Floating in the Dead Sea

The Dead Sea was one of the stops that I anticipated the most and I must say that I wasn't disappointed at all. Apart from the place where they led us, the cheapest of course, everything else was a blast! The first one to dive was Dario, and then Raffaella followed. They said that the water was cold... I can’t stand the cold and I was thinking about renouncing... But then I thought "When do I get to come down here to float on the Dead Sea again?" Never... so I gathered a little courage and there I went! But diving is quite impossible because the salinity of the sea is so high that going underwater is a no-go. Even swimming is almost impossible.

Then we moved into the mud to rub ourselves with I don’t know what kind of substance, but I know that it was as black as pitch… so black that our friend Franco didn’t recognize us, and he thought that we had left him there alone! He ran to change his ridiculous Fantozzi-like swimsuit and there he was, ready and responsive as usual, ready at the forefront to go away... But where're you going Franco!? ... relax!

Meanwhile, the mud made us like puppets of plaster and though our movements are robotic, the results are excellent: skin smooth and soft as a baby's butt!

The Dead Sea's mud

I'm cold!!!

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Amman and the castles of the desert

The long drive to Amman foresees stops in significant places scattered here and there in the center of Jordan.
We cross the vast Wadi Mujib, a unique natural park, as it is located 400 meters below the sea level. A deep gorge splits the sandstone rock crossed by a river, to get to Kerak where there is an ancient fortress.
The next stop is Mount Nebo, one of the most important Christian sites in Jordan. It’s important also because in March 2000, Pope Joan Paul II made his pilgrimage right there, in the Holy Land.
And finally we reach Amman, capital of Jordan, a surprisingly quiet town in terms of safety and a nice place to visit by foot. We visit the Roman Theatre and the Citadel, then everyone is free to go wherever they want. We go having a cup of tea in a public place: Raffaella, Carla and I were literally scrutinized from head to toe. Here it is unusual (and it’s probably bad costume) for women to go to bars mingling among men! Therefore, the owner of the restaurant asks us to sit on the terrace of the building, away from all the local people. I find a nice gift to take to Sebastian, but fate wants that I forget it inside the taxi when we go to have dinner.
We have some moments of panic when, after dinner, we take another taxi but the driver doesn't understand where our hotel is located. He is almost angry and I’m afraid that he will suddenly drop us in the middle of the street.

Amman. 2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

Amman, the Citadel. 2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

Wadi Mujib. 2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

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The next day is dedicated to the tour of the Desert Castles, two of which were built in the eighth century by the Umayyads, near the present border with Iraq. In order of proximity to Amman, the three castles are: the Castle of Kharana, the Qusayr Amra and the Castle of Walid. Actually, they are palaces fortresses, because the Umayyads were originally Bedouin traders and wanted to appear as "princes of the desert" in the eyes of the Bedouins. They used these buildings to satisfy their desire to celebrate, eat and drink, sometimes also with some girls.

Kharana Castle. 2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

Qusayr Amra 2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

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Jerash: the Rome of the East

Jerash is the second most visited tourist destination in Jordan after Petra. The ancient city of Jerash has been continuously inhabited for over 6,500 years and had its heyday under the dominion of the Romans. Today it is one of the best preserved Roman provincial towns in the world.
Hidden for centuries in the sand before being excavated and restored over the past 70 years, the ancient Gerasa is a wonderful testimony of the greatness and of the characteristics of the urbanization made by the Romans in the provinces of the Middle East empire: paved streets, columns, soaring hilltop temples, handsome theaters, spacious public plazas, baths, fountains and city walls pierced by towers and gates.
We spend a whole afternoon in Jerash. When we enter the city, we immediately find the Arch of Hadrian, beyond which stands the racecourse, where performances in traditional costumes take place every day. Then come the oval hole and the thistle Maximus, followed by the colonnaded street, the temple of Jupiter and many other excavations which I honestly don’t remember the name of.

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Excursion to Wadi Rum: 33 euros, not!

Wadi Rum is a must-go destination for those who go to Jordan, but to be cheated by those who sold us the holiday is something that we don't like! The agency proposed a 2-hour trip by jeep in the desert for the "modest" amount of 33 euro per person. I had studied the guide in advance and read many reviews of other travelers, so I was aware that at the visitor center, at the entrance of Wadi Rum, they were proposing the exact same trip for 35 dinars (about 35 euro) per jeep! And there are 6 people in the jeep...! In the blink of an eye, I gather the maximum number we need to form a complete car; of course, when I expose the scam from the agency to my friends, they're all with me! We reach the first stop and who do we meet? The other members of the group, unaware of the enormous price that they paid. When Elias, our guide, sees us getting off from another jeep becomes suddenly pale (becoming pale is hard for a Jordanian!) But deep inside he is proud/happy for us that we weren’t tricked like the others... And of course, when everyone got to know the price we paid, the discontent started... Wake up people, wake up!

Wadi Rum. 2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

Wadi Rum. 2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All rights are reserved.

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Petra, splendor of Jordan

When we land in Aqaba there are at least 25°C, it’s cool, and I'm happy to spend this vacation with some new friends: Raffaella and Dario. We take an anonymous triple room in a 3-star hotel and go out immediately to look for a typical restaurant to have lunch. Then we move to the seafront to take a walk and get to know the habits and customs of the place.

The next day, our journey through the Jordan's most popular destinations begins.

Petra, a magical and enchanted place… it’s difficult to understand how they were able to create something so magnificent. The site is very large, it takes at least 2 full days to visit it without hurrying. We admire it in a single day and quickly. Today, we walk for 16 km ... Sorry, they walk! Unfortunately, I don’t have the proper footwear and I'm forced to rent a donkey with its master to take me to the top of the mountain in order to see the famous Monastery. 832 steps… I could have never made it, even if I had had the mountain boots. The donkey works also for me! It doesn’t seem tired; usually, it's used to carry 100/150 kg of pure American women stuffed with McDonald, so when it saw me, it must have breathed a sigh of relief! And don't think that I don’t make any effort! I do a hard work with my arms trying to not fall off the donkey ... I am even reached by Franco, the team leader, an overactive 70-year-old man ... too much active!

The Treasury at Petra.
2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All right are reserved.

The Monastery ofi Petra.2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All right are reserved.

The Canyon of Petra.
2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All right are reserved.

The Roman theater.

2010 © Giovanna Puccia. All right are reserved.

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Here's the video of my trip to Jordan in March 2010.

The video can also be seen directly on youtube at this link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWZcw-qO6HI

Keep reading.... My travel story continues in the next post!