Amman, Jordan continued

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We had heard about the Dead Sea – so much salt in it (35%) that it is impossible to dive or sink and it’s increasing every year since it is only fed by the Jordan River which has had about 70% of its water diverted by Israel for reclaiming desert for agriculture. While shivering in Amman, Najib suggested that he take us for a day trip there for us to have a swim. One of the things about Jordan is that it has extremes of altitude in a relatively short distance so the temperature is vastly different. Leaving Amman’s 10 degrees, we travelled about 35 km and dropped about 1,500 metres to the Dead Sea where it was 26 degrees.

Before reaching the Dead Sea we stopped for a tour of the Baptism Site where Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. In those days the Jordan River was ‘deep and wide’ and followed a slightly different course – then through Palestine but now in Jordan. We visited the site where there is a cross shaped pool and archaeologists are finding and restoring some parts of the chapels that were there.

The mini-bus tour had an odd mix of devout, possibly Greek, pilgrims, general interest tourists like us and a contingent of US military and narcotics agents returning home from a stint in Iraq. This led to very different responses to the sites, with general interest in information and geography contrasting with collecting of holy water for blessings at home and jokes about imaginary snipers supposedly visible on the Israeli installations across the river. The river water was quite grey, carrying run off from the recent snows. Apparently some people drop into the river but disappointingly no-one did on this occasion. A shiny new and gloriously decorated Greek Orthodox church has been built at the site and other groups are building churches too.

Najib had patiently waited in the car and we set off again, listening in astonishment to the advice not to splash around because you can drown on the land from the salty water going into your lungs and preventing you from breathing, as an Italian tourist had. Most of the accessible parts of the shore of the Dead Sea have been privatised, with access for the public through payment to the hotels on its shore. We went to the one ‘public’ beach (Amman Beach) where we had to pay about 7 Jordanian Dinars each (about $10). The shore was planted with palms and studded with shade structures and plastic chairs for relaxing. It was a balmy day and we felt so relaxed and as if we were on a summer holiday. We were shocked by the burning sensation when we tasted the water and delighted by the feeling of lying back on a supportive massage mattress when we floated with no effort at all.

The day continued with a trip up Mt Nebo, which Moses climbed to see the Promised Land. There were spectacular views and once again we were impressed by Moses and his level of fitness. Finally we reached the town of Madaba, which is predominantly Christian, and visited the Church of St George, which is full of amazing wall and floor mosaics. It was a wonderful day all round and especially because of Najib’s excellent company and his knowledge of Jordan and its history and his affection for it.

We spent our second last day in Jordan with another couch surfer, Mindy, visiting her for the day in her Bedouin village of Sabha near the Syrian border. Mindy is an American Peace Corps worker, teaching English at the girls secondary school. We spent the morning at the school, were entertained with chocolates and tea as visiting dignitaries by the principal, sat in on a couple of classes, then wandered around the village. The year 12 class asked us questions. 1. Do you have koalas? 2. What do you think of the problem of the Palestinians and the war in Iraq? 3. What is your favourite animal? Year 8 were very excited by our presence and answered their comprehension exercise questions with amazing enthusiasm. Mindy took us to see some newborn camels at a Bedouin house. The woman invited us in for a glass of tea and we spent an hour having a conversation with her, translated by Mindy, who admitted she didn't understand some things that the woman was saying. Two main topics were her health (and a query as to whether we had any medications we could give her that would help her bad back), and that married women should cover up and dress modestly. I scored lots of points because I wore a long skirt and nodded sagely at appropriate moments. The woman’s two grandsons, aged about 12, were with us most of the time while we were inside and we wondered if that was because women are not supposed to talk to men alone except in the presence of male family members. Mindy had been concerned about Keith coming since she is an unmarried woman and it would be frowned upon for her to receive a man but eventually it turned out to be acceptable. We were received in a public room set aside for that purpose and although the daughters-in-law came in briefly, they did not stay. The woman wanted us to stay for a meal but we had already arranged to go to Mindy's house for a home cooked meal with another US worker who is vegetarian. We had been bracing ourselves for facing a Bedouin meal of rice and goat, complete with eyes and tongue which are kept for special guests. The meal we did have was delicious – stir fry, tomato and cucumber salad and bread. The bread had been bought minutes earlier at the local bakery, where we watched the bread making for a while. One man makes dough balls a little bigger than a softball. The next man flattens them out to a disc like a pizza base about 70 or 80 cm in diameter. The next man puts it in the oven for less than a minute then flings it onto the pile of cooked bread. This production line produces one of these huge flat breads about every fifteen seconds. We hadn't seen these huge pieces of bread before. Most places in Jordan have bread resembling the pitta bread we get at home.

We were sorry to say goodbye to Najib and Mohammad when they saw us off at the bus to Aqaba, heading off to catch the speed boat back to Egypt. We spent a relaxing afternoon and evening strolling around the town and foreshore of Aqaba, a terrible night in a cheap hotel where the bathroom allowed you to sit on the toilet, have a shower and clean your teeth all without moving and noises akin to minor explosions occurred all night, and set off for the port at 9.30 the next morning. In theory a one and a half hour trip, we finally reached Nuweiba in Egypt and completed customs at 4 pm. After waiting for a bus to Cairo to fill for an hour, we set off for a long drive and arrived there at about 11.30 pm. What a day of waiting and travelling but amazingly we have come to realise that timetables are not to be relied upon and that waiting is an essential part of any travel.