From the Dead Sea to the Red Sea

Sunset over the Dead Sea

My time in Jordan has come to a bitter sweet end. Bitter because I truly enjoyed being there. I was surrounded by good company and the work I was doing at Genome Training and Consulting was top notch. It's sweet because I am back in Senegal, a country I've held close to my heart for 5 years, and a place that I left all to soon when I got sick in September.

Paris Square - my temporary home

The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is known for being a peaceful safe-haven in the Middle East and bordered by conflict and turmoil. Inside of it's borders is a harmonious alloy of ancient and modern. Its deep and rich history comes to life when you're visiting its historical locations.


The Dead Sea
This weekend get away was extra special for three reasons, it was a surprise anniversary vacation, it was my first stay in a 5-star resort, and its the Dead Sea! People live lifetimes with this on their bucket list and often times never make it.

Salt build up

The Dead Sea is a place many people dream of going and only a few make the trip. At 429 meters (1,407 feet) below sea level, it is the lowest poin on earth and has such high salinity that nothing but the most microscopic of life forms can survive inside of it. The sea, or should I say lake, is the second-saltiest body of water on earth, after Lake Aral in Djibouti.


It's mud is mineral rich (mostly with calcium and magnesium), packaged, and sold all over the world for exorberant prices. And here I had as much as I wanted all to myself! I did a full body mud wrap three times while there! In ancient times, the Egyptians used this mud, sometimes called bitumen, during their mummification process.

Dead Sea mud exfoliating time

Sadly the Dead Sea has shrunk by 30% in recent years (approx 1m per year) due to evaporation and agricultural demands. The feeling of effortlessly floating in the water is indescribable...if this isn't on your bucket list, it should be. And if it is, you better get there soon!


Amman
This may be the coolest capital city I've ever lived in. OK, it's the only capital I've lived in, but my statement stands. I'm not sure if I feel right counting my five weeks in Senegal before I got sick, but I will soon be living in another capital city. I've always been a "small town" girl, the only other true city I've lived in was Montreal, Quebec, so this has been a wonderful experience for me!

As you'd figure, there's a lot to see and do in the city. Apart from cute cafes and delicious restaurants (you can find anything here, sometimes pricey but usually worth it), there is enough history to keep you busy every weekend for months. The list of where I've visited is in no way exhausted and will surely be added to at a later date.

Amman Citadel

A site that has an enormous history of occupation by a variety of civilizations. It has been built, destroyed, rebuilt and is now preserved for us to visit.

Umayyad Palace

Hanging out in the ruins

Hand of Hercules

"Look!" View of Amman from the Citadel

Roman Philadelphia Amphitheater

Smack dab in the middle of Amman, which in ancient times was called Philadelphia, the theater seats over 6000!

Hard to see me but I'm a dot in the middle :)

Rainbow Street

Everything fun is here. Bars, cafes, shisha, ice cream, alcohol, yoga, great views, restaurants, etc.

View from a friends house just off of Rainbow Street

Downtown

I was warned not to go here on Fridays, especially around prayer time, but I haven't had any negative experiences. Downtown, like Rainbow St. is flooded with shops, restaurants, and cute cafes that you can post up in for half a day to pump out some work.

Lemon with mint - a classic!

For more on Jordanian/Middle Eastern food, check out this post. 

King Abdullah Mosque

Regrettably, this mosque was under construction when I visited AND it was prayer time so I didnt get to go inside. This is Amman's largest mosque and named after the present King. Whats so neat about it (besides its size) is that there is not one column inside. It's this massive open dome!

Church right next door to the mosque.

Abu Darwish Mosque

The Abu Darwish Mosque was built in 1961 on top of Ashrafiyeh (one of Amman's 7 hills). It was funded by a Jordanian born in the Caucasus (by the name of Abu Darwish), embraced Syrian architecture and was built by Palestinians. The alternating black and white stones make this mosque one of a kind and can accommodate 7000 worshipers!

Lucky for me when I went I made it just in time for the Adhan, or call to prayer. What a beautiful sight watching worshipers gather to their holy place.

Street Art of Amman

Enough said. I gained a new appreciation for it during me months in Amman.

 

 

 

The Desert Castles
My first trip outside of Amman was east of Amman to what are known as "the Desert Castles". Although I didn't see all of the castles, I saw enough to know two things:
1. I will be back to see them all.
2. Definitely worth a day trip.

Heading east from Amman, the landscape quickly turned into a barren stone desert known as the badia. I had gotten used to the bustling, green, hilly life in Amman so this day-trip was truly a pleasure. This is what 80% of Jordan looks like and where 5% of its population lives.

There are six desert castles along the "desert loop" most of which were build or adapted by the Damascus-based Umayyad rulers in the late 7th and early 8th centuries.

Qusayr Amra with our guide Mumbarak

Our first stop, after getting pretty lost and taking the roan highway, was Qusayr Amra or Amra palace. Qusayr is little castle in transliterated Arabic. Here we found a welcoming guide, Mumbarak who showed us around the small castle making small jokes and hurrying us along.

This desert castle is a UNESCO World Heritage sight because it is the only monument in the world from the Umayyad period that has preserved its panted decoration in totality.

Inside of Qusayr Amra

After snapping enough pictures we were invited into share some Bedouin whiskey, also known as chai or even more commonly as tea.

My new friend

After two, or maybe three rounds of tea and a couple of story exchanges, it was time for us to head out to out next castle. But not before a near marriage proposal and a beautiful red bracelet as a gift.

Qasr al-Kharana

The date and original function are debated between scholars but that Qasr al-Kharana, or Kharaneh, or Haranna (I saw three different ways to spell it all on the same trip) may have been the oldest khan (inn) of the Islamic period.

This castle was much larger and more open than the first. We took our time exploring each level, climbing up and down the stairs, and of course, soaking in the view from the rooftop.

Next time I will be sure to see Qasr al-Hallabat, Qasr al-Azraq, Qasr Uweinid, and Qasr al-Mushatta.

Roof top of Qasr al-Kharana

After this we were ready for lunch. We decided to grab some food and get lost. The getting lost was not intentionally - so we pulled over on a random road and ate lunch Jordanian style. On our attempt to find the main road, we were flagged down and invited in for tea.

Smiles transcend language barriers

A little music with a homemade guitar/violin type thing

Petra
I hitched a ride to the Rose Red City with SIT Graduate Institute students that were in Jordan for a couple of weeks on their field study. This city was built by the Nabateans, a nomadic tribe from western Arabia, in abut 6th century BCE but was only know by the Bedouin until 1812.

This mystical city that was lost by civilizations for centuries has become so popular its now reportedly one of the seven wonders of the world. I say reportedly because I can never find an "official" site - does anyone know of one? Every site I find is a little different.

The major sights of Petra, beyond the red mountainous backdrop that made for a picture perfect view at all times, include the Siq, the Treasury (Al-Khazneh), Street of Facades, the High Place of Sacrifice, the Theater, several royal tombs and the Monastery (Al-Deir). I read up a bit the day before so that I could maximize the short amount of time I had inside the city. The consensus was in - head for heights! I knew a half day in the city, especially with my back, I wasn't going to be able to see much - I needed to be organized and efficient.

The classic photo walking from the Siq entering Petra where you can see the Treasury

Straight chillin in front of the Treasury

On our way in to the city, we passed countless tombs, the siq, an advanced aqueduct system, massive narrow stone corridor leading to the magnificent Treasury. I can imagine this may be where the saying "That's a sight for sore eyes" may have come from. The city was a massive Nabatean trading center where people from all over the world would arrive trade spices, silks, incense, etc., so arriving to the Treasury must have left traders with an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and relief.

The hike to the High Place of Sacrifice was a long one, to say the least. But every time I managed to look up from watching my feet on the ground making sure not to trip, I had to take a second (or two, or three) to admire the natural beauty that all around me. As we neared the top, or what we thought was the top, I heard a flute being played off in the distance. A Bedouin woman was up hanging out by her shop waiting for tourist to pass by.

This hike was over 1000ft incline and over 15,000 steps!! At the time, because of exhaustion, I kept saying "This was not worth it" but not in hindsight, which we know is always 20/20, it was totally worth it.

Instead of taking a different way down (which was much longer and would have allowed us to see more) we went down the way we came up. I was exhausted and there wasn't much time left.

The Roman Amphitheater and several tombs where right at the base of the climb up to the High Place.

Amphitheater of Petra

Red Sea - Aqaba and Tala Bay
Surprisingly to me, Aqaba the most important city in southern Jordan and is on its way to being the country's second biggest city. There are tons of development projects including suburbs, malls, and luxury apartment complexes sprouting up all over. It's already home to several international hotel chains that continue to expand along the coast.

The JETT Bus from Amman to Aqaba was only 10$ and took about 4 hours. It was affordable, reliable, and comfortable.

Calm sunny day on the Red Sea

The Gulf of Aqaba, which is essentially the Red Sea, has over 110 species of hard coral, 120 species of soft coral and nearly 1,000 species of fish! It's a hot spot for divers, snorkelers, and beach loves alike.

A sunken tank

Sadly it was on the cold side for my liking (especially with my back - it's bad for me to get really cold), so I only dipped my feet in. However, I was able to get underwater in another way... a 360 degree submarine glass boat! We saw cabbage, brain, and branching coral - parrot, tiger, barracuda, angles, zebra fish and more. Coral, on average, grows 1 centimeter per year -- the coral we saw was over 10,000 years old.

Coral

Sunset over the Read Sea

I know I'll be back to Jordan, I have a lot left on my bucket list to see. Priorities will be Madaba, Karak, Salt, Ajloun Castle and Forest, Umm Qais, Dana Nature Reserve, Wadi Musa, Wadi Mujid, Wadi Rum, Jerash Market and Ancient Ruins, and as previously mentioned, the rest of the Desert Castles. Hoping to get to Lebanon too, inshallah. But from here on out - blogs will be about Senegal!