On to the Dead Sea

Yesterday I moved on from Petra and made it to a resort on the Dead Sea. It's a Marriott resort and may be the nicest place I have ever stayed. I probably looked a little out of place when I showed up, as my pants and shoes were caked with dust from hiking around Petra, I hadn't shaved in two days in preparation for my Dead Sea swim, and my face was sunburnt. I think I may be the only person here living out of a backpack, but it's all part of the fun.

After my last post, I checked out Petra by night again. It was just as incredible as the first time. I hung back after the last other person walked through the Siq and took photos, all alone in an incredibly beautiful place. After a while I worked my way up to the Treasury, where once again I was in awe of the facade. Truly amazing to see.

As I mentioned, Petra is one of themost incredible places I've been. I was completely blown away to think that over 2000 years ago they were able to carve these buildings into the cliffs. They're not small either, with the Treasury being over 120' high by 100' wide. The Monastery is even bigger than that. Another highlight has been seeing some of the sandstone patterns here and the incredible colors they contain. I hope the pictures do it justice.

Aside from the sights inside Petra, we also had some fun cavorting with the locals, a little too much fun as it turned out. It all started Tuesday night as myself, an Aussie named John and a brother and sister, Harrison and Cari, from the US ended up partying with some locals we met that day. The beer we drank was very strong, 10% alcohol, and let's just say after a few of those, things got hazy. The next morning I woke up sleeping on some blankets on the floor of what could have easily passed as a blown out apartment building.

I wasn't exactly sure where I was, but remembered we went back to their house. I walked around, but couldn't find my friends. (Apparently they went to sleep in some bedouin caves with the locals, but I wouldn't find that out until later on). I found an old man and asked where I was, "Bedouin Village" was his reply. I asked where Wadi Musa was, he just pointed and said "That way." At least he spoke English.

So I wandered around a little trying to figure out where the hell I was. I never really felt in danger at all, though I was starting to get a little worried. Eventually I ran into someone else, and with my luck he happened to be blind so my pointing in the direction of Wadi Musa was useless. We talked for a while and he said to come with him, so we went into a little shop, had a cup of tea and he told me to come with him to Wadi Musa...on a school bus. It was interesting to say the least. I did run into my friends later and each of us was happy to know the others were alive. All in good fun I guess.

That brings me up to now, here at the resort. I got in yesterday and went for a swim in the Dead Sea. I don't like swimming at all, in fact I try at all costs to stay out of the water, but this was something I had to do. It was a very interesting thing to do. The water is roughly 9x more salty than the ocean and feels very slimy and oily to the touch. Because it has such a high salt content you really don't swim, as much as float around and try to steer yourself in the right direction. It was worth it though.

After that I had one of the oddest and creepiest moments of my life. Being that it was a high end resort and I had been staying in hostels for less than $30/night, I decided to treat myself to a massage. I keep getting told I need to try one, so I signed up for a half hour back, neck and head massage.

Now, keep in mind, I've never done this. I don't know the protocol, I don't know what all it entails, nothing. I didn't know what to do when they handed me a locker key and a robe, but think I managed to do better than the other guy waiting for his appointment since from the position he was sitting in I could see plainly he was not wearing anything under his robe.

But my biggest mistake is that I failed to realize I was in a Muslim country....where men don't massage women and women do not massage men. Let's just say it was not a highlight when, sitting there in a robe wearing just my underwear, a giant Turkish man with a bald head named Fadi came out to get me. I basically spent the entire time telling myself this was not happening and trying like hell to figure out how long I had left. I still get shudders thinking about it.

So with that, you are now up to speed. Today I will be visiting the Bethany Site where Jesus was baptized, as well as Mt. Nebo, where Moses was allowed to see the Promised Land. Tonight I stay in Amman and after a morning of seeing it's sites, move on to Kuwait. The trip has been outstanding thus far, minus a couple of miscues, but I'm excited about the next couple of days.