Every Day is Sunday

We’ve had some high points on this trip, but we experienced our lowest point in Jordan.  We drove from Petra down 1,385 feet below sea level to the Dead Sea – the lowest point on earth.

With a name like the Dead Sea, we expected the water to be dark, murky and cold.  In fact the water was warm, inviting and crystal blue.  It was a strange and amusing feeling to be so buoyant in the water.  The salt content was so high that we couldn’t dunk our heads in the water even if we wanted to.  We spent our first morning just hanging out in the water reading the paper.

After months of budget travel, we splurged and stayed at the Movenpick Dead Sea Resort.  It had a huge wow factor. In addition to all the regular amenities of a good hotel, the Movenpick has every kind of pool you could possibly want – a lap pool, infinity pool, salt water pool, adults-only pool, a “beach pool” (complete with sand to make it look and feel like the beach), and several glorious massage pools.

We spent our days lounging in one of the spa pools, and then headed over to the infinity pool where a professional DJ spinned a “Sunset Set” each night.

One of the best perks were the vats of Dead Sea mud that the hotel staff collected and sifted for the guests.  We lathered up and let the minerals do their work.  

EE:  I now understand why people spend thousands of dollars on “Dead Sea” beauty products. After a few days looking covered in mud (and looking freakish), my skin never felt or looked so good.  I’m a cynic turned believer.  Jeff voiced some objections to sending home dirt, but I’m hooked and so the mud is in the mail.

Monster of the Dead Sea

At a rooftop party in Washington DC (something we sorely missed this summer!) Sara Sheridan told us about her amazing trip to Petra, Jordan.  Then fellow travelers in Egypt described Petra as a must-see.  Then backpackers in Dahab told us we absolutely had to visit Petra before we die.  We were sold.

Petra definitely lived up to its billing as one of the Seven Wonders of the World.  The Nabataeans constructed the city in 100 BC by carving dramatic fascades and structures into the soft rock.  This “City of Rock” was lost to the western world until 1812 when the Swiss explorer Joann Burckhardt disguised himself as “Ibrahim ibn Abd Allah,” a bearded, turban-wearing, Arabic-speaking pilgrim and was granted access to Petra by the Bedouins.  (What is truly amazing is that this turban-wearing fraud also went on to discover the temples of Abu Simbel less than one year later.  We feel lucky just having seen these two sites in the same year — this guy actually found them!) 

The most well-known image in Petra is “the Treasury.”  Contrary to popular opinion, the Nabataeans did not carve the 150-foot high fascade out of rock to serve as a movie set for “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.” 

JW:  I was really disappointed to learn that, unlike in the movie, there is no booty-trapped entranceway inside the tomb or a 2000 year-old knight guarding the grail.  In fact, there’s nothing at all.  The doorway at the Treasury leads to a large empty square room.  Damn you Spielberg!

EE:  The detailed work on the rock-hewn Treasury building was cool – and even more impressive was the fact that for almost 5 full minutes the busloads of tourists disappeared and we had the entire place to ourselves.

We both agreed that the Treasury wasn’t even the most impressive site in Petra. 

JW:  Forget the hand-carved facades, I was wowed by the natural beauty of the Siq – the mile-long walkway that serves as the main entrance to Petra.  The Siq cuts through two gigantic rock formations that shoot up 500 feet and, at times, block out most of the sun.  Although it looks like a river cut the path through these immense rocks, in fact Petra sits on a fault line and the Siq was created by plate tectonics.  Nature beats man!   

EE:  No no no, the main draw of Petra is the ingenuity of humankind.  The Nabataeans looked at these blank rocks and saw an amphitheater, tombs, and even the Treasury.  And when they were finished with those, these carved the most impressive structure of all: the Monastery.  After nearly an hour doing switchbacks up the mountain we were rewarded with an amazing view of this ancient structure.  Nature may have created the space but humankind had the vision to build an entire city out of rock. 

We saw Petra by early morning (love that 4:00 am alarm) and then went back for the “Petra by Night” experience.  It was a great way to finish our two-day trip to Petra.  The Siq was lit by more than 1,500 candles and a full moon — it was a mental picture we’ll never forget.

The candle and moonlit Siq opened up to the Treasury which was dotted with hundreds of little flames. We were invited to sit on the mats on the ground, drink tea, and listen to traditional Bedouin music.  About half-way through the performance, we lay back on the mats and stared up at the Treasury and the stars beyond it.  It was truly a magical experience.