Blogs from Dead Sea, West, Jordan, Middle East
January 10th 2012
The Hotel was so quiet that the tours they often run to the Dead Sea weren't happening due to lack of numbers. So we had decided we would take the bus to Bethany and the Dead Sea, even though it seemed that this would be very tough. When we went to get a taxi to the bus station, we managed to reach an agreement with the driver to take us to both places and back, while waiting for us at each for 30 JD. This saved us a lot of hassle and I'm not sure if we ultimately could have done all we did that day with just public transport. The first stop was Bethany, the place where it is claimed that Jesus was baptised by John. The site itself is not all that impressive and ... read more
October 10th 2011
Friday morning, my roommate and I decided to try to find Souk Jara, a local market held on Fridays in Amman where one of my Jordanian friends has her own business, “S'mores and More“. After inquiring at the front desk of the hostel, I found out it was on Rainbow Street, a very famous street in Amman located on Jebel Amman, one of the many mountains Amman is divided into geographically. Because of the immense early afternoon heat, we decided to take a taxi up and arrived at the souk just as it was starting to get busy. The souk is delightful, made up of many different little stands with people selling their goods, anything from jewelry to watches made from recyclable materials by women in Aqaba, and hand painted artwork. It is definitely an ... read more
May 24th 2011
yesterday me and dad went to amman on a plane, first we flew to cairo and then on to amman (i decided not to write a blog that day as all we did was travel). today me and dad went to the dead sea and it was amazing, plus we met this really nice man called lev that came from north america, lived in egypt and had a russian name! lev traveled with us to the dead sea and came with us to the different locations in a cab that we had hired with a driver for the day (the drivers name was mahamid and was also quite nice) and we shared the cost. at the dead sea we went into salty water and floated really well infact you didn't even have to kick you just ... read more
Dead Sea, Jordan. I'm losing my traveling skills....
Published: May 20th 2011Middle East » Jordan » West » Dead Sea
May 20th 2011
Too long. Too long. Again. I've heard some complaints about neglecting my Travel Blog, people who don't have FaceBook accounts (you know who you are, all three people out there) not knowing what's going on with me or if I'm alive… So – before the Jordan II blog entry, let me give you a short update. I'm in Israel. I have a job. I am all back into the "I work 24/7" thing. As if I didn't know better… at the moment I live at the Carmel Market (a Hugh food and everything fake you can think of in central Tel Aviv). It deservers its own blog and I assure you - - - - it'll get one) I went to Jordan. It's my second trip to Jordan in 4 years. The last one was a ... read more
March 6th 2011
For all those unfamiliar with the Muslim religion and their countries, the call for prayers can be quite a shock. Although I was semi aware, the shock at around 5am on our first morning in Jordan was similar to someone coming into the room and pressing play to AC/DC at full volume right up to your ear. We hadn’t a clue what was going on. I’m not 100% sure what is said to call people to prayer but a quick google search tells me that it says, Allah is great, there is only one Allah and come to pray. We sprung up in the bed awoken by the ghostly sounds coming from the nearby Mosque. In fact, I reckon we could hear every Mosque in the town it was that loud. This continued for few minutes ... read more
Journal day 11 - Mount Nebo & The Dead Sea.
Published: February 21st 2011Middle East » Jordan » West » Dead Sea
February 15th 2011
After having a late night yesterday Gary and I werent too fussed about heading out too early si we chilled for most of the morning chatting about music and our many other common interests, Gary cooked out ommellettes fit for a king (Abdellah II to be precise) and then we headed down to the huge Fitness First gym were Gary gave me a bit if a tour. Then we hooked up with Rana and set off to today's destinations, mount Nebo and Tve famous Dead Sea. It only took about an hour from Amman to drive to Mount Nebo and the road finished takes you most of the way so it's a doodle to get up to the top. Mount Nebo is traditionally believed to be the place where Moses died since the 4th century. He ... read more
December 26th 2010
For the next few days, our base is in Amman, a blog about it will come next. Our next little stop is the Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth as they say. We hire a taxi from Amman. The main Jordanian strip on the Dead Sea is a mere 50km from Amman, and a return taxi is only 30JD, or around 42usd. The Dead Sea is said to be disappearing soon due mainly to pollution issues, aka over usage of water in the region. The only easy "tourist" access you have to the Dead Sea is either from a hotel or one of the "beaches". The place is also under high surveillance, as you have Palestine just on the other side of the water...and we all know the sad situation going down there. Our pick ... read more
December 23rd 2010
« Back » on the road after a few weeks break in France and on for a new humanitarian mission, after one year in North Korea, I have now moved to Baghdad, Iraq! Middle East is now my second home so do expect a lot of blogs from that part of the world ! The first one of this series is dedicated to the Dead Sea in Jordan … Mud, Salt & Sea ! Long week end in Amman before starting my mission, explored already many sites in the capital city and felt like going for a little “escape” from the crowd so when my colleagues mentioned that by the dead sea the temperature would be about 7 degrees warmer than Amman although only at 45mn drive from the capital I made my mind immediately! The ... read more
November 14th 2010
Bethany Beyond the Jordan is where Jesus was dunked in the Jordan river by John the Baptist in a symbolic cleansing ceremony. The suspected original baptism site has been dug up, since the river has now moved a little further to the west to form the border between Jordan and the West Bank (ceded to a Palestinian State by King Hussein). Of course, the Israelis are unlikely to give up access to the water, as the current fight is more about water rights than even land. The Jordanian signs repeatedly emphasize the Bible quotes saying Jesus was dipped on the East bank of the Jordan river. On the West bank meanwhile, there were people conducting dunking ceremonies into the now filthy waters of the Jordan creek - just a trickle so it's hard to call it ... read more
November 14th 2010
The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth at 400m below sea level with a salinity level of 31%. Well OK, the Marianas Trench in the South China Sea off the Philippines is the lowest point on the surface of the earth. So to be technical, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth that's on land. And technically it's not a sea either, but a lake that is 9 times saltier than a real sea. The salt content is because there is no exit for water from the lake except by evaporation. So the minerals and salts dissolved in the water stay behind when the water evaporates. Due to the salinity, it is devoid of fish, but not completely empty of life. It turns out there are vast quantities of salt loving microbes ... read more
