The car....We opted for the Corolla 4 door car from the company AVIS to get a bit more room to fit all 5 of us. Leslie was our “taxi driver” with Amanda as the “map reader”. The 3 amigos in the back slept as the two girls up front drove to Mount Nebo. Once there we noticed a police van which was a check stop that did not stop any vehicles passing through…Slackers if you ask me. They wanted to take pictures of us with them. They told us that Mount Nebo would open at 7am. So we went back to the car and slept until 7 when the gates opened. It is believed that this is the mountain from which Moses saw the Promised Land before he died. The mountain is a memorial site. As we walked around the site we noticed smoke coming from behind a stone wall. Adriane and I decided to separate from the group and check it out. There was a man making tea while he weeded. He offered us some black sugar tea (which is my absolute favorite…it is full of sugar how could I not love it!!) We sat and drank tea with him and tried to make short talk but it was difficult as he could not speak English and we could not speak Arabic!! After we stopped in Madaba and looked at a few shops. For lunch we had shwarma which is kind of like a chicken wrap with lots of mayo, onions and pickles! (See the picture of the chicken on the rotisserie) Back on the road again we headed to the dead sea. On the road there were many sheep and goat crossings and many zigzag turns. 
The Dead Sea is 417 m below sea level and is the lowest point/body of water on earth and has such a high salinity (due to evaporation) that you just bob about on the surface like a cork. We decided to go to a resort called the Dead Sea Spa Hotel. After going in the Dead Sea for the second time I let the sun dry me off before showering…check out the coating of salt on my body!!! It was a very hot day and all of us got a bit sun burnt. We left around 3:30 to go to Petra. We didn’t think it would take us that long to get to Petra approx.2.5 hours..i think it took us 4 or more hours. There were lots of mountains and zigzags and at times I didn’t think we were going in the right direction. But on the positive side the scenery was breath taking. Once we got to Petra I was starving and we knew that Greg and Emily (teachers at ACA) were there already drinking at an Irish Pub. The first Irish Pup we saw we stopped and sure enough they were there. I had the best hot chocolate ever here!!mmmm. I also ordered a chicken sandwich because I was starving…the lunch I had at the Dead Sea Spa Hotel was not very good. Then when we went to our Hotel they said we didn’t confirm our reservation for both nights. Grrr. So they set us up in their other hotel. Each of us only had to pay 10JD which is less than $20.00 a night. I might as well state that for every continental breakfast we had pita bread, humas, cheese, jams and sugar tea or coffee. I can honestly say I am sick of humas…as much as I like it I need to take a break from eating it.
Whoohoo We are Floating!!!!
Trying to create a star (very difficult when you are floating)
I didn't shower after the 2nd time I went in the dead sea to show you how much salt accumulated on my body!!
1 comment:
Once again, where are the Petra pictures?!
2. I LOVE SHWARMA! I think it's the official fast food of Ottawa. There's a Shwarma restaurant on almost every friggin' corner. It's even more ubiquitous than Starbucks and Tim Horton's!
Post a Comment