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When it came to planning out our 48 hour adventure in Jordan, Charles, Tarek and I went with the “work hard, chill hard” approach.
Petra and the over 27,000 steps we took to explore the historic site was the “work hard” portion of our trip.
The “chill hard” part took place the next day with our plan to simply float around the Dead Sea.
Emphasis on float because it’s technically not possible to swim in the Dead Sea due to the high salt water content.
After checking into our hotel and getting a good night’s sleep, we grabbed breakfast the next morning, changed into our swimwear and made our way down the hotel’s steps that led the way to the beach.
One thing to note about the Dead Sea is that the rocks and seafloor are covered with a hard salt crust which I, unfortunately, cut the heel of my foot pretty badly on when wading into the water. So while the boys enjoyed their first float session in the sea, I was at the hotel’s infirmary getting my foot bandaged.
Afterwards, I was told to keep my foot out of the water…
But as you can tell from the photos below, I ignored the doctor’s orders because it was my last day in Jordan and there was no way I was gonna pass up a once in a lifetime chance to float in the Dead Sea. :)
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^^ Charles’s giddiness is so pure in this photo. I love it.
^^ Because of the high concentration of salt and minerals, the mud from the Dead Sea is touted as being great for your skin. Apparently, it improves the elasticity of your skin and minimizes pores, wrinkles, and lines. Once I heard that I was sold.
^^ Charles was sold too. He went all out with his “skincare regimen” lol.
^^ We were supposed to wear the mud mask for 15-20 minutes then rinse it off but I’m pretty sure Charles kept his mask on for a whole hour.
^^ See the land formation behind Charles and Tarek? That’s Israel/Palestine. Jordan borders the Dead Sea from the East and Israel and Palestine border it from the West.
Also, fun fact, did you know that the Dead Sea is the lowest point of elevation on Earth?
^^ My “I’m a synchronized swimmer” pose.
Before we knew it, it was time to check out of the hotel and head back to Amman.
On the way, we made a quick stop to explore an uncommercialized area near the Dead Sea, away from the hotels and resorts.
In general, the area around the Dead Sea is barren. A direct result of the high salinity which isn’t conducive for plants and animals to live. But even then, I found the barren environment to be beautiful in its own way.
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^^ Charles and I grabbed a small chunk of salt and brought it home as a souvenir. It’s currently on our shelf at home in a ziplock bag waiting for me to get a clear glass container to display it in.
2 hours later, we were back in Amman, headed downtown for our last dinner in Jordan.
It was so nice to wander around and just people watch. Taking in the sights, sounds and smells… And the food. Ooooh, best falafels I’ve had in a while.
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The next day, Tarek drove us to the airport. On the way there, I kept thinking “I wish we had stayed one more day.”
But ultimately, looking back on all that we squeezed into two days, I felt satisfied that we had made the most of our time there.
Hugs upon hugs and a last farewell, Charles and I hopped on a flight home to DC.
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And so concludes our trip to Jordan! A year later, this adventure is finally memorialized on the blog! Woot Woot!
I hope you enjoyed this recap as much as I enjoyed putting these posts together. I do eventually plan to write another post about my thoughts on traveling to Jordan (and the Middle East in general) with tips, etc. but I’m gonna save that for a little later.
With that said, time to start recapping our trip to Miami next! <- This is the one where we celebrated Charles 31st birthday and deleted all the apps on our phone so we could be 100% present in the moment a.k.a. “travel first and post later”. Such a refreshing approach to traveling for us and so many great memories I can’t wait to share. :)
xo, Setarra
P.S. Also in case you missed it, you can catch up on Charles and my two week trip to Greece HERE, Turkey HERE and Jordan HERE.
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