Jordan - Day 3 (Dec 31, 2008)

We left early in the morning to our second destination, the Dead Sea.

On the way, we stopped by the Crusader Castle, which was on the map the Avis guy gave us. It was easy to find. I must say the road signs in Jordan were very tourist-friendly. We were the first ones to arrive there. Minutes after we had arrived, a huge bus full of tourist from Europe arrived. We knew we had come to the right place.


A view of the castle from a top of the hill on the road leading to the castle.

There were canonballs on the walls of the castle.

It's amazing how these arches don't fall after all these years, especially the one in the bottom.

And into the abyss...

Inside the castle, there was an underground tunnel that just kept on going down. After going down couple of steps, I was too scared to go further. It was pitch dark and it seemed like the trail wouldn't end. Maybe it was an escape route. I would never know.

Still on our way to the Dead Sea, we stopped by a little village called Dana. Very low hanging clouds or very thick fog made it extremely difficult to drive, but it was certainly worth the effort. We wanted to arrive at Dead Sea before dark, so we couldn't spend too much time here. Otherwise, it would have been nice to explore Dana Nature Reserve as well.

Overlooking the Dana Gorge.

Finally, we see the tip of the Dead Sea from the high mountains. The drive up to here was absolutely awesome. The scenary was comparable to the Grand Canyon. Too bad I don't have any pictures to show for it.

Driving along the Dead Sea towards our hotel.

A machine gun on top of a Toyota pick up. The trip was during the latest dispute between Israel and Hamas, and so it wasn't all the amusing.

A view of the Dead Sea from the Jordan Valley Marriott Resort & Spa. The hotel was quite nice and the staff was friendly overall.

I had to try it out for myself. I really floated!!!

And so did my wife.

This was December 31st, mind you. And the weather was quite chilly. Certainly not a typical day-out-in-the-beach kind of day. But it was surprisingly comfortable once we got in the Dead Sea. I guess the high salinity make the water temperature constant.

And of course I had to try the famous Dead Sea mud pack.

As the sign says, -415.75m below sea level. (Although technically, when you say -415.75m below sea level, isn't that a double negative?)

Chocolate pondue station at the buffet. It looked better than it tasted.

View of the pool at night. You can see the lights coming out of Israel in the back.

Jordan - Day 2 (Dec 30, 2008)

Although we got a glimpse of Petra from the night before, my wife and I were very excited to finally see the Petra, and so we started our track at the crack of dawn.

The one day entrance fee was JD42 for the two of us and another JD30 for the tour guide. The tour guide wasn't mandatory but was highly recommended.

One road for people walking and another for people riding horses. The horse ride is only up to the beginning of a narrow passage. I personally think it's a waste of money. But to each his own.

We were able to see the carvings on the wall right from the get-go.

Aqueduct built by the Romans to bring water into the remote city of Petra. Just amazing what those folks did 2,000 years ago.

Tree growing out of rocks. The tour guide told us these tree blossom in the spring with beautiful flowers. I guess I'll just have to take his word for it.

As narrow as it gets.

Listening intently to what the tour guide had to say.

On our way into the ancient city of Petra, we could see some remains of brick road that was built by the Romans. There still were skid marks from the chariots. Simply amazing.

A carving of a man with his camel. We wouldn't have known unless the tour guide told us. Good thing we had one.

Ahhhh, and finally we see the Treasury (as shown in the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) showing itself through the narrow passage.

The 12 pillars represent 12 months of a year, the tour guide told us. There are also 30 flowers to represent days of a month right below the statues, and 360 (or 365 not exactly sure) markings on the edges of the roof-like carvings to represent days of a year.

There's me waiving in front of the entrance. Unlike the Indiana Jones movie, there was nothing inside.

On top of many of the carvings, you could see staircases that go up to the sky. This was the way for the Nabataeans to reach the heaven.

These aren't one of those staircases going up to heaven.

Inside some of the halls of carvings on the wall were family tombs.

We decided to hire a mule for my wife and a donkey for me. The price was JD100. It was pretty expensive, and my wife was scared to death about riding a mule. But in the end, we realized it was a good choice. Without the help from the donkey and the mule, we would not have been able to see all that we saw in one day.

The mule and the Mrs. The mule looks quite cute in this picture. But we learned where the expression 'stubborn as a mule' came from.

An altar on top of the hill.

We got off the donkey and the mule at certain points.

A carving of a lion.

The guide said it would be better for us to get off the animals when going down the steep stairs.

A narrow, steep passage through the mountains. That looks like a big cats head with a fang.

Bedouin family with a donkey.

On our way to "The Monastery".

A herd of goats.

And we finally reach "The Monastery" all the way at the end. Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen has couple of scenes from here.

After the Monastery is "the end of the world".

A view of the end of the world.

Simply beautiful.

I'm sorry. I just had to post this picture.

The guy looks a little too big for the donkey wouldn't you say?

The Roman colonnaded street.

Urn Tomb, the largest of the Royal Tombs.

Amphitheater

Finally at the home stretch.

One last look at the Treasury before we leave.