The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Leaving Jordan tommorow for a return trip through the borders which will hopefully be as pain free as last time.

We have really enjoyed our time here, Jordanians are lovely people. It's a very small country and not as geared towards tourism as Egypt so it's unlikely you would ever return but in the few days we have spent here we feel like we have seen a lot. It's very scenic and beautiful. The Jordanians are a very proud people. They always want to know how they compare to Egyptians and are much more relaxed in terms of money - Cairo is going to feel very intense after this (although I can't wait to get back there as well).

Yesterday we went to the Dead Sea. It's a 3 hour drive but we got another very nice taxi man who let us stop above the Dana Nature Reserve for photos - the view was breathtaking. To get to the lowest point on the earth the road took you remarkably high first! The descent downwards was quite incredible. You know the opening scene of the Shining? Think that but in a desert and if Leo raises his eyebrows a certain way he can look (a bit) like Jack Nicholson.
The Dead Sea wasn't what I expected. Our guidebook led us to believe it was a must do but a horrible place, I believe the words were "smelly, desolate, bone dry". Dry and very salty yes but not exactly smelly and desolate. We paid 12 JD into the public Amman beach which is geared for tourists too - swimming pool, changing rooms and the like and made our way down to the Dead Sea. It was HOT. Really, the temperature just sores there even the water was quite hot. I think that it is more the drop in pressure that makes the heat so difficult to handle. We had a can of soda water that had two massive dents in the side and burst when I tried to open it! We thought our heads might do the same. We ran down the scorching sand and into the water to try to see what the fuss was about and I have to say it was pretty fun. A hard thing to describe, you don't feel like you're floating till you realise you're not sinking either. You can float on top of even very shallow water so it was quite fun and we got our cheesy tourist photos. After a short time though the salt stings every cut you never knew you had! We then started to slather the dead sea mud over us in a bid to look beautiful. It too was also piping hot! At this stage it felt like their was a weight on my heart so my mud didn't last 5 minutes before I had to wash it off and seek shade and water - oh well Cleopatra I was not but you never know my skin does feel a *bit* softer. All in all a very beautiful place and the sunset on the way back over the Dead Sea was an incredible colourless light.

This morning then we went to Petra. Our hotel drives you there for free which is about 2 minutes in a car and we arrived around 8 to try and miss most of the tour groups at 9. There was a few but as its low season the place is quieter than you would imagine. The walk down the Siq up to the treasury was amazing, like being at the bottom of a canyon or something. The colours along the rock were unexpectedly vibrant, they were striped and even shades of yellow and white prevailed thorughout the varying shades of pink and orange. Leo got his Indiana Jones moment and then .... I did it. I conquered beast and mounted a camel. It wasn't easy I had to have a bit of a gentle shove (literally pushed onto) and I had about 5 men in teatowels assuring me that nasty camels aren't brought out for tourists and he was a lovely quiet camal. I thought he looked like a lawyer as he had a patch of curly hair like a wig on top of his head.
So I got on and then had to go through the ordeal of the camel standing up - terrifying. No word of a lie, they have what looks like 2 knees on their legs and they bend them in all shapes so you think you're falling forward then falling back. Judge also had a bit of a mind of his own. Leo's camel took off at an obedient pace whereas Judge kept trying to sniff Leo's knee and then would walk me into the tourist shops along the path. I had to kick postcard stands with my feet, if our camel walker stopped he would try to sit down, he would bolt onto sand off the path - I'm exaggerating a bit they walk pretty slow so bolt might be the wrong word and he was very quiet but he was a bit mad compared to Leo's. I enjoyed it in the end anyway but I'm not sure I'll be getting on another one anytime soon. When we left Judge we saw the real angry camels, gurgling like some sort of dinosaur. Do not get on a camel bearing teeth.

Petra though was beautiful. A very big place, hard to even imagine it as an active lively place for traders - it must of been stunning. We hope to go back this evening as they run tours at night where the Treasury is lit up by candles. We'll see what the score is anyway as it's another early start for the border crossing tommorow.