Amman

---

09-10-08

We arrived at our hotel in Amman last night, and this morning we tour the city of Amman before making our way to Mt. Nebo and on to the Dead Sea.
We visited the Citidal, and the Jordan Archaeological Museum located at the same site. The Citidal site contains examples of Roman, Byzantine and Islamic settlement.
The Dead Sea Scrolls are located in the Archaeological Museum. These scrolls on the western shore of the Dead Sea. One of the metal scrolls tells of a large treasure located somewhere on the west bank of the Jordan River. It has not yet been found.
We moved on to see the small and large amphitheatres located near down town Amman. These were amazingly constructed to allow your voice to be amplified to the whole stadium, as long as you stand on the the marked spot on the floor. You can actually hear your voice being projected when you stand on this spot. Stand just beside that mark and you can't hear the voice projection.
Heading on to Mt Nebo we stopped at Madaba " the city of Mosaics". Most of the worlds mosaics come from this town.
We reached Mt. Nebo where Moses is believed to have died. This is a very religious site there were many people visiting there.It is also a fantastic view over Amman and the Dead Sea. Israel can also be seen from here.
We made our way down the winding road toward the Dead Sea. It was lunch time so we stopped at a restaurant for our $160 lunch. Jordan is not a cheap place to live.
We arrived at the Dead Sea after lunch, and being the lowest place on earth in was very hot. This made us keen to get into the water, so we got changed and headed for the water. Before you get in you are told not to put your head in the water, or get water in your mouth or eyes. Sandra decided to try the famous Dead Sea mud as you can see. After she mudded up we hit the water. You can feel the salty water almost stinging your skin as you get in. It is only slight so you soon get used to it. You wouldn't want to have any cuts or sores though, OUCH. The girls weren't comfortable in the water so they got out after a short time. It is a very strange sensation floating in this water. It is like the water is trying to push you up and flip you over. It is even hard to put your feet down to stand up.
When we had enough of the salt, we headed for the showers and then to the pools for the girls to have a swim. The girls had a fun time then we hit the road again back to our hotel in Amman.
Next day we had a free day as we didn't have to catch our flight to Dubai, till 5.00pm.

---