Sarah floats in the Dead Sea!

Beautiful Jerash!

I loved the first day I was in Jordan but the second was even better!  In the morning we met with Abu Wassim and headed off to Jerash to explore the Roman ruins.  We stopped on the way for a Turkish coffee - a very bitter, grainy form of Tim Horton's.  I liked it, especially at eight in the morning!  When we got to Jerash, I was amazed at the expanse of the ruins!  They were huge, and for a couple of hours we crawled over the Roman theatre, temples, colonnaded roads... it was amazing.  There's no other place I've been that will let you crawl over anything and go anywhere among such well-preserved ruins.  It was so easy to imagine being Roman and what it would have been like to live in Jordan back then!

Raph and I exploring the Roman ruins

At the Dead Sea!

On our way to the Dead Sea, Abu Wassim stopped off at an Arabian castle located on a Jebel (hill) which was almost deserted so once again we climbed over the entire thing (there is a theme to this trip: lots of climbing, as you will see!).  We then drove to the lowest point on the Earth's surface - the Dead Sea!  Located 400 m below sealevel, it was really hot and humid compared to Amman or Jerash.  We went to the Amman Beach Resort and headed down to the shore, which was covered in salt crystals!  Once I waded in, I discovered what they say about the Dead Sea is so true - you float like a cork!  No matter which way I moved I just popped back up again.  So at some point you give up on the swimming idea and just float aimlessly.  We swam for a couple hours then had to rinse ourselves off because the water's so briny it feels like you have oil on your skin afterwards.  Plus, I accidentally got some in my eye, which was painful, and some in my mouth, which was even worse because it tasted AWFUL.  Note to self: don't try to talk while swimming in the Dead Sea.

Floating!

On our way back to Jordan, we stopped at Mount Nebo, where apparently Moses went to look at the Promised Land before he died, and a town called Madaba, famous for its mosaics.