After our excursion to Petra, Wadi Rum, and the Red Sea, the next best place to visit in Jordan is the Dead Sea.

All five of us Rice students: Alex, Valeria, Elliot, Max and myself, and two professors accompanying us: Prof. Awad and Prof. Narbona piled into the van and made the 45-minute hike to the Dead Sea, some 400 meters below sea level.  However, we stopped by Mount Nebo, the place where Moses is said to have died, and also visited several historical museums and mosaic shops.

Mount Nebo provided an incredible view of the desert mountains surrounding the Dead Sea area, and even into Israel and the West Bank.  Although there was a new basilica being built on the hilltop (complete with construction equipment and a vast tall crane) we still were awed by the beautiful (barren) landscape laid out before us and the shimmering, pale blue, barely visible Dead Sea nestled in the tan valleys and plains far off in the distance.

Getting to the Dead Sea around four in the afternoon, we quickly dropped our bags off in the beautiful Marriott hotel and put on our bathing suits.

Even though we had descended down an incredibly long and steep road from the top of Mount Nebo and the mountains around Amman, I was astounded when I walked out to the Marriott pools to see yet more stairs to reach the sea itself. No less eager, I climbed down some five flights of steps and took a good, up close look at the Dead Sea for myself.

The stairs opened up to a small outcove area on the rocky shore, and close by on the hills back up to the hotel were showers and towel areas. The sea itself had almost no waves or movement at all, and the sea and the mountains on the West Bank on the other far off shore were only shades of blues and grays.  As I looked off towards the small settlements along the Dead Sea, I realized how the incredible heat concentrated in this region helps the sea maintain a high salinity.

At the top of the hill above the sea, there was a small stand with plastic shoes usually worn to protect one’s feet from the hot mud on the shore and also the sharp rock bed.  I grabbed a pair and put them on.  One thing I immediately noticed was that the water was quite warm, almost hot, and there was almost no water movement except occasional ripples across the surface of the sea.

What I had read so many times in books and seen in media really was true.  You actually float without trying at all.  It’s quite a strange feeling, almost as if you have a kickboard underneath your belly keeping you from sinking.  Combine that with the strange thickness of the water, and my first swim in the Dead Sea made for an experience unlike any other.

Twilight on the Dead Sea

After leaving our hotel in Petra, we headed off to see the spectacular valley of Wadi Rum, a desert area in southern Jordan.

Unfortunately, the longer we drove in the hot van, the more and more I felt a raging migraine coming on in full force.  After we stopped at a rest point to pick up water and refill gas, I knew that this wasn’t going to get any better.

We arrived in Wadi Rum, and from there loaded our gear into a truck, while we climbed into a separate Jeep.  After about a half hour of driving through the desert scruff and sand of the valley, we arrived at our camp, which was five black and white striped tents with metal frames huddled in the shadow of a mighty cliff.  I suppose this sheltered arrangement kept seasonal (perhaps fierce) winds from damaging the camp and wreaking havoc.

Once we settled down into our huts and collected our bags out of the second Jeep, we all gathered down in the main “dining tent”, and chatted.  As we began to get to know each other, I was excited to realize that I could actually understand a fair amount of what Professor Awad and the Bedouins were talking about, despite the rapid pace of the conversation and the Bedouins’ strange pronunciation and accents.  In addition, the Bedouins served our group this scalding, but deliciously rich and sweet, tea in small glass cups.  Several servings of this, in addition to a large glass of severely bitter thyme tea that one of the younger Bedouins was kind enough to steam up for me, began to slowly put my headache at ease.

As the sun began to set on our first day in Wadi Rum, our driver, Bisam, led us courageously up the side of the cliff behind our camp for an amazing view of the blazing sky behind the far off mountains.  Despite the sometimes challenging (read: terrifying) stunts that Bisam wanted us to try to scale the face of the mountain, the view from the mount was well worth it, and we all enjoyed watching the sky slowly get darker and darker and the shadows on the rock around us deepen and lengthen.

After a dinner of rice, chicken, yogurt and yet more tea in the food tent, we all wandered out into the desert around us to behold the phenomenal collection of stars the midnight sky had to offer.  As we lay in the sand and (tried to) sing traditional arabic rhythms, I imagined a vast hand plunging into an even vaster bucket and strewing an immense volume of stars across the sky.  Some stars even came free of the velvety inkiness and went streaking to the horizon, and had our group exclaiming each time we spotted one.  Just before moonrise, we even grabbed a rare glimpse of the Milky Way as puffy cotton clouds just above the now shaded cliffs around us.

Come morning, I was up and ready to photograph the sunrise from outcropping close to the food tent.  Despite clouds to make it as the stunning Missouri summer sunrises I knew so well, it was still an incredible sight to see the light break over the blazing red mountains in the distance.

After a quick breakfast, everyone loaded into the Jeep again, and we went for a desert safari.  One of the most exciting parts of the trip was climbing a enormous sand dune and getting an amazing view from the top of the shifting sand heaps.  Once everyone had gotten to the top safely, we all joined hands and sprinted a few stories to the bottom of the dune, laughing as our feet threw up puffs of sand in our wakes.

Before we knew it, it was time to bid our Bedouin friends good-bye.  They graced us with a traditional large meal of rice, chicken, bananas, pita and tea in his home as one final gesture of hospitality before we headed off.  Leaving the vast expanses of Wadi Rum, we turned south and entered the highway, heading to the southern most tip of Jordan: the Port of Aqaba on the Red Sea.

Along with the four other students from Rice University, I had the incredible chance to visit Petra, the Rose Red City.  Although classes at Qasid just had just started, I was excited to get the chance to visit the famed City and after that, the deserts of Wadi Rum, and Jordan’s port city of Aqaba.

We began our first adventure to Petra where we study daily: the Sony Building on Queen Raina Street where Qasid is located.  All five students (Max, Valeria, Alex, Elliot and me) and two faculty members from Rice (Prof. Awad and Prof. Narbona) climbed into the bus and we left the capital of Amman in the heat of the afternoon.  Since we left a little late, we ended up getting to Petra a few hours after we expected.  After eating a huge and delicious dinner at our hotel, we all headed to bed.

Waking up at 6:30AM usually is a unwelcome order for a college student during the summer.  However, this morning was unlike any other morning.  Today, I would be seeing one of the great wonders of the world: The Ancient city of Petra.  With this excitement and energy, I headed downstairs to grab a quick breakfast at the hotel buffet before our group began the short hike to the ruins.

We passed through the visitor’s entrance and began the trek through the “Siq” to the “Khezneh”.   The Khezneh, or Treasury, is the most famous landmark of Petra, just visible through slim canyon that is the route to the ancient city.  The “Siq” is the traditional arabic name for this canyon.  As we descended into the Siq, our guide keenly pointed out special carvings, some Roman and some Nabatean, that held special significance with their sculptors.   An especially interesting feature was the intricate system of water ducts and canals that ran through the walls of the Siq.  With the Siq’s downward gradient, water from sources outside the city was able to be diverted into these ducts and into the parched interior of the mountains, where most of the residents once lived.  All of us were amazed at we wondered at the incredible engineering feats that the Nabateans and Romans were able to accomplish in such an inhospitable land.

We made our way through the Siq, getting closer and closer to the Khezneh.  As we approached, our guide had us pair up, with another in our group for an as-of-yet unknown purpose.  One closed their eyes; the other led.  Unsure of my footing, we made slow progress but thankfully, soon enough we were allowed to uncover our eyes.

There before me lay the iconic Treasury, exactly as I had seen in books and movies.  Just peeking through the narrow walls of the gorge stood the rose red columns and pediments that I had read about and researched.  We approached and began to explore, while our guide fed us a wealth of information.

After spending time walking through the  ancient city, our group elected to spend an hour traveling up to the Monastery, a remote structure set deep into the colorful rocks up high in the mountains of Petra. Since we were a little cramped on time, we took (unfortunately aged) donkeys (which I cant imagine ended up being any faster than walking ahaha), and with extra care to stay perched atop the donkey’s back, we picked our way up the some 800 steps deep into the rocky cliffs under the steadily rising midday sun.

Although we didn’t have time to climb to the lookout to see the surrounding deserts and “wadi”s, the Monastery was an incredibly well preserved sandstone structure, and thankfully much less touristy than the Khezneh in the valley below.  As it was getting late in the day, we had to head back after a half hour exploring the Monastery. With an exhausting hike back down the mountains and through the now blazing hot city of Petra, we were all relieved to head back to our hotel and shower.

The Mövenpick Hotel in the modern city of Petra served us a absolutely delicious and beautiful lunch, after which we all climbed back into the van and set off for our next destination: Wadi Rum.

In the Siq!