The Dead Sea

Backblipped.

Day 2 of our holiday in Jordan:
We arrived at our hotel in Amman (the Capital) in the early hours of Sunday morning. A brief sleep & breakfast then 9am pick up by our tour bus. It was very comfortable (19 of us in a 30 seater) and we met our tour guide, Mohammed, and driver, Adnan. We also had a policeman who travelled with us (government regulations) though we didn't feel unsafe or thraetened in any way during the whole trip.

First we visited Jerash / Gerash, north of Amman, which is a ruined Roman city. It was quite startling to hear the sound of the bagpipes when we arrived! Then we drove south to the Dead Sea which lies over 400m below sea level.

All the pictures I've seen of the Dead Sea have people lying serenely, reading a newspaper. I forgot my paper - but would have struggled with it as it was quite choppy and there were rocks covered with vicious salt crystals to negotiate on the way in. It was baking hot and no shade - didn't stay in long and skin felt surprisingly greasy on emerging. I decided to skip the mud option.

Afterwards we returned to Amman, exhausted and in need of a cold beer. But the hotel was dry. There was an off licence opposite - across a dual carriageway, 2 lanes of traffic in each direction and no crossing place for miles in both directions. Very frustrating.