Jordan - The Dead Sea, Indiana Jones & Petra

          One of the advantages of living in the U.A.E is that you are at the heart of most of the world.  You literally have adventure in all directions.  So a trip to Jordan over a long weekend is more than feasible to get you back in time for dinner and work the next week.            

Crown Plaza Resort - Dead Sea

          Day one began with a trip towards the Dead Sea with some stops along the way.  I traveled in the company of my new co-workers who I sit by in the office, who have so kindly adopted me into their department (I am the only representative for my department onsite).  The group was Fummy, Deema, Justin and his fiance Sarah, Leo and his wife Erkia, Antione and of course my Sarah.
          First we went to mount Nebo, the famed mountain mentioned in the bible where Moses was given a glimpse of the promise land but never allowed to enter.  It is rumored he died in the region but the burial site has never been discovered.  Following the mountain visit we made way to the Dead Sea through the Crowne Plaza resort.  The resort itself was a very nice place with lush amenities, but still pales in comparison to the main attraction.  The Dead Sea is truly a unique place, the high salt content increases your normal level of buoyancy so that you can virtually lay on top of the water.

The Treasury

 It is a unique experience and one you could not replicate anywhere else in the world (don't let any of the water get in your mouth though, it tastes way worse than normal salt water).  No one told me not to shave to close to the time you swim in the Dead Sea so that was a rather interesting burning sensation.  My neck was bright red for the rest of the day so be advised to adjust your shaving schedule prior to your dip in the sea.  We also enjoyed slathering mud all over ourselves letting it dry and then washing it off in the sea.  The resort provided a nice bucket of mud to use.  Given my aversion to a myriad of textures I tolerated the mud on my body until it dried and immediately went into the sea.  I will say you can really tell a difference in your skin after "de-mudding" yourself.  After the Dead Sea we had dinner at the Mexican restaurant in the resort, the food was decent but it had one of those minimum buy in deals which makes you spend a certain amount before leaving which is always kind of lame.  Luckily between all of us we were able to make the cut.

Most Notable Angle Of Descent

My Mini-Donkey Compared
To Sarah's Normal Sized Donkey

          Day two started us on our way to the Petra site.  I have had Petra on my list for a while since I had done a great deal of research on the site without actually ever being there.  One of the professors I studied under in college had been intimately involved with a Petra project and had enough influence to bring a temporary museum to our home town of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  The museum was housed on our college campus and we were able to view and research after hours when the public left.  Petra is a truly fascinating place and has been referred to as the "Las Vegas" of the ancient world.  Petra transformed from a town of bandits, to a noble city with its own water system, natural protection and they even had vineyards to make their own wine.
          Our group had six hours to walk the site through the narrow pathways to the

The Monastery

famous treasury building (featured in Indiana Jones: the last crusade) and at the very end of the similar but much larger monastery structure.  Sarah and I were the only ones who elected to travel up to the monastery, and I had the brilliant (sarcasm) idea to speed up our ascent of the 900 steps by commandeering some donkeys.  It was not until we passed by the rest of the group (that erupted in laughter) that I realized that my donkey was not proportionate relative to my size.  It became more obvious on the journey up to the monastery as my donkey showed signs of distress.  And by that I mean he took frequent breaks and either made motions to remove me from his back or considered ending it all by walking to the edge of the cliff and staring down into the abyss (as seen in the videos below).  At one point he also (I think purposefully) walked directly into a tent selling souvenirs bashing my left leg into the table causing all the trinkets to scatter everywhere.  Of course the woman running the tent chose to express her unhappiness about the situation to me, not the brains of the operation (Yes, the donkey).  When we arrived  it was clear the journey was well worth it, the monastery is truly a site to be seen, its monolithic and wonderful to behold.  So after the donkey ride back down we made our way back to the entrance for dinner.  We ate at a local Jordanian restaurant in the evening with our drivers and enjoyed the local environment before we had to head out to the airport in the morning.

           Jordan is a great place to visit, we had a fun group and a long weekend from Abu Dhabi gives a great amount of time to see the main attractions while maybe leaving room for a future visit down the road.  If you go and do decide to make the trip of those 900 steps, just make sure you rent a normal sized donkey.  Actually scratch that, watch my video carefully and print out one of my pictures because you should find my donkey and give him a carrot or two.  You know the poor guy has earned it.    
          The only other person I would recommend finding are the local "Jack Sparrow" looking chaps that are lending the donkeys and selling souvenirs at the Petra site.  If you look closely at my final video riding back down from the monastery you will see him galloping past me going full speed down the stairs.  For some reason he was overly excited about the day, but he rode past us so quickly that we were left to never know what he was so stoked about.