Tale of Two Regions

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Geo: 31.1637, 35.762

We all slept especially well, and the heavy darkout curtains belied the early sunrise. This was our morning to swim in the Dead Sea and get in some relaxation, before beginning the more arduous few days of the trip. We enjoyed the fantastic breakfast buffet at the hotel -- by leaps and bounds the best we had on our trip.

From here we worked our way down the multiple terraces, past pools and restaurants, and down to the actual beach area. As I mentioned earlier, they were in the midst of a major renovation of the larger beach area -- adding in a new terrace, as the water level continues to drop precariously. We'd read the night before that the entire Dead Sea could be gone by 2025 at the current rates of evaporation. There is a plan in place to build a canal linking the Red and Dead Seas. It would facilitate a large hydroelectric dam on the southern end of the sea, the power from which would run huge desalination plants. The idea is to canal in sea water, make it potable, and then pump the remaining saline "backwater" into the Dead Sea, which could maintain it's level. The holdup to the plan now is cost and delicate negotiations between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority, all of which would have land bordering the canal, and stand to benefit from the water.

All of us made the obligatory "swim" in the Dead Sea. Anna was a bit hesitant, as the water has a slightly oily feel to it, and it really hurts if you have any cuts on your body. Once she committed, though, she -- in fact, all of us -- had great fun just floating on top of the water.

K and Anna availed themselves of the Dead Sea mud, which they smeared all over their bodies before letting it bake in the sun, and then washing it off. They both raved about how it made their skin feel -- I did not partake. We then made our way back toward our room, stopping for swims in a couple of the pools and hot tubs that dot each terrace of the hotel.

We had noticed a roadside shop the day before, advertising "Dead Sea Products." Anna had raved so much about how good her skin felt, we decided to surprise her with a stop at this store for some "product." We had to backtrack a little, but soon found the store. We both were expecting to walk in and see a small selection of beauty products. What we didn't expect was the sheer size of the store, which in addition to rows and rows of every conceivable product made with minerals from the Dead Sea, had every variety of handicraft and high-quality souvenirs. When I lived in Jordan, the idea of souvenirs -- aside from junk made in China -- was foreign. Things had changed. A man from the shop attached himself to us, and we spent more than an hour seeing everything in the store. He was Jordanian and had been working for the U.S. Army as a cultural adviser in Afghanistan for several years. As such, his English was perfect. He was leaving for Washington in a few days to complete his citizenship paperwork -- which was a condition (and reward) for his work for the U.S. military. I commented to him several times how pleased I was to see all of the advancement in the country, as well as my general surprise as to the quality of the handicrafts now being sold. It turns out they were sponsored by the Queen Noor Foundation. I had to smile at this, as a good friend of mine when I lived there worked for USAID. His primary portfolio was working with the then queen (Queen Noor; wife of the late King Hussen) to set up workshops across the country to sponsor and encourage local handicrafts. It was in its infancy then, but it was very pleasing to see that the plan worked, and the results were evident throughout the store -- and even later, in Petra, where we saw all kinds of signs denoting USAID support. As an example, they had beautiful mosaics, which were made by handicapped children in Madaba, as well as ceramics from Azraq, and many more. Suffice it to say, what had been envisioned as a five-minute stop to stock up on beauty cream turned into an hour-and-a-half of talking, shopping, and drinking mint tea.

At this point, we had planned to visit the Baptism Site of Jesus, which was a few miles up the road. This site was not discovered or excavated until the late 1990's, following the peace treaty with Israel and the removal of mines along the Jordan River. I'd read a lot about it, and the scientific and archeological evidence that this was indeed the area in which John the Baptist preached and performed his baptisms. While we wanted to visit, it would have required several hours and we elected to skip it and continue our trip south, as we had to be in the town of Wadi Musa (where Petra is located) no later than 6:30pm.

We drove south, along the length of the Dead Sea, through a literal no-man's land. With no potable water anywhere along the route, it is pure gray rock and sand. We might has well have been on the moon for how it looked. Near the southern terminus of the sea, we took (the only) left turn and started to make the very steep climb up the mountains; ascending nearly 6,000 feet along a windy road with extreme gradients. The arid smell of burning brakes and overworked transmissions was overwhelming as we passed a steady progression of trucks driving downhill.

A few hundred feet above sea level, the vegetation returned, and by the time we reached the town of Karak, 3,500 feet higher, we were back in groves of olive and cypress trees. We were visiting another Crusader castle, perched at the literal tip of a steep hill, around which the bustling town of Karak had grown. I was somewhat surprised to find several tour buses parked outside -- another thing you never saw before -- but we parked and made our way in to the castle. As with the one at Ajloun but on a larger scale, there were scores of tunnels, dungeons, and parapets to explore -- far more than that for which we had time or energy. It was from a guide here that we learned that the majority of tourists visiting Jordan come from Malaysia. That came out of left field, but it seemed to be confirmed by the tour groups we saw here in Karak, and later in Petra.

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Photos

The Road Heading South, Along Dead Sea
A whole lot of nothing

Karak Castle

The Full Line of Hashemite Kings
Pictures of King Abdullah II were all over the place, but some pictures like this one showed all his line.