Le Meridien Dead Sea Hotel Ein Bokek

... Sadam und wird im Reiseführer lobend erwähnt. Das Essen ist ok, aber nicht so gut wie erwartet und überteuert. Als wir das Lokal verlassen ist bereits Sonnenuntergang.<br><br>Bis Petra sind es noch ca. 2-3 Stunden zu fahren. Wir entscheiden uns das Risiko der Nachtfahrt einzugehen, zumal wir ja mit 2 Fahrzeugen unterwegs sind und uns gegenseitig helfen können. Erik fährt voraus und wir folgen den Schildern Richtung Aqaba (ganz im Süden am Roten Meer). Wir kommen durch verschiedene ...

... just a great group of similar minded people. <br><br>Our time at the Dead Sea went by too fast. Soon it was time to get back on the bus and drive to Madaba. We stopped at a mosaic store where we learned about the new and old style and were stalked by sales men around the showroom. I found them annoying, I wasn`t interested in spending $10,000 on a mosaic table, and ended up waiting in the parking lot just to get away. We had the evening free so we ...

... flip flops) so was bolting across the hot sand trying not to burn my feet. After finding our spot and Graeme staying put we decided to run on in and see what the big fuss is about. Well first thing you notice when you go in is the DS is quite warm, a kind of warm where you think a kid has peed in the pool. Next thing was the DS is very oily, and it is quite hard to walk the further you get out. And then you fall and you are floating, but not just any type ...

... room below (don't worry - Michael was ok). In this room, there were two areas set aside - one where Jesus was supposedly born, and one where he was laid in a manger. And there was a line a mile long of people waiting to bend down and kiss the spot (marked by a star) where he was born. I saw stranger after stranger bend over and kiss this spot. Yuk! I think I'll pass. Even though I don't think anyone knows exactly the spot where ...

... going through West Jerusalem not understanding the language or the signage.  It's odd being used to chatting with people in a language then all of the sudden being in a foreign land not knowing anything and having to revert back to being the clueless foreigner.  I can't penetrate the Jewish population because I don't know their language.  The number of Hebrew speaking population who speak English is surprisingly a lot lower than I expected.  Probably 6 in 10 of ...

... are some beautiful old floor mosiacs. In particular St. Georges church has a partially destroyed mosaic that depicts a map of the ancient world- from 560 AD. Later on in the evening we went to a Hammam- a Turkish bath, (prepping to go to Turkey in a few days). We relaxed in a jacuzzi first, then sweated it all out in a steam room. Next we were taken into separate rooms to lie down on a warm marble slab, where we were scrubbed with a rough black mitt and then with ...

... in the art of laying mosaic floors with Christian symbols - and I am not -, no need to visit either of the two spots. Well, you live, you learn. And how would I know it is not worth it without going there? But for me, it felt strange to be outside the Bedouin community I live in, surrounded by tourists and Jordanian people - I moved away from "normal civilization" quite a bit while being here. I have to get used to this again before traveling on, otherwise there will be problems :)

We ran a little late this morning. We weren't out by the curb with our luggage until after 6:30, in stead of 6:15 as we had planned. But Abu Omar, our driver, had overslept (we have kept him very busy these past days) and didn't arrive until nearly 7:00. We drove to the outskirts of Aqaba to the Wadi Araba border crossing. We noticed that some of the Jordanian border guards were wearing US military helmets and driving Humvees. We said goodbye to Abu Omar and pulled our ...

... arabes quoi qu'il arrive et donc traites comme tels, je vous laisse imaginer les relations tendues). Bref, aprés une descente vers -400m en dessous du niveau de la mer, nous sommes arrivés à Ein Bokek sation balnéaire sans grand charme (une succession de grands hotels face a la mer et à la côte jordanienne) ou on se croirait a Odessa ( les juifs russes, qui maîtrisent tres mal l'hébreu ont une grande predilection ...