck, whereas a niqab covers everything but the eyes, and a burqa covers everything with just a mesh screen for the eyes. Most women, except in a few more restrictive Islamic countries, can choose whether or not to wear one, and what type to wear. We were told, that many do out of respect to tradition, family and their faith.

Jerash Roman Ruins

On a day trip from Amman we headed up to Jerash. Built from 63 BC, it is said to be the most well preserved Roman ruins outside of Italy.

We were astounded by the sheer number of standing columns spread throughout this ancient city. Hundreds of columns!

Mandy reflects.

The spring flowers were also popping everywhere which made for a dazzling backdrop!

The main forum.

Simply magnificent.

Love this shot…

Picnic Spot

Learning to use pano in a fun new way.

Wow…what a place!

Back in Amman, we explore the bustling market

Amman’s 6000-seat Roman Theater from 2nd Century, which is still used today for performances! Can you imagine!! Back then, Amman was known as Philadelphia

A boy flies his kite from the top of the Amman Citadel. We were happy to see many of the kids using plastic bags, garbage bags, sticks and twigs to assemble homemade kites.

More Amman street scenes

And perhaps the highlight, getting invited for dinner and tea into the household of a giant, authentic Jordanian family. We feel very lucky to have family here and even though there is technically no blood relation, we couldn’t have been more welcomed. Such kind and generous people! Mohammad (from Indiana’s) mom is sitting next to Mandy.

Mandy poses with the ladies.

These gifts and food were all part of the welcome we received from the Abu-Hussein’s and fittingly a perfect picture to wrap up our Jordan journey. Overwhelming hospitality encompasses the people of this magical country and the experiences we’ve had here will be everlasting. Everyone should go to Jordan once in their lives.