The
group flew to Jordan on Royal Jordanian into Queen Alia International Airport.
This airport definitely lived up to it name as the top three best airports in
the Middle East for 2017. The terminal was extremely clean, had plenty of
charging stations and reasonably comfortable seating.
About
40 minutes from the airport, in the heart of Amman, was our living
accommodations for our short stay called, Arjaan by Rotana. You sort of take
your changes when you select hotels online while browsing the customer
comments. But for these accommodations the comments are all true. To say the
least, a very luxurious hotel apartments reflecting 5-star
hospitality probably far better than home itself! The hotel is within “The
Boulevard” formally named Abdali Boulevard, where there is upscale shopping,
pedestrian mall and plenty of restaurants and cafes to suit all pallets.
With such a short turnaround,
there was two venues I read about that I wanted to check out; Mount Nebo and the
Dead Sea. There was no rest for the weary, so after changing in something more comfortable
for Amman's climate, the group decided we would head to Mount Nebo first. We
grabbed a couple of cabs, headed out and within an hour we arrived at Mount
Nebo along with thousands of other visitors from all walks of life. Once we
climbed up the steep slope, the panoramic view of Jordan and Jerusalem was
breathtaking!
According to the last chapter
in the book of Deuteronomy, Moses climbed Mount Nebo where the LORD revealed to
him the Promised Land which would be the land that God promised to the Hebrews.
Then Moses died there. There are disputes by Christians, Jews and Islamic principle
whether Mount Nebo is even the same mountain referred to in Deuteronomy and the
whereabouts of Moses’ grave. Also, located
on Mount Nebo there is a gift shop, museum and presumed site where Moses is
buried although the final resting place is said to be unknown.
The sun was beginning
to set, so we wanted to make our way to The Dead Sea which is about a 20-minute
drive from Mount Nebo. The Dead Sea, devoid of life due to its extremely high content
of salts and minerals, is the lowest body of water on earth. Folks from all
over the world flock to this historical place which is believed to be the site
of five biblical cities (i.e. Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zebouin and Zoar) as well
as for its therapeutic properties that relieve pain and suffering caused by
arthritis, eczema, cystic
fibrosis and psoriasis. This salt is so renowned, it is
packaged and marketed all over the world. Seeing is believing so I removed my outer clothing down to my walking shorts and t-shirt I had underneath, slid
out of my sandals and made my way to the muddy water with the flocks of others
who were in attendance.
.
You cannot swim in the Dead Sea, because of the high salt
content, but you can certainly stand there and soak, like I did and enjoy
the beneficial properties of the water or just bring a book or newspaper and float!
If one soaking isn’t enough, there are seaside facilities
available for those that wish to spend the night at The Dead Sea which was one
of the finalists for the 7 Wonders of Nature.
All the best,
GMarie