Holy Sites and a Dip in the Dead Sea

We haven't quite been able to recover from our jet lag because we are sticking so closely to Zaynee's packed itinerary. We are so lucky to have a local here! This was another early morning, as we had to drive all the way east on the Dead Sea Highway. Our first stop was supposed to be the Baptism Site of Jesus Christ, some 2000 years ago, but Dad and Ghamid found a little road-side shop that was selling swimming trunks and other goods. Dad had forgotten to bring his, and Zaynee had scheduled us to end the day at the Dead Sea! So for 7 JD (Jordanian Dinar), Dad got his swim trunks and we continued on our way. It was quite a sight to see little shops like this on the side of the highway...but they're perfectly normal and everywhere! 

The place Dad found swimming trunks on the side of the road...

As we got closer to the baptism site, we saw how high tensions were in this area. By this, I mean that there were various check points where military officials stopped our car, talked to Ghamid and sometimes inspected the car from all angles. They all dressed in camo and held machine guns. We were only going to see the Baptism site, not cross a border, but since it is so close to Israel and Palestine and the West Bank, security measures are incredibly tight. You read about this kind of stuff, but you never fully acknowledge it until you confront it. 

Anyway, we made it through the check points and to the ticket office in the middle of nowhere for the Baptism site. There were a few other tourists milling around, waiting for the bus to collect us and the tour to begin. We all clambered onto the bus and bounced our way down a dirt road in the middle of the desert. Our tour guide was nice enough, but he was a bit hard to understand and didn't know English perfectly. He did a fine job pointing out Elijah's Hill in the distance, where Elijah is said to have ascended to heaven. There were 6 different denominational churches there that we could see. The bus continued on through the desert and let us off at a dirt path where we went on foot. We walked to the site of Jesus' Baptism, where there were three churches built one on top of the other. Steps led down to the actual site of His Baptism, which was really cool to imagine. It seems like such a random and far-out place to do it! There's nothing around!

Site of Jesus's Baptism! Down the stairs and on the left side between those two square bricks, John baptized Jesus

Mosaic of the baptism

Another mosaic

We continued on the walking trail and went past a beautiful gold-domed Byzantine/Greek Orthodox church. Hanaa was so impressed. It really was pretty, but after seeing a billion churches in Vienna and around Europe, this small church didn't really compare!

Gold-domed Byzantine church (the Russian wouldn't get out of the way)

Then we walked down to the Jordan River, which was right across from Israel. We could see the tourists on that side touching the river, as we were doing! It is the only part of the Jordan River you can touch, as a reminder to the Baptism that took place, because the rest of the river runs through a military no-man's-land. 

View of the Israeli side of the Jordan River

Touching the Jordan River with Israel in the background

Luckily it wasn't too hot or too cold, so the walk was nice and the site was amazing to think about afterwards. There is so much history in this country! Thank goodness I had performed in Jesus Christ Superstar about 7 years back...I actually remembered most of the biblical references and significances that we were seeing today!

Our next stop was Mount Nebo, where Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land and is apparently buried somewhere around here. The drive up the mountain was long and winding, and very steep. We passed lots of sheep, a few camels to Hanaa's delight, and lots of Bedouin tents set up in the cliffs. It was amazing to see that people actually lived like that!

Bedouin live up on this mountain! (can you see the Dead Sea in the background?)

The top of Mount Nebo was quite small, but offered some pretty views of the surrounding areas. We could even see the Dead Sea in the distance, way down below us. There wasn't too much to do, so we took a few photos and headed back down the mountains, towards the Dead Sea!

Hanaa and I had been very excited for the Dead Sea part of our trip. Everyone goes, though most visit from the West Bank, rather than Jordan. So we were going to be unique! Dad and Zaynee had booked us day passes at the Mövenpick Resort and Spa, so we could enjoy the fancy resort and all the amazing amenities by the Dead Sea. It was incredibly beautiful, seeing the infinity pools with the Dead Sea behind and the cliffs in the distance!

The resort was gorgeous!

Unfortunately, it was rather windy and not the warmest day ever. We were really hungry and ate some wildly overpriced poolside food that was pretty bad, and that took up most of the time the sun was out from the clouds. Literally, as soon as Hanaa and I changed into our swimsuits, the sun was hidden by an ominous black cloud that stretched for miles. It was so sad. Nevertheless, we were NOT about to miss out on the Dead Sea and ran down to the beach to step in. It wasn't very cold, luckily, but it was so salty and the waves were picking up. We didn't float, but could totally tell that swimming would have been impossible had we been able to go all the way in. 

Next, we found a mud pot full of Dead Sea mud, which is said to have amazing healing and beauty powers. Hanaa and I covered ourselves, like we did back in Italy when we visited a sulfuric bath in 2003, and even Dad put some on his face! It was very good at protecting us from the wind!

Once we had showered, we ran up to the winter pool, which was heated to 33 degrees Celsius (about 96 Fahrenheit), and jumped in so we didn't freeze. We stayed in there until Zaynee arrived from her classes and joined us, doing another mud covering with us and watching the sun set over the Dead Sea as it slipped out from behind the clouds. 

Sisters in the Sunset 

Such a beautiful sunset

Before leaving the luxurious resort, we had dinner at Luigi's, an Italian restaurant. Mom is sick of and from Middle Eastern food, she preferred to have pizza instead of falafel. So we opted for Italian, which was actually very good. After rounding the night off with gelato in the hotel, we met up with Ghamid and we set off back for Amman. Being at the Dead Sea with the entire family was such a fun and relaxing way to end the day of sightseeing!