Day 6 - Wadi Rum to the Dead Sea
We left the camp at 8.30. It was incredibly cold overnight and we needed jumpers and a coat to go to breakfast. There were a couple of hot air balloons flying over. It soon warmed up and became quite hot.
Wadi Rum is without doubt a beautiful desert region of Jordan, but like Petra it has been taken over by tourism. There were tourist camps everywhere. We first visited the Wadi Rum Railway which was built in the time of Lawrence of Arabia and during the Great Arab Uprising against the Ottamans in 1916. Its main purpose was to transport weapons and soldiers. We saw an old steam engine and carriages plus some other rolling stock and the old Wadi Rum station building. The train does run a short distance for tourist trips.
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| Paul on the train |
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| Front of the steam engine used on this railway |
We then started the 4 hour journey to the Dead Sea, via Aquaba. We didn't go into the town but did get a view of the northern Red Sea where we could see the Sinai mountains in Egypt and Eliat in Israel. We had to make short stops at custom stations before and after Aquaba as it is a Free Trade town and port on the Red Sea. Interestingly our guide never says the word "Israel" during our time with him. If he refers to the country it is always "our neighbours". Earlier in the week, when we were further north he referred to it as the "Palestinian West Bank".
We then continued north with the Israeli border to the west. We drove close to Eliat airport and could see a plane landing. There have been several missiles fired into Eliat in recent weeks.
Just before reaching the Dead Sea, we saw the Salt Processing factories. Large reservoirs are filled with water from the Dead Sea and left until the water evaporates leaving the salt. The concentration of salt in the Dead Sea is 28% . Minerals are also mined. This is the area where Sodam and Gomorrah, 2 of the 5 Cities of the Plain, as mentioned in the bible, were located. Many of the population her are of African descent as their forefathers were slaves who accompanied their masters to the site where Jesus was baptised which is further north to the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea is receding at 1m per year. So much of the dry area that we see around the shore was once covered by water. As the water recedes, sink holes are appearing.. The scenery along the coast is absolutely stunning and the water is a lovely shade of blue.
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| Small peninsular with palm trees |
We made a photo stop for a few minutes to see the monument to Lot's wife, who according to the Bible, was turned into a pillar of salt. The monument is a pillar of stones on top of the mountain.
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| Man made river flowing into the Dead Sea Used for water sports including kayaking |
We arrived at the Dead Sea Spa Resort and had lunch before we could go to our rooms. It is lovely here and no souvenir sellers.
We went for a float in the Dead Sea. It was a really amazing experience. We had only walked in about 6" and felt unsteady. You really do float but have to be on your back. If you try and swim your head can easily go underwater as you become top heavy. I got a splash of salt in my mouth and it was horrible. We both felt a stinging sensation on our legs and arms and had a bit of a rash when we got out but it soon disappeared. We spent some time floating around and then got out and covered ourselves with Dead Sea mud which was available on the beach. We were told to let it dry for about 10 minutes and then either go back in the sea to wash it off or use the showers. We went back in the sea and then needed to shower off the rest of it particularly from our faces. It was great fun!
Everyone has to leave the beach and sea one hour before sunset. This is to stop anyone trying to swim over to Israel. There were markers as we walked down the steep hill to the beach showing the water level from 2005 - 2020 at 5 year intervals. It is just amazing how quickly this is receding and is because of a dam slowing the flow of water into the Dead Sea from the Jordan River. In 50 years time The Dead Sea will have gone completely unless something is done.
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| The Dead Sea beach |
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| Paul floating in Dead Sea |
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| Floating in the Dead Sea |
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| Look, no hands... |
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| Mud bath |
I went for a swim in the pool when we returned from the beach then Paul and I had a pre dinner drink - it was happy hour and 2 drinks for the price of 1. I had my first glass of wine this week which went down very well. We had a farewell dinner at 7.00 and a drink on the terrace afterwards. We had good views of the lights of Jerusalem and Jericho across the Dead Sea. 4 of us are leaving very early tomorrow so wont be able to meet up for breakfast so we said our goodbyes. This has really been the highlight of the holiday for me and I wish we were staying here a bit longer.
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| End of holiday drink |
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| Lights of Jerusalem, under a 1st quarter moon |
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