Friday 8th January - Madaba to Mujib Nature Reserve

For the first time in about two months we weren’t woken by the dawn call to pray. We’re not sure if it was because we weren’t near a mosque, or due to the fact that Madaba has a high percentage of Christians, but it made a nice change.

We delayed our departure slightly to make full use of the wi-fi access by Skyping Anne’s parents (I spoke to my parents last night), but as we’re two hours ahead of the UK we had to wait until it was a reasonable hour back home. We got filled in on the snow and cold temperatures, whilst we sought shade from the morning sun.

First stop was Mount Nebo, where Moses is said to have seen the Promised Land, which later became a pilgrimage site. Excavations of the site have revealed an early church and later monastery and basilica, with a well preserved mosaic dating from 530 AD. At least that is what the guide book said as, annoyingly, the church was closed off as they are in the process of constructing a roof (not that they have got very far). Anne was very irritated (“I want to see the impressive mosaic, I’m not fussed about the Moses stuff” - such blasphemy), although at least the views down to the Jordan Valley were fairly spectacular in way of compensation. SPOT

We took the descent down from the 800m Mount Nebo to the -388m (according to the GPS) Dead Sea fairly slowly in order to preserve the brakes as we didn’t want any repeat of the Mont Ventoux smoking incident. We hit the first army checkpoint, but after a quick passport check we were heading south along the edge of the Dead Sea (well, about 40m above the edge as the water level has been dropping since the 1950s due to diversion of the River Jordan for irrigation). The Mujib Nature Reserve is about half way down the Dead Sea’s 50km length, and we pulled in to the cluster of 15 chalets on a small headland a little after noon. It was then a quick change and down for a float in the Dead Sea. It was a rather bizarre experience feeling your legs rise up, almost forcing you onto your back due to the super buoyant nature of the water (31% salinity). You really can just lie back and float, with no effort. Swimming on the other hand is somewhat tricky, and I found doggy paddle worked best. It’s also best to try to avoid getting the water on your face as it stings the eyes and, unsurprisingly, tastes rather salty.

After a wash off we enjoyed lunch of leftover pizza from yesterday and fresh tomatoes on our veranda, with a stunning view across the Dead Sea to Israel. Walks in the nature reserve are closed this time of year, so we were forced to relax and do nothing for the rest of the afternoon; bliss (although the large number of flies which seem to plague the banks of the Dead Sea proved a nuisance).

As the afternoon progressed, the chalet next to ours became overrun with what seemed to be the extended family and friends of one of the workers at the nature reserve. We weren’t too bothered by their chatting, but when the music and drumming started we’d had enough and in a very un-English like way asked if we could move to a different chalet as we just wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet. The manager was apologetic and relocated us further down the shore, where we settled back and relaxed for the evening, with only the bats flying overhead for company.