Lot Ein Bokek

... from age 3 to 22. He went through all of their names and grades. His oldest son is going to college, something he never got to do, to be an engineer. Dad couldn't be prouder–he beamed as he told me about it (one of the few times my driver smiled that day). As we started coming down the mountainside, he pointed over to a large tent with a cluster of smaller tents around it. It was a true Bedouin Camp. No tourists welcome ...

... aber die Schilder weisen immernoch nach Aqaba. Nach längerer Zeit kommen wir an einen Check-Point. Da Erik vorne fährt, spricht er zuerst mit dem Soldaten und ich sehe die Handzeichen und Erklärungen von hinten. Dann fährt Erik weiter und ich fahre vor zum Soldaten mit Schnellfeuerwaffe. Ich lasse mein Fenster runter und er begrüßt mich gleich mit: "Canada? I love Canada!" Ich freue mich drüber und verzichte darauf zu erklären wo ich eigentlich herkomme. Meinen Reisepass ...

... into town in search of Western food. Half the group went for pizza, while I went with the others for spaghetti. I love Jordanian food and happily eat that style at home quite often but after 7 consecutive meals of the same thing we needed some variety. That night our hotel had a wall full of DVDs so a few of us watched Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade to relive Indy riding up the Treasury at Petra. Weird to think that we were just there yesterday.

... floating you are seriously on top of the water. It is the weirdest experience! The other thing you will definantly notice is if you have any open wounds or cuts cause you will sting like there's no tomorrow. The water here is 38% salt!!!!!!! If you have a cut or a tiny nick you will know about it. Now you can't actually go that far out into the Dead Sea as the military will came and basically shoot you, so no swimming to Israel. It is really easy to see that ...

... was born, and even though I'm disappointed that this area is under Palestinian rule, and even though I don't feel the need to kiss the star, I still think it was cool that we got to go to Bethlehem and be somewhere near where he was born. The guide took us back to the checkpoint, and we were happy to see Micha again. Back to the hotel, hoping Micha could get us into the Old City the next day, and that the road closures would not deter us.

... people on the street knew English well enough to give me directions.  I expected a lot more.  It's interesting, either they speak English fluently with a slight accent (and it always leans toward the American accent vs Egypt most speakers of English leaned toward the British accent) or they speak very little at all.  As far as my tours around the city are concerned, I've been less enthralled with all the tourist stuff cuz it's just overkill.  They way they've ...

... sponge soaked in olive oil soap. After a short massage we were doused by bowls of warm water and we finished off the experience with some herbal tea. I'm definetly looking foward to more Turkish baths in Turkey. We found a great place to eat in Madaba- the cafe Ayola. It has friendly staff and a good atmosphere. Also very tasty grilled sandwiches. Dave was thrilled to have ham and cheese- we haven't seen pork on any menu in Egypt or Jordan to this point since they ...

Wednesday, Feb 11 Day 7 in Jordan The wind and cold weather continued through the night, Len put his long johns and socks on, me too! The young Czech couple didn't come in, so they must have made it through the night. The water was cold this morning, so no shower for us. We finished packing and head out to the bus station. The manager/man at the hotel tells us there isn't a bus to Karak. We go to the station and ask, they say the buses are just going ...

... into the border crossing security area. Formalities on the Jordanian side went quickly and smoothly. As David Baker and I paid the 5 Dinars to purchase the exit tax passport stamps for each member of our party, one official asked where we were from, to which we said the USA. He smiled broadly and said "Have no fear the Americans are here!" and then laughed in a relaxed and friendly way. Then he told David Baker and me with a conspiratorial grin "You are ...

... la mer morte, allez savoir pourquoi...), nous nous sommes baignés et avons flotté comme de vulgaires bouts de bois et sommes repartis. C'était rigolo (vous jugerai par vous-meme en voyant les photos...). Nous devions nous rendre a Massada, place forte de l'histoire juive, mais nous nous sommes trompés de route et nous sommes revenus sur nos pas, et dans une ville nommée Arad nous avons tourne pendant environ 3/4 d ...