Postscript

We’ve now been home for a week and in that time the world has gone bonkers. Covid 19 is taking its toll everywhere. We have been in isolation since we got home. We’re lucky to have family support and our son in law has been doing grocery and wine runs. When we flew from Jordan, they had already closed their borders and the airport was vacant. We were screened in Cairo for temperature, but saw NO ONE in Toronto when we landed. Since then there are next to no flights, airlines, hotels, etc.laying off personnel like crazy. When we took off from Cairo it was raining heavily. What we didn’t know was that the rain became violent thunderstorms with torrential downpours that created flooding in Cairo, contaminating water supplies with sewage and killing 4 people. Now, most borders in the world are closed. We’re feeling healthy but still have another week of isolation. Meanwhile they are forecasting snow for Petra tomorrow. Our weather was so fabulous during our entire trip that it’s hard to imagine anything else. Floods in Cairo? Snow in Petra? Man, did we ever dodge a bullet! Our timing was unplanned perfect. We feel very grateful. What the future looks like in terms of travel remains to be seen. Right now we are happy to be safely home. The wine cellar is restocked, the larder is replenished and we are content!

Dead Sea to Amman to Cairo To Toronto

It was another glorious day in Jordan! It is supposed to rain tomorrow but we don’t care because we will be gone. We have been waking early every morning so of course we did so again today. By 7:00 we were dipping our toes in the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is eight times more dense than any other salt water, so you float beautifully but you cannot turn over because of the density. It is dead because it has no outlet. The level of the water here is going down every year and they are quite concerned about it but so far have no other solution other than diverting some water from the Red Sea - a massive project. Israel was fairly prominent today.

When we went in, the air and water were about the same temperature which was very comfortable. I went in first while Dawn took photos. I had the Go Pro going as well.

Then Dawn opted for the sitz bath. The water tasted really salty and it was oily as well, but didn’t smell.

Next we mudded up with the therapeutic mud of the Dead Sea. They clearly have to dig for this stuff because it’s all rocky along the shore.

Following a wash down at the beach showers, we returned to our room to further shower and eventually went for breakfast. We had a leisurely remainder of our stay at the Crowne Plaza in our room with a view of the Dead Sea, trying to dry up our bathing suits for the final pack. By 2:00 we departed for the Amman Airport. Then we did the hop from Amman to Cairo to Toronto - about 13 hours of flying time. We are expecting medical screening by the time we arrive in Toronto. On the suggestion of the Canadian government we have already determined that we will do a self-imposed 14 day quarantine. I find it interesting that when we planned this trip we were concerned about aspects of terrorism in this area but by the time we were finished, nobody even thought about terrorism. It was all about the coronavirus. So now it is time for me to sign off from another segment of my blog. It has been a very memorable and event packed vacation, as you can see from the tickets to the various sites.

The road to the Dead 🌊

We departed Wadi Musa this morning in brilliant sunshine. Our first stop along the way was at the rock Moses struck to get water. The rock is still here and so is the holy water.

No matter whether people live in the city or the country, a sheikh is in charge of a group of people, so everyone has a sheikh. All sheikhs are rich. The ultimate sheikh in Jordan is the King and the King is the absolute ruler of Jordan. The photo below is the scenery??? on the first part of today’s drive.

A fixer-upper!

Shepherds.

The Persian influence in Jordan.

Our first excursion today was on the outskirts of Madaba. We had taken all morning to get here. Fortunately we are very close now to our final destination which is the Dead Sea. We visited Mount Nebo where Moses was supposed to have pointed out the promised land in about 1200 BC. On a clear day you can see Jerusalem and Bethlehem and Jericho, not to mention the Dead Sea.

The church here, dedicated to Moses, dated back to about 600 AD. They have built a modern structure over the mosaics that were on the floor of the original church. One of above pictures is what they found in 1933. The mosaics were within this structure.

We had a buffet lunch here.

And went to a mosaic store. Here we had a lesson in the important men of Jordan. From past king, to current king, to future king. First King Hussein.

King Abdullah ll - current king.

Crown Prince Hussein.

The last stop before our hotel was Saint George church - Greek Orthodox, famous fort mosaics.

Finally we were off to our hotel the Crowne Plaza Dead Sea. From Mount Nebo we dropped from 700 m above sea level to 420m below sea level. It was quite the drive with switchbacks galore.

There were numerous gypsy encampments along the way.

Finally we arrived the Crowne Plaza - the lowest point on the earth. What a spot!

The picture of us above with the room with a brown railing on it is ours. We look out on the Dead Sea and toward Jerusalem and Israel. From here we could also see the lights of Bethlehem, but most notably Jerusalem. Never thought we’d see Israel. Wow!!! Jerusalem is the wide expanse of light and Bethlehem is the light beyond the palms.

Unlike most of our other hotels where we were the only show in town, the Crowne Plaza is hopping busy. The sad byline on this is that most other guests are Indonesian on a religious pilgrimage to Israel and Israel has closed its borders to everyone. Imagine flying halfway around the world to be denied the crown jewel of your trip.