Oct 18 – Driving the King’s Highway

Our first stop was Moses Spring.  This is ostensibly where Moses struck his staff to a rock and a spring was formed (a few others were also pointed out so who know which one is real – if any).  

People are allowed to come and fill containers of water from the spring whenever they like. 

And just outside is small pool.

And draining off of it was a small open water channel heading down into town. 

Then it was out across the countryside of Jordan…desolate and beautiful.

Fist stop was a bio break and photo stop at a viewpoint overlooking Shobak Castle…built by Crusader King Baldwin I in 1115 and later expanded by the Mamluks.  We didn’t have time to tour it.

Just down the road we stopped at the World’s Smallest Hotel, as certified by the Guinness World’s Records.  It’s a 1972 Volkswagen Beetle.  Sleeps 2…..veeeerrrry cozily.  Price is 50 Jordanian Dinars (~$70).  Price includes breakfast and dinner.  Bathroom and restaurant are across the road.  Has great views of the castle. 

Over the years around 700 people have stayed here.  Tara said it was the fastest hotel inspection she had ever conducted. 

From there we went to Kerak where we had lunch and then visited Kerak Castle.  This medieval castle is one of the largest in the Levant (the section of the Eastern Mediterranean in Western Asia…generally in the area now covered by Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, southwest Turkey and Palestine).  Construction started here in the 1140’s.  It changed hands many times over the coming centuries into the late 1800’s.  So, there is a lot still standing.

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More Kerak Castle
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Then it was off on a long drive.  We had Dead Sea views at various points along the drive.

We also had a distance view of the salt pans . 

We also passed by the Bab Adraa Cemetery (or Bab edh-Dhra)…mainly a desolate area broken up by pits in the ground.  This is an early Bronze Age (around 3,000 BC) and many are shaft tombs (where they drilled a shaft down and then dug multiple side chambers to house the dead).  Archaeologist estimate that over 500,000 were buried here.  And some think it was the site of Sodom and Gamora…but that is subject to debate. 

Continuing the Sodom and Gamora theme…farther along the road and overlooking the Dead Sea were a couple of geologic formations that had been dubbed Lot’s wife.

We drove by a narrow canyon, Wadi Al Mujib, that opened up right at the Dead Sea – we were only able to get a quick photo of the entrance.  Wadi Al Mujib is considered Jordan’s Grand Canyon.  We driving more inland tomorrow so might see the Grand Canyon part.

We also drove by the Az Zara Archaeological Site.  It is the remains of a nymphaeum, a monument consecrated to nymphs.  Especially those near springs.  And since we near springs it makes a certain amount of sense.  However, there was not much to see. 

The drive through the valley to our hotel was pretty dramatic. 

We drove right by one of the waterfalls in the area.

Our hotel tonight is in the lush part of the valley – Ma’In Hot Springs Hotel. It was too late to enjoy any of the spa services but we did go down to the hot pool…A nearby hot spring releases a steady supply of water at 140 F.   The spa cools it down to a hot tub temperature of around 102.  The pool was right beside a natural waterfall and also had a tall artificial one that poured water into the pool...probably helping cool the water down.  We all enjoyed this nice, relaxing experience.   

The waterfall in the center is the real waterfall. The one on the right is artificial. Wouldn’t mind more time here. Life is good.