On Tuesday we headed off in our own bus. We travelled to Madaba, about an hour south of Amman, to briefly see the remnants of a 4th century floor mosaic on a church floor. The mosaic is a map of parts of the Middle East (as it was then).
We then headed for Mount Nebo, which is supposed to be where Moses sighted the Promised Land and where he then died. While visibility wasn't great, we could see the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley and Jericho across the Jordan. Sometimes Jerusalem (45 km away) is also visible, but not today.
From there, we travelled to the Dead Sea - a winding descent from over 1000m to 400m below sea level (the lowest dry land on earth). You swim in the Dead Sea from a resort hotel (they have beaches, showers, pools etc). We had the obligatory 'swim' - the sea is so salty (30% salt) that you cannot sink and really cannot swim (your legs won't stay under). You can float with arms and legs out of the water. You have to be very careful not to get the salt water into your eyes.
After washing the salt off and having a snack lunch, our bus took us to Petra (about three hours). By now it was raining - we seemed to be bringing rain with us. We had a good dinner at our hotel.
We then headed for Mount Nebo, which is supposed to be where Moses sighted the Promised Land and where he then died. While visibility wasn't great, we could see the Dead Sea, the Jordan Valley and Jericho across the Jordan. Sometimes Jerusalem (45 km away) is also visible, but not today.
From there, we travelled to the Dead Sea - a winding descent from over 1000m to 400m below sea level (the lowest dry land on earth). You swim in the Dead Sea from a resort hotel (they have beaches, showers, pools etc). We had the obligatory 'swim' - the sea is so salty (30% salt) that you cannot sink and really cannot swim (your legs won't stay under). You can float with arms and legs out of the water. You have to be very careful not to get the salt water into your eyes.
After washing the salt off and having a snack lunch, our bus took us to Petra (about three hours). By now it was raining - we seemed to be bringing rain with us. We had a good dinner at our hotel.
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