The Dead Sea

Everyone who visits Jordan goes to the Dead Sea. It’s one of those mandatory stops on a whirlwind tour of the region. Everyone takes the funny pictures of themselves floating in the super salinated water, reading a newspaper and covered in mud. Really, though, it’s the drive to the Dead Sea that is truly spectacular.

We are incredibly lucky that visiting the Dead Sea is a day trip for us. Today, we went for the first time and it made us all remember why we moved here. We didn’t move to Jordan just for our jobs, but to expose our kids to an entirely different culture. That’s hard to do when you live on a gated campus, surrounded by everything that you could possibly need. Jordan is poor. Really poor. It’s hard to find a grocery store in Madaba, hard to get around when you can’t read the road signs, hard to buy things when you don’t speak the language. But, we have done all of those things and have learned to find our way. The people of Jordan are incredibly kind, welcoming and helpful. However, just exploring Madaba and a bit of Amman has taken all of our excess energy. Today, we ventured a bit farther, and the drive alone was worth the trip.

On the road from Madaba to the Dead Sea

A Bedouin camp in the valley

If only the awe that we felt could be seen in these pictures. The views are dramatic, vast, endless, and timeless. I was at a loss for words most of the time.

Our first view of the Dead Sea, with Palestine in the far distance.

We went through a few security check points on the way. I can’t imagine that there is another place in the world where the military, in full uniform with automatic weapons and tanks, smile broadly, wave and say “welcome to Jordan! Have a great day!”

Random camel on the side of the road. I missed the picture of the camel tied to a STOP sign!

The Dead Sea from the resort pool.

It’s a really strange feeling, walking into the Dead Sea. As you walk, your legs just automatically come to the surface and you pitch backwards into a reclining position. It’s comfortable, yet disconcerting.

The floating boys.

Panoramic view on the drive home.

More view. It’s spectacular and the pictures don’t begin to do the landscape justice.

We took a wrong turn and ended up wandering through a part of Madaba we’d never seen. I’m so glad that we went the wrong way because we saw a whole different part of life.

Meandering through the outskirts of Madaba.

Blue house–so unusual to see a house with a color. There is a Royal decree that all houses need to be the same “sand” color, so it’s always exciting to see a blue or pink house.

Bedouin camp.

This is what you see on the side of every road. I LOVE seeing the animals and the shepherds.

What a day. It was exciting, invigorating, exhausting and draining. How amazing that we can do it again next weekend!