~Not All Who Wander Are Lost~: MOSES, JESUS, and the DEAD SEA!!!

If you cannot tell from the title, last Sunday was a day of Biblical proportions--we saw the Promised Land, saw where Jesus was baptised, and floated in the Dead Sea! We were originally going to fly through Jordan with our primary stop at Petra, but we figured we should see some Biblical sights since we are in the Middle East and all (and not going to Israel on this trip). This being Jordan, we first had to bypass the insanely priced tourist packages and take a minibus to Madaba, a town about an hour away, to get a cheaper cab to tour all the sites (cost us $30 instead of $100!).

Map of the area--the key element is the Jordan River which divides
Israel/the Palestinian territories from Jordan (and why the Palestinian territory
is called the West Bank...it is to the West of the Jordan River

Our first stop was Mt. Nebo (Gebel Musa in Arabic), a mountain on the edge of the East Bank plateau where Moses allegedly saw the Promised Land (Israel). Well, Moses must have had amazing eyesight (most likely since he lived to be 120) because it was quite difficult to make out the Promised Land. I know it is usually hazier in summer, but the key culprit blocking our view was the neighboring hill. So, when we got to the bottom of Gebel Musa to find our cab driver had left to go do something (don't worry we always pay at the end of a trip), we decided we would go check out the neighboring hill instead. Our little trek was worth is as the neighboring hill did in fact have a much better view of the Dead Sea and the Promised Land beyond. Our trek was also effective because while we were gone, our rogue cab driver came back to get us but left again when he did not see us. As a result, we ended up with an awesome driver when we got back down from the hill. He spoke quite a bit of English, turned on the AC for us, and told us about the area as he drove us around.

View of Promised Land from Mt. Nebo

Much better view of Dead Sea to the left and Israel/palestine beyond

Our next stop was Bethany-Beyond-Jordan, the spot where Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist. Because the site is at the Jordan River which marks the border between Jordan and Israel/Palestine (and is technically the width of a creek right now), we had to go through a check point to get there (we assumed it is because of the easy access to the disputed territory on the other side--we were so close we got a text on our phone welcoming us to the Palestinian Vodafone network). While checkpoints are serious business and usually involve a soldier sitting in a tank, with a machine gun at the ready, apparently the guards do have free time on their hands. We passed this plant as one guard was checking our passports and he let me take a picture:

Kid-proof cactus--I mainly like that someone took the time to
cut out styrofoam squares and meticulously put them on

Skinny Jordan River (used to be much larger in Jesus' time)

Baptism site--the Jordan River used to flow to the left and come down into
the area that now resembles a well

After one more check point, it was onto the Dead Sea!!! The whole experience of going to the Dead Sea was quite surreal. The spectacular, barren mountains give way to the sea which is the lowest point on earth (so all the fish in the world are swimming above you!). It also has such high salinity that nothing but miscroscopic organisms live in it, which is nice when you are afraid of jellyfish and random animals swimming in the ocean. The only drawback is that going in can be like rubbing salt in an open wound if you are scraped up at all. Sadly, the sea is evaporating at such a high rate (and apparently Israel uses quite a bit of the water) that it will be gone within 15 years if nothing is done.